What You Don’t See: A Uveitis Patient Story
Of the things we take for granted about our existence, I venture to say vision is pretty high on the list. Even if your eyesight starts to go it can…
little over 11 years ago, I noticed something was “off” with my vision. The next several years were spent bouncing from doctor to doctor trying to figure out why my optic nerve was hemorrhaging and a blind spot was developing in my right eye. My official diagnosis is mulitfocal chororetinitis with subretinal fibrosis, a type of posterior uveitis. Throughout my journey, I’ve alternated between spending hours researching (desperately grasping for a “why’) and burying my head in the sand (if I don’t acknowledge it, maybe it will go away). I’ve tried everything my doctors and I can think of, from immunosuppressants and the Retisert implant, to elimination diets and yoga. My condition is the definition of chronic.
By 2013 my left eye was also affected. I started receiving intravitreal injections in 2014 before the birth of my first son. I’m still getting injections these days, along with trying a host of different medications, and complications from all of the treatments persist. Although tenacious, the inflammation does respond to treatment and I am in caring and capable hands at the University of Washington Eye Institute in Seattle, WA for which I am very grateful. I created a website, www.livingwithuveitis.com as my attempt to document thoughts and information I’ve gathered, learn something and hopefully help others. It’s a place to focus on the disease and then leave it so I can live my life, taking only what serves me.Of the things we take for granted about our existence, I venture to say vision is pretty high on the list. Even if your eyesight starts to go it can…