After almost 25 years

[Momof4gr8kids]

After almost 25 years of T1 my sweet hubby was dx'd today with mild eye damage. It seems the new blood vessels in the back of his right eye have hemeraged (<- I know that is not spelled right, but don't care to look it up)
The eye doctor he saw today assured us that the damage is minimal, however he will have to see one of only two doctors in the area who treat this sort of thing, to be eveluated to see if he needs a lazer proseedure.

I am a wreck, we both are. He just had his eyes checked about 6 months ago. How could this happen? The only reason we found out is because he noticed his vision was a little blurry. God am I glad he had it checked out, and caught it early. I feel like screaming, but I don't want him to know how scared I really am. This is his worst nightmare. I HATE THIS DISEASE!!!!!!!!!

It is also making me worry further about our DD who was dx'd with diabetes in Jan of this year. Yeah, dad made it 24 yrs without complications, but 24 years for her is under 30yrs old. Dad did it all right. He goes to check ups when he is supposed to, gets his eyes checked out yearly. He isn't perfect, but has kept his B/G normal most of the time. I guess normal all of the time isn't possible, but I wish it were. His A1C's are pretty good, and although we have had our bad highs, and lows they are not frequent, and get taken care of right away. How could this happen? I know the answer, but it was wishful thinking........BTW, have I mentioned.....I HATE THIS DISEASE?

Thanks for letting me rant. I really needed it.
Jamie

[Ben'sMommy]

Jamie, I'm really sorry to hear that. :(

I always worry about Ben (obv.). He was dx'd at 7 months so will he have complications in his 20's???
I guess we can only do our best and hope that by the time our kids are adults there will be a cure or at least some sort of major advance in D care.

I hope your DH is taking it ok. I'm sure it's scary for him. There are a lot of horror stories out there about D complications.
I hope it all works out.



PS: Rant away, my dear!!! ;)

[Momof4gr8kids]

Carol,
Thanks so much for your kind words of support. We are both feeling a little better about it after reading what can be done. This may be the first of many treatments he will endure, but luckily, if he stays on top of it, we can prolong, or even totally save his vision.

I am sure as advancements are made, it brightens the future of our children, spouses, and other loved ones living with this horrible monster called diabetes. Maybe in the future this wont be a common worry for any of us. And hopefully the cure is close at hand.

Jamie

[Ben'sMommy]

You're right. Things can only get better.

Did you see the photo I posted of the first ever pump?
If medical science can improve that drastically in such a short space of time then I bet in another 30 years the advances (hopefully cure) will astound us!

Hang in there. Glad to hear you're a little more positive today. :cwds:

[EmmasMom]

OMG!! Jamie, I'm so sorry to hear that!:( This stupid, horrible diabetes crap just never ends does it?
I'm sure this is scary and feels like a big setback, but catching it early will make a huge difference in the outcome. I'm so glad he didn't wait.

I'm going to make my hubby schedule his eye exam asap. He's a couple months overdue and it's time! He was very lucky to be dx'd later in life, so I hope and pray that he will never have complications, but as we all know nothing with D is certain.
It is so scary to have to see various sides of diabetes and know what our precious children are up against. And starting so young...:( I know it will always be better for them than it has been in the past, but it's still hard. My father only lived to be 31, my husband is now 31 and it makes me cringe to think about all the what if's... I HATE DIABETES TOO!!!!

[Momof4gr8kids]

Thanks Amy, and Carol,

It is scarey, but knowing the current treatment options really helped out. I love google!!

Carol, I did see the photo's that you posted! I am so glad we don't have to hook our kids up to those huge machines. My DH can remeber kids at D camp wearing the one that had the exposed glass syringe. He has seen alot of tech for D come, and be surpassed. When we go tot he CDE they have a case that is filled with old D stuff. He marvels at the fact that he has used, or seen alot of it in use.
I was reading a highlighted history of D the other day, it was really interesting. I will have to post it if I can find it again.

Amy, I am glad that you are going to remind your DH to get his eyes checked. Now that this has happened to us I don't think I could stress it more to others how important it is!!! Shane just had his checked at the begining of the year, and the doctor was impressed that there were no signs of eye damage. I guess that was the biggest shocker, not have even hit the year mark since the last check.
I am so sorry to hear about your dad. All of the what if's are scarey, and I am sure doubley for you, having seen them first hand. I hope that complications are a thing of the past for those that have been dx'd in the past few years since tech has improved, and that someday they are just a thing of the past!

Thanks for all of the support, and letting me rant, and lean on you. I still HATE DIABETES, but as I have learned more about current treatment I can get through again.

[hrermgr]

Jamie- I can totally relate to what you are going through. Last fall, my husband began to have "leakage". He had gone in for a regular eye exam about a month earlier and all was well. Once he noticed the problem, he called is eye specialist and needed laser surgery on both eyes! My husband was devastated. He's lived with diabetes for 38 years at the time and had not complications what so ever. He had gone on the pump two years earlier and was in better, tighter control than he ever had been and then this.

We both were scared at the time. Did a lot of reading and praying. Even though the leakage was in one eye, his eye doc didn't want to take chances with the other eye so did the same laser procedure on his other eye, too, on a different day.

I wish I could say that all is back to "normal" but my husband says that sometime he can still see the "leakage". The eye doc said it can take a while for it to re-absorb but it's frustrating! I wish you and your husband all the best!

[Momof4gr8kids]

Thanks Michelle,
It is really good to hear from someone who has been there, and done that. We were reading that the lazer surgery often doesn't last, and needs to be kept up on. That is a really scarey fact. I am hopeful that the lazer treatment will help, and that we can minimize the risk of blindness, although I still find myself thinking about it, and stressing in the wee hours of the morning.

I hope you, and your DH are doing well, and that no further complications present themself.

Take care, Jamie

[CAGrandma]

Hi,
My husband has had laser surgery twice (over a 10 year period) for similar eye problems and he does not have diabetes. His is just bad genes or bad luck. But the good thing is that the treatment is not really painful (lots of bright light and loud noise) and works great! Be sure to go to a good doc who does lots of these and have it done as soon as possible. These things can happen to anyone, and those who have regular checkups are more likely to catch them early and have it taken care of with no loss of vision.

[Momof4gr8kids]

CAGrandma, thanks for the expirience. The more positive things we hear, the better we seem to feel about this :) I am glad your DH is doing so well afterwards.

[Momof4gr8kids]

Shane went into the eye doc that does the lazer surgery this past monday. He does have a small hemerage in the right eye, however, it is so small it would cause more damage repairing it then it would be worth. So the Dr wants Shane to come back in, in 6 months to make sure it healed, and hasn't gotten any worse. He also said to make an appointment anytime if Shane notices vision changes. I am glad minor was really minor this time :)

[Moondancer]

Jamie - I agree with you... I hate Diabetes! My DH is T1 for over 30 yrs has had the laser treatments many times in both eyes over the last 3 plus years and then eventually the surgery in both eyes - the second eye was just last August. It was scary I admit. I found the prospect of him losing his sight to be the scariest thing so far but all has turned out well. My advice would be Do Not Procrastinate! Get the treatments done as soon as the Dr says to! Hubby's right eye is 20/20 with glasses and the other is 20/40 (I think) with glasses. But again, get it done when they say to get it done. My DH procrastinated out of fear for over a year when the Dr told him he needed the surgery in his left eye. Because of that the back of his left eye has contorted/twisted for lack of a better word from scaring. Now for him there is no such thing as a straight line when looking through his left eye. Had not procrastinated he would not have this issue. I agree with who ever suggested to find a Dr who has done many of these. Good luck!