Going to have SLT Laser for Glaucoma....
Discussion
... Next Friday. 
My Mother is suffering badly from Glaucoma and it looks like Im heading the same way.
My last eye test indicated high pressures so I was referred to the hospital.
They have all but said I have Glaucoma - but my peripheral field tests are fine, so they dont have to actually tell me its confirmed, and thus, I then have to inform DVLA. As Im employed as a Driver, I dont need any aggro license wise.
Anyway, next Friday Im scheduled to have this procedure, and Im not looking forward to it all. Im a bit of a control freak and dont like relying on other people, so its not going to be fun.
Will be done at Stoke Mandeville.
Not after sympathy, jut wondered if anyone else has had it ?
All about SLT
I have a customer who had both Lens replaced recently and he swears by the NHS...
My Mother is suffering badly from Glaucoma and it looks like Im heading the same way.
My last eye test indicated high pressures so I was referred to the hospital.
They have all but said I have Glaucoma - but my peripheral field tests are fine, so they dont have to actually tell me its confirmed, and thus, I then have to inform DVLA. As Im employed as a Driver, I dont need any aggro license wise.
Anyway, next Friday Im scheduled to have this procedure, and Im not looking forward to it all. Im a bit of a control freak and dont like relying on other people, so its not going to be fun.
Will be done at Stoke Mandeville.
Not after sympathy, jut wondered if anyone else has had it ?
All about SLT
I have a customer who had both Lens replaced recently and he swears by the NHS...
I had Glaucoma quite a few years ago and was referred to my local hospital.They took one look at me in the morning,told me to hang around,then I had laser surgery in the afternoon!!.They then told me to come back a month later to have the other eye done,just in case,fantastic service.It is a rather uncomfortable procedure,did not take long and my eye`s have been perfect ever since.
Turn7 said:
... Next Friday.
My Mother is suffering badly from Glaucoma and it looks like Im heading the same way.
My last eye test indicated high pressures so I was referred to the hospital.
They have all but said I have Glaucoma - but my peripheral field tests are fine, so they dont have to actually tell me its confirmed, and thus, I then have to inform DVLA. As Im employed as a Driver, I dont need any aggro license wise.
Anyway, next Friday Im scheduled to have this procedure, and Im not looking forward to it all. Im a bit of a control freak and dont like relying on other people, so its not going to be fun.
Will be done at Stoke Mandeville.
Not after sympathy, jut wondered if anyone else has had it ?
All about SLT
I have a customer who had both Lens replaced recently and he swears by the NHS...
Hi SLT laser is a good option on the management of glaucoma and can result in lowered pressure for a reasonable time frame, with little harm to you. It's painless and the only discomfort will be the placing of a contact lens on your eye (which will be numb from some local anaesthetic drops) which feels like a pressure sensation. The laser itself is painless. You see a flash of light when the energy is delivered. I'm interested to see that they are using this as a first option. I presume you have discussed using eye drops to control the pressure? My Mother is suffering badly from Glaucoma and it looks like Im heading the same way.
My last eye test indicated high pressures so I was referred to the hospital.
They have all but said I have Glaucoma - but my peripheral field tests are fine, so they dont have to actually tell me its confirmed, and thus, I then have to inform DVLA. As Im employed as a Driver, I dont need any aggro license wise.
Anyway, next Friday Im scheduled to have this procedure, and Im not looking forward to it all. Im a bit of a control freak and dont like relying on other people, so its not going to be fun.
Will be done at Stoke Mandeville.
Not after sympathy, jut wondered if anyone else has had it ?
All about SLT
I have a customer who had both Lens replaced recently and he swears by the NHS...
PS which consultant are you under there. I know some of them at Stoke Mandeville.
968 said:
Hi SLT laser is a good option on the management of glaucoma and can result in lowered pressure for a reasonable time frame, with little harm to you. It's painless and the only discomfort will be the placing of a contact lens on your eye (which will be numb from some local anaesthetic drops) which feels like a pressure sensation. The laser itself is painless. You see a flash of light when the energy is delivered. I'm interested to see that they are using this as a first option. I presume you have discussed using eye drops to control the pressure?
PS which consultant are you under there. I know some of them at Stoke Mandeville.
Hi 968PS which consultant are you under there. I know some of them at Stoke Mandeville.
My letter says Asifa Shaikh or whoever else has nothing better to do...
As for drops, as I said, they will be for life. I think it also means they then have to actually tell me I have Glaucoma, and I then have to inform DVLA, so its a kind of middle grouund.
As I understand it anyway.
Turn7 said:
Hi 968
My letter says Asifa Shaikh or whoever else has nothing better to do...
As for drops, as I said, they will be for life. I think it also means they then have to actually tell me I have Glaucoma, and I then have to inform DVLA, so its a kind of middle grouund.
As I understand it anyway.
Not true. You may have Ocular Hypertension, which is high pressure in the eye without optic nerve damage. These patients also have to use drops to lower the risk of developing glaucoma, in some cases, but that does not require the DVLA to be informed. My letter says Asifa Shaikh or whoever else has nothing better to do...
As for drops, as I said, they will be for life. I think it also means they then have to actually tell me I have Glaucoma, and I then have to inform DVLA, so its a kind of middle grouund.
As I understand it anyway.
If you have demonstrable damage to the optic nerve head, which is not manifesting in visual field changes, you may have glaucoma. SLT is an option for treatment but isn't usually first line, and isn't usually a permanent fix. Drops are the normal first line of treatment, however, it's not an unreasonable decision to try SLT first and if that reduces your pressure sufficiently, then fine, if not, you can always have drops later.
Even if you did have to inform the DVLA, you'd have no problem with retaining your license if your fields are full. You also would not need to stop driving whilst they went through their process of assessing you.
Glaucoma as others have illustrated, and as you probably already know is a very serious condition. I am diabetic and therefore have eyetests every year. This year there was problem found and I went to the Ophthalmic Hospital and was immediately diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy and had laser surgery five times on my eyes over the period of four weeks. All very sudden and urgent. About 3,000 laser shots in all.
Uncomfortable rather than painful but not fun. I now need a check up every three months. Eyesight is better post op but was never really bad and I was unaware of the bleed threatening which necessitated the surgery. As others have said drops in the eye and contact lens holding the eye open are the usual method.
Consultants are a mine of information and really interesting to talk to and seek advice from. I found the obvious cases of congenital eye failure/disturbance that I saw whilst in the hospital, particularly challenging and a reminder of how lucky, relatively healthy people like me really are. Best of luck with the treatment the surgeons are wonder men.
Uncomfortable rather than painful but not fun. I now need a check up every three months. Eyesight is better post op but was never really bad and I was unaware of the bleed threatening which necessitated the surgery. As others have said drops in the eye and contact lens holding the eye open are the usual method.
Consultants are a mine of information and really interesting to talk to and seek advice from. I found the obvious cases of congenital eye failure/disturbance that I saw whilst in the hospital, particularly challenging and a reminder of how lucky, relatively healthy people like me really are. Best of luck with the treatment the surgeons are wonder men.
Turn7 said:
According to the nurse I saw when I was assessed for SLT , my field tests are fine - hence not actually coming out and saying yes to Glaucoma. Now you mention it, the tension thing does ring a bell and may have been mentioned.
Ask the doctors what your cup to disc ratios and if there is any thinning of the neuroretinal rim of your optic nerve. If there is glaucoma is more likely.Also we use lasers for a variety of different conditions and different types of lasers, this particular laser is entirely painless. The argon laser described above for diabetes can be quite painful when used at a high power.
968 said:
Turn7 said:
According to the nurse I saw when I was assessed for SLT , my field tests are fine - hence not actually coming out and saying yes to Glaucoma. Now you mention it, the tension thing does ring a bell and may have been mentioned.
Ask the doctors what your cup to disc ratios and if there is any thinning of the neuroretinal rim of your optic nerve. If there is glaucoma is more likely.Also we use lasers for a variety of different conditions and different types of lasers, this particular laser is entirely painless. The argon laser described above for diabetes can be quite painful when used at a high power.
Turn7 said:
Latest update.... follow on visit showed a small increase in pressures - 26/27 I think they said.
The specialist I saw advised that SLT may or may not work in my situations and has put me on drops for the time being.
Im guessing this is the thin end of the wedge for my sight though.
Not really. SLT is an ok option but it isn't the best long term option in my view. 26/27 isn't too bad depending on the thickness of your cornea, as that could actually be higher or lower than the quoted reading depending on your corneal thickness. Drops are often a very good way of controlling pressure and reducing risk of glaucoma progression. If drops alone aren't working (and the biggest reason for this is mostly patients not taking them regularly) then there are other options, namely surgery, to reduce pressure. Surgery is the best long term way of controlling pressure but it's also the most interventional.The specialist I saw advised that SLT may or may not work in my situations and has put me on drops for the time being.
Im guessing this is the thin end of the wedge for my sight though.
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