For the last two years my mom has been through several procedures to restore her sight. Started with cataract and glaucoma surgery (Aug ’08),  YAG laser capsulotomy her POC treatment (May ’09), Lucentis Injection for AMD treatment (Sept ’09), and Intravitreal triamcinolone (IVT) injection for her CME treatment (Jan ’10). All of the procedures were done on one eye only, her left eye.

Her right eye, on the other hand, was already damage. The cloudy cornea had caused blindness and the only available treatment for her was a corneal transplant. The procedure includes removing the cloudy cornea and replacing it with a clear cornea donated through an eye bank. And because of the complexity of this procedure, her doctors advised us to focus on her left eye first before proceed to her right eye.

Until last week when she had her regular checkup, the option of corneal transplant was discussed again and yesterday we were informed that an eye donation was available for her. The doctor then asked if my mom wanted to proceed with the transplantation.  She agreed, so yesterday evening she had a complete examination prior the surgery. She had an ultrasound scan on her right eye, hematology test and EKG monitor. We went home late last night.

Yesterday my mom had an appointment with her ophthalmologist. It was her third check-up after having a lucentis injection for her AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration) treatment on August. Last month her doctor said he would check if my mom still need another injection on her next appointment.

Thankfully, after seeing my mom’s tonometri result yesterday, he said my mom’s eye has responded well to the injection, so no need to do the second injection. Her vision was already stable at 30/100. Her eye condition post glaucoma surgery was also good, with IOP (intraocular pressure) around 9-12 mmHg. So now my mom can continue her life without worrying too much about her eye condition, but her eye still need to be checked-up every month.

A 36D hand-held illuminated magnifier for my mom

After the appointment, her doctor sent my mom to Low Vision department to find a reading aid for her. Ever since she got AMD disease, my mom’s reading ability has dropped significantly. She could not read her Bible anymore as the letters were too small. This has become her main concerns as, for her, Bible was her source of life. She used to read it regularly every morning and for the last few months she was not able to do it. Her doctor said she needed a low vision aid to read small print.

After testing several lenses on her, the optician at the low vision department recommended a hand-held illuminated 9X (36 Diopters) power magnifier with built in LED light as her reading aid. It was actually not an ideal type for reading book as its lens size was only 35 mm so she could only read few letters at a time. But my mom said the most important thing was she could read her Bible again. She would need time to adjust with her new reading aid.

I went to Jakarta Eye Center with my mom yesterday, she had a morning appointment with her ophthalmologist. It was supposed to be a routine 6 month post glaucoma and cataract surgery check up. However, during the check up my mom complained that she thought her cataract had come back again because her vision became blurry lately, but the doctor said cataract would never return after surgery. He said sometimes hazy vision happened to some patients after cataract surgery and he recommended a posterior capsulotomy procedure in order to make her vision clear again. He convinced us that it was a very simple procedure that could be done right that minute.

We didn’t have to think twice to agree with the doctor’s advise. Learning from our experience we surely didn’t want to repeat the mistakes we had done in the past. My mom’s right eye is now permanently damage due to glaucoma, her previous doctor at different hospital failed to diagnose it until it was too late. Thank God we still could save her left eye after we changed to another ophthalmologist. She had a glaucoma and cataract surgery all at once last year. Maybe later I will make a post about this.

So my mom took the YAG laser capsulotomy procedure yesterday. The entire procedure only took less than ten minutes. First the ophthalmologist gave dilating eye drops on the eye then told my mom to wait outside. About five minutes later he called her back in and asked her to sit still in front of the laser equipment (I don’t know how to call it and I wish I had my camera with me yesterday). One minute later he said it was done, so fast. It’s not expensive either, it costs her only about US$ 100.

The ophthalmologist said my mom’s vision should improve few hours after the procedure. He also gave prescription for the next five days. Let’s hope everything will be fine.