Blogging about life in Minnesota, raising our six kids with Down syndrome while battling Breast Cancer.

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor in the morning the devil says, "Oh shit! She's up!"

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Corneal Ulcer

If you could say a prayer for Dean, I'd sure appreciate it! This afternoon he was complaining about feeling like there was something in his eye. I went to put some saline drops in to wash out his eye, and noticed an oblong white spot on the bottom edge of his cornea, right where it attaches to the cornea.

He called the eye doctor and was able to get in right away. She spent quite a while looking at his eye with all different tools, measuring the spot and all that stuff. With the green dye stuff she was able to see he has a significant ulcer on his cornia, and his other eye has scaring from old ulcerations that were not treated.

She is quite concerned, and sent him home with two different types of drops, with instructions to come back tomorrow. Apparently, because the eye heals very quickly, if after 24 hours of continuous use of the drops there isn't evidence of healing, she will need to investigate further. That would include swabbing the ulcer to see what type of bacteria is growing, which would determine the next course of action.

Corneal ulcers like the one Dean has are very serious. In a very short period of time they can lead to impaired vision, and they often require corneal transplants.

Of course this is happening when I'm leaving town! Fortunately Tyler will be staying here while I'm gone so if Dean has a problem Tyler would be able to drive him to the doctor, etc.

Thanks for taking the time to say a prayer for Dean!

1 comment:

Tamara said...

Prayers for Dean -