Eye Doctor Visit

Yesterday P and I went for my eye doctor visit.  I am now seeing a Neuro Ophthalmologist specialist because the Spinal Cerebellar Degeneration  has now progressed to affecting my eyes causing me to have double vision.  I still don’t understand much of what the doctor said about my eyes and disease, so I an including what P. wrote for our family.

It was a VERY long visit spent mostly waiting to see the doctor.

The double vision is progressing.  If it had been stable he would have gotten a new RX for lenses with a prism built in.  Since it is not stable, they increased his prism from 5 to 10 in his reading glasses and added a 12 prism to his computer glasses.  The hope is that things may stabilize here.  In that case, instead of having a temporary prism in 2 pairs of glasses, he would get it ground into the lenses.

What the doctor had hoped was that his brain would compensate for half of the correction he needed but it isn't.  Most likely that is because of the disease.  If it progresses beyond a prism of 20, he would need eye muscle surgery.  I'm not sure that is even an option for him.

We go back in 4 months for a followup.  If things are stable then, it is new lenses for his glasses and 6 months before we go back.  If not, it is new temporary prisms (which cost $50 each and is not covered by insurance).  Pray that things stabilize.  Dr. Mizen said there is no predicting if it will stabilize or not.  It will probably be like all things with this disease, plateaus & progression of the symptoms.