Iritis

Just for the record, Iritis flared up again this weekend...left eye...

Iritis back again

The iritis is back again - left eye this time. 

Thankfully, the referral to the eye specialist, from last July was still valid and I could just call and make an appointment. I was able to get straight in this morning.

The doctor has suggested that an indefinate referral from my G.P. for this condition may now be in order. I'll request that next time.

I also left things a little too long this time. I noticed a bit of an ache in the "top left corner" of the eye over the weekend, in bright light, but the usual "focussing up close" test didn't cause any hassle so I left it, hoping it would go away. Yesterday, things were a little cloudy which worried me and by last night, the ache was back. 

The doctor was a little alarmed as the "stickiness" of the pupil was a little worse than normal. 

Anyway, I'm now armed with eye drops and preparing to be hopelessly short sighted for a week or so. (As well as sensative to light as the Atropin opens up the pupil - which is not great considering we are experiencing our hottest week in 100 years in Geelong, temperatures over 40 C, every day.)

My eye specialist is now generously, bulk billing his customers (long term ones anyway). This means I don't pay anything, only the fee that is covered by govenrment health care, and this part is claimed directly form Medicare. His very ultruistic approach is that he would rather fix peoples eyes, than see permanent damage done, because people were hesitant to make appointments because of the cost. I guess he's done very well for himself out of the industry and is now giving back. Not that he'll struggle to make ends meet on the subsidised portion of the fee he is still recieving mind you. 

I was amazed to realise I have been visiting the same eye specialist, regarding Iritis for nearly 25 years now! He still has the same little yellow envelope, stuffed with A5 size cards, with notes scribbled on them detailing every visit I've ever made. These cards record my life history! Mixed in with the diagrams of my eyes, pupils, infected cells etc, are notes about my family life, jobs, schooling etc. Who needs a computer?

Iritis

Iritis cleared up quickly as usual last week, but the short sightedness is hanging around much longer than I remembered. It's very annoying, but Ive resorted to cranking the fonts on my computer up to "Extra Large" and you should see the size of the fonts in my Visual Studio editor. (Courier New 14 point! I think I like it...)

Iritis

Just for the record - Iritis flared up again this week. Back on the Predeferin Forte eye drops causing annoying short sightedness for awhile. I've got the font size etc cranked right up to ExtraLarge and still find I'm dragging the monitors forward on the desk. Drops usually clean it up pretty quick smart though.

The eye actually started aching a bit last weekend, but I lived in hope it would just go away...it didn't.

It's a almost as painful as the Iritis, trying to organise a reference from my GP, so that I can see the eye specialist, so that he can prescribe exactly what I know I need. That's part of the medical ripoff here though isn't - a few people are making pretty good money for doing very little. Not the eye specialist though - he is amazingly thorough, dedicated and caring. He always goes out of his way to make sure I get in to see him the day I call, and always follows up very diligently.

The middlemen though, are making their money pretty easy.

Anyway, thought I ought to start noting the flare-ups and look for a pattern. It was far worse at night when I was tired. I've been doing quite a bit of "in the zone" development hours (at the computer lately too), and plenty of reading! It's got to be related - tired eyes and so on...

Ankylosing Spondylitis

I suffer from a condition called Ankylosing Spondylitis. It's not the end of the world - there are far worse things out their and I'm not fishing for sympathy.

I thought my blog might be a good place to document that aspect of my life. I sometimes blog about work, sport whatever, and AnkSpon or AS as it's known to it's "friends" is something that might actually add some value to the "noise" that is the blogosphere.

So if you've found this, chances are it's because you were looking for it(or at least AnkSpon stuff right?). Leave a comment...let's discuss it.

As common as the literature say it is, I have only met one other person who suffers - and suffers far worse than I do.

My symptoms started when I was about 11. Soreness in the thighs back then. I had a brief period of swollen ankles (well ankle actually) then pain progressed to my hips (by aged 14). Then it was actually diagnosed as AS at about 19. By then I started taking Brufen and still am! (19 years later.) In my 20s the pain an stiffness progressed on up the back (spine) and now it's mainly my neck the suffers.

I've recently had some x-rays as part of a consultation with a rheumatologist which confirmed the complete calcification of many of my vertibrae. The back doesn't hurt that much anymore but the neck still has it's moments.

My condition is far better it would seem than many that suffer from AS. I've heard of people who end up in wheel chairs! I turn 38 this month, still play a bit of social "Indoor Cricket", played proper cricket until about 4 years ago, enjoy my family life, gardening etc, so as I said, this isn't a plea for sympathy or any such thing, it's just a blog post, about something about me, that others may relate to and can discuss if they feel so inclined.

I am no expert and have no medical training at all. This is just talk, anecdotes and opinions from experience.

I've seen doctors, physiotherapists, chiropractors, had deep tissue massage - nothing really fixes it. The massages help for a little while, maybe a day, but as doctors keep saying, it comes down to management.

To be honest, swimming and stretching help just as much.

I am a terrible swimmer - terrible! - but it does help. It's hard to motivate yourself to get to the pool especially now it's winter in Victoria. Thank goodness for me, winter here means lows of around 10 degrees (celcius), it must be far worse to live in a truly cold part of the world.

Anyway, swimming and stretching definitely help - warmer dry weather is better .

A recent visit to a rheumatologist tells me I don't qualify for any of the new drugs on offer, which apparently are a minor injection that can help slow the progression of the disease. If you're 20 and have AS - follow this up! I firmly believe that the very limited success I had in local cricket (very limited) would've been less limited, had my flexibility and mobility not been so constrained. (Read, I was a crap fielder which gave selectors a reason to drop me first!)

Anyway, if you have AS, let me know how you deal with it. If you have any ideas that are better than mine - let me know. Mine aren't earth shattering - just stretch and swim!