It was the end of 2022, the most hopeful time of the year–the Christmas season. Like most everyone, I anticipated the new year with hope. Hope for happiness, good health, change for the better, finally winning at Rummy 500 against my darling husband. But I sensed that I was going to come up dry on all four of my hopes. To borrow from Twas the Night Before Christmas, “When what to my wondering eyes did appear, but severe pain and dryness. I had hardly a tear!”
True Grit
I’d been living my life fully and, happily, minding my own business when, as the world celebrated the end of the old year and the beginning of 2023, I was bombarded with practically overnight sensations of sandpaper imbedded in my eyes. I’m guessing 36 grit! (Little did I know that I’d need a lot of grit, as well as determination, faith, a sense of humor, and yes, hope, to overcome this dilemma.)
Excelling at Lying
My former extremely mild Dry Eye symptoms transformed into a Dry Eye lifestyle of lying in bed with a cold, wet washcloth over my eyes for several hours a day. It was the only way I could achieve relief. I was severely fatigued, and my eyes were so uncomfortable that I was unable to read one page in a book, get on the computer for a minute, watch any TV, or even travel to visit friends and family. Except in one case. (I attended a reunion of friends I had planned though warned my hosts I would be horizontal most of the visit.) But the good news in all this was that I listened to every free legal thriller on Audible and can now wholeheartedly recommend anything by John Grisham or Michael Stagg.
Doctors No, No, and No
During the ten months of practically living as an agoraphobic with severe dry eyes, I visited three ophthalmologists. One even claimed to be a “Dry Eye specialist.” (I’ll call him Dr. #3. It turns out he devoted all of one whole day a week to seeing patients. Some specialist!) Their prescribed treatments were:
Dr. #1) Use warm compresses a few times a day (very short-term relief), followed by massaging the eyelids (no relief).
Dr. #2) Put in his own plug for punctal plugs, but Dr. #3 quickly put down the plugs. (“Only effective 10% of the time,” he said.)
Dr. #3) Prescribed RESTASIS three times a day (helped some), and on the next visit suggested Lipiflow (made things worse). He then suggested amniotic membranes. There was a pregnant pause before I realized he wasn’t going to explain what amniotic membranes had to do with Dry Eye, and I was too fatigued to ask.
“If I Only Had a Brain…”
Unfortunately, my normally inquisitive mind was losing its’ battery power regarding all things medical. I was too overwhelmed, too tired, and in too much pain to self-advocate. I went back home to the bedroom and my two Dry Eye besties: 1) Cold, wet washcloth and 2), Audible novel.
Hope Sneaks In
But then, hope sneaked into the bedroom wearing size 11 1/2 sneakers belonging to my husband. Just by watching me suffer he had been suffering too but doing research online. “I think I found someone who can help you,” he cried out.
Dr. Un-Masking MGD (and Other Comorbidities)
The “someone” was Dr. Steven Maskin. At my first appointment, he shared eye-opening info – pun intended – with me. Through lengthy and extensive testing, along with decades of experience treating Dry Eye patients and doing research, he diagnosed me with conjunctivochalasis, Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), aqueous tear deficiency, lagophthalmos, and ocular allergies.
The conjunctivochalasis surgery was scheduled for the left upper eyelid a week later, and the right upper eyelid one week after that. (I now know what “amniotic membranes” are!) Dr. Maskin un-masked all my Dry Eye mysteries. The relief post-surgeries and Meibomian gland probing– a month later– was astounding and life-changing. Actually, life restoring!
Got Hope?
I am forever grateful for Dr. Maskin’s compassion, expertise, and knowledge-sharing. Not only did he fulfill my hopes for comfortable eyes, he also understands and believes in hope’s intrinsic value. This most important, uplifting, and life-giving word is in Dr. Maskin’s and Natalia Warren’s book title. Your Dry Eye Mystery Solved: Reversing Dysfunction, Restoring Hope. It’s also listed in the text as the number one guideline for managing Dry Eye: “Don’t give up hope!” To that I say, “Amen!”
Shelley Hussey is a humor writer and speaker, and author of I’m Not OK, You’re Not OK, But That’s OK with God: Finding the Humor and Healing in Life. She recently joined the Not A Dry Eye Foundation Board of Directors.
Do you remember what happened when your doctor was searching for a reason for your chronic eye pain? Did you hear the word “neuropathic”? Maybe your doctor prescribed pain medication. Did you take it? And did the pain stop but then return when you stopped taking the pain meds?
Attorneys have reached a proposed settlement with Allergan, the maker of Restasis. The lawsuit is on behalf of both consumers and third-party payers.
