Clint, I’m not sure exactly what stage your girlfriend’s eyes are at but my stages of treatment are as follows:
In July 96 I started getting double vision, puffiness, swelling and tearing a year after RAI. In Nov. 96 I had 3 treatments of IV cortical high dose steroids a day apart. These treatments did not help me although they do help some patients. In Jan 97 a cat scan showed muscle enlargement within the medial and inferior rectus muscles and a moderate degree of apical crowding compressing the optic nerve. Examination in Feb 97 showed disease active and continuing to worsen. March 97 I received 10 sessions of radiotherapy (radiation treatments) over two weeks.
I have been examined several times since the radiation treatments and it is felt that I am stabilizing. My Ophthalmologist likes to wait six months after radiotherapy to make sure stabilized before any surgeries. It is then suggested I have decompression by muscle surgery, wait six months and receive surgery for double vision or Strabismus surgers followed by eyelid surgery.
I find it to be a long waiting game and hard on the nerves. I am on disability from work at the moment as due to lack of sleep and exhaustion and continual double vision I cannot handle my job which deals with administrative statistics and a lot of paper/computer work.
Hope this helps, e-mail me if you have further questions.
Much happiness and take care. SAS
