I had an appointment with my eye doctor on Wednesday. The good news is that my right eye hasn’t changed much since my last visit, so it is “stable,” as doctors like to say. The bad news is that the split in my left eye is now encroaching on the macula. Having retinoschisis bothered me a lot less when I thought it was only threatening my vision in one eye. Now both eyes are at risk. The eye drops that I’ve been using are the only existing treatment (outside of surgery, which is not an option unless the condition gets really, really bad), but the medication is only effective in about 65% of cases. The doctor upped my dosage to three drops per day. Aside from that, there’s nothing I can do but wait and hope.
I still don’t know for certain that I have the degenerative form of the condition rather than the inherited form. Though the inherited form is rare in women, it’s not unheard of. Normally I would have seen my doctor at her office nearby, but I traveled to her more distant office on Wednesday specifically so that I could get the genetic testing done, only to find out that the testing person wasn’t there that day. Grr. I’m going to have to pay for the test out of pocket (thanks, crappy health insurance!), and I considered not even bothering with it, because the results will have no bearing on the treatment. But, if the condition is hereditary, it could affect my children, so I really should find out. I scheduled a new testing appointment for August.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the increase in drops will help stabilize your left eye, as well.