[braddpa]

in reply to: Orbital Decompression DONE! #1071439

Hey Sally McGoo- meet your twin- Patty MCBlind as a bat!

Just read your post and wanted to let you know I feel your pain…literally.
I had orbital decompression in March and have had double vision since. I already
had pretty bad vision from my TED problems so now I go around with my glasses
and a covering over one side. I wore a patch for several weeks but I live in Fla and
it is too hot now for a patch all the time…so I have my 6 yr old grandson draw me a new "eye covering" for one side of my glasses every week. I go back the July 14th for accessment- & hopefully surgery. They were hoping this would clear up on its own I guess..no such luck.
So I am making the best of it waiting on my eye muscle surgery. Do not get me wrong it is a pain in the butt…and I get tired of the "what’s wrong with your eye?" questions…but I know this will pass and we will have the "crazy lady" pictures we took of my left eye looking off weirdly. I have actually been able to drive (carefully) and work on computer and read (large text helps.) I have found a way (don’t we all) to do just about everything…not real good maybe…but I can take prety good care of myself and manage to work. I even rode a bike last night.

Good Luck…hope you are better soon.

Patty

[braddpa]

in reply to: Ponder this….. #1071790

Thanks Mamabear for reminding us to enjoy life and the little things that come to us that we take for granted.

On my to do list:
1. tell everyone I love how important they are to me
2. smell the flowers & the coffee & the chocolate
3. enjoy everyday God gives me
4. Smile as much as possible (give a smile to someone, it doesn’t cost a thing)
5. Remember to BLINK! (okay so I have to be practical too!)

It is important to stay positive and do not sweat the small stuff.
As much as having Graves drives me carzy…I am lucky comapred to many others.
If you have to be something in this life…BE POSITIVE.
(actually I am…that’s my blood type…haha)

I am sooooooooo grateful to have you all to sound off to and gather strength from.I do not post all the time…sometimes I just come on the board and read a few post and I always leave smily from the good vibes and positive energy.
You all are my heroes.

BTW…was that George/Jake’s picture with a fish on his head…my eyes are not so good right now with TED…but, I though I saw a fish on the man’s head.

Here’s a couple of song titles from me before Graves Diagnoses:
Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On
Crazy
Hot, Hot, Hot

Here’s a song title from me after TED surgery:
I Can See Nearly Now

Love & blessing to all,

braddpa/Patty

[braddpa]

in reply to: Eye Muscle Surgery #1071837

Thanks everyone for your inputs. It is good to hear how others have dealt with this.
I sort of "freaked" when the Dr. told me about the surgery, they had told me before I probaly would not need it. If you look at some of the info and pictures on some of the internet sites it looks scary. I knew the people on this forum would know the facts.

I am breathing a little easier now. I guess the old saying what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger really applies to anyone who has had to deal with Graves & TED.

I was so thrilled with the way my eyes look now after the decompression surgery that the thought of the eye muscle surgery changing them had me worried. I don’t want the eye lid surgery but the Dr says I will need it to remove the extra skin and fat deposits. Hey, when you looked as bad as I did (especially my left eye) I am thrilled to look as good as I do now. But, I understand the reasoning behind it.

Thanks for the help/info and the kind encouragments.

God Bless,
” title=”Razz” />
braddpa/Patty

[braddpa]

in reply to: What are the signs & phases of Thyroid Eye Disease? #1072220

Catsmum,

Please be vigilant with your daughters eyes. I had no real eye symptoms & was checked for TED a couple weeks prior to recieving my RAI by a Graves ophtalmologist specialist and deemed not to have TED. Within 3 weeks after my RAI, I was having what I thought were seasonal allergy problems and when I saw another ophtalmologist for problems with my corneas I was then diagnosed with severe TED and was started on high doses of steriods to combat it. Thankfully they caught it early and I was luckier than some. I still had bulging eyes and had to have OD surgery…but some are very much worse if the disease is not treated early. I did not really know what the symptoms were because I had only been diagnose with severe Graves Disease a month earlier. Educating myself before hand about TED would of helped. But, the Dr said I did not have it…so I thought I would be in the clear.

Understand that the doctors are very good at what they do…but, each person is different and even if you do not have signs this week…next week may be a different story. You are doing the right thing…ask questions and research. The more you know and understand the easier you will feel about dealing with the disease.

All the best,

Patty

[braddpa]

in reply to: Orbital Decompression Surgery #1074434

Hi Everyone,
These posts have helped me tremendously. I had OD surgery on Marh 11th and have returned to work today March 23rd. I am lucky to have a job where I do not require my eye sight to involve seeing fine details. I have some blurry and double vision. I am not driving myself yet. The steriod eye cream caused alot of the blurriness, but now I only put it in at night as I go to bed. When they took my patches off my eyes the day after my surgery my eyesight was the best in years- then once the swelling started and I started using the eye cream it declined…but, it is slowly evolving. Trying to get my eyes to work together is the challenge…I exercise my eye muscles as often as I can and use the natural tear drops to keep them moist. Also if you are going to have out-paitent surgery ( I had surgery at 8:00 am and went home around 5:oo pm) consider getting a prescription or something for nauseous…I had a bad late reaction to the anesthia and had to call for something in the middle of the night. And remember to not bend your head down !!
Oh and believe in the peas…those quart size bags of peas were perfect and worked great for the swelling. All in all not too bad. Hopefully the double vision and my depth perception problems will clear up soon. I am already much better than before. Lots of people who did not know abot my surgery assumed I just have a bad sinus/allergy infection. The swelling and bruising were not too bad- thanks to my peas. I still have some numbness around my nose and under my left eye & upper lip (my worse side.) I know it may take a while to go away… and thanks to your posts, I am staying positive. The worse was dealing with the blurriness and boredom of not being able to do much for several days. I got a book on tape to listen to…wish I had got more than one.

Good luck to everyone going through this. We are survivors! Remember to exercise those eye muscles.

Patty

[braddpa]

in reply to: Eye Problem Post RAI? #1073238

Amy,
Just wanted you to know we are here for you. Please be diligent with your son’s eye care.
I was diagnosed in 2004 with GD and before I had my RAI I was sent to TED specialist to check for signs of any thyroid eye disease. I got a clean bill of heatlh on my eyes…except they found a couple of scratches on my corneas that they wanted to have checked out. So they (the Drs) made an appointment with another specialist for me in 3 weeks. In the mean time I had my RAI and then went on business trip to LA. While in LA my eyes started to itch and burn and I could not wear my contacts. I assumed it was allergies to something in the LA climate…smog/flora/fauna. I just wrote it off as just needing eyedrops and resting my eyes more.

When I returned to Florida and went to see cornea specialist he immediately dragged my down the hall to the TED specialist and both of them worked on me to treat me for Thyroid Eye Disease. It was that quick…from nothing to wanting to scartch my eyeballs out. I went on a very high dosage of steriods for several months. It took a couple of years for it to calm all the way down. I am alot better now…still have eye problems…I am having 1st and hopefully only OD surgery on both eyes on Wednesday, March 11th. YEAH!!

So…the moral is they can tell you what they think will happen…you need to beware of the facts and be ready for what may really happen. As I hated living with myself those 1st couple of years after my diagnoses…I cannot imagine living with a younger child going through this. Just know you are not alone and we are all survivors here. I have read most of the post on this site and I see that just about everyone here has gone through every possible condition or symptom. I feel we are in good hands here. Graves is not an easy disease but…if nothing else it has made me appreciate the little things/triumphs in life and I try to work hard to have as much normalcy in my life as possible.

God Bless you and your family…big hug for your son,

Patty

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