Eye bandage

I went to the eye specialist today.

 

My right eye scarring is in the typical location for Graves' disease, at the bottom of the cornea. That has healed since my last visit; he called it an "old scar."

 

The abrasion on the upper left eye is still there plus there is now redness/irritation above the cornea. He asked if my eye is suddenly beet red but not that I've noticed.  It's just red irritated, not really beet red.

 

So taping my eyes at night was his process of elimination: the right eye is better but the left is worse or not better, different.

 

He says I have SLK (Superior Limbic Keratoconjunctivitis), something common in Graves disease. (The link says 3% of Graves' disease patients so I don't know if I would call it "common" but okay.)

 

It is treatable! I was given a bandage lens, like a contact lens. It stays in at all times and I must take medicated eye drops 2-3 times a day. To get the lens into my eye, the lady who does that had to give me a numbing drop. Wow, my eye feels fantastic. It doesn't hurt--at--all!

 

While using the drops in the left eye, no gel in left eye at night. But I still tape both eyes. I go back in a week and he says that I could need surgery if I have no response to the medication. Boo.

 

Did I mention that my eye feels NO PAIN?! :)

 

Those numbing drops are awesome. But she told me that they are addictive and actually do long-term damage if you use them all the time. (Apparently welders have issues with overuse after damaging their eyes.) But it feels good today! I can look left and right, without feeling that, I don't even know what to call it. I'm just getting used to having it.