Sorry. This will save me time and effort.

1. No, the glaucoma did not become advanced due to being ignored
or treatment lacking. For many years now I have been seeing an
ophthalmologist at least four times a year. (It is very good that I
got asked this a lot because it means that many people realize the
importance of catching glaucoma early before it can become advanced.)

2. No, this is not a new problem. I have had glaucoma since my late 40s
and am now in my early 60s. Glaucoma strongly runs in the family on one
side while on the other side some people are incredibly nearsighted.
The combo is bad but that is what I have. The surgeons found a type
of pronounced asymmetry that is genetic and getting keloid scars can
interfere w the surgery but I do that pretty well, too.

Hey, I'm lucky compared to many. Some people, including another ferret
person many of us communicate with, have it at birth, and others like a
couple of friends of ours begin it earlier than I did. Of course, there
are those with vision loss from other serious problems which are no
fun, too.

3. The bleb surgery was needed because for my worse eye the other
options had been exhausted and the eye suddenly worsened this year. The
longest my glaucoma has ever been completely stable was for 4 years
after my first set of laser surgeries. Other approaches less radical
than a filtration bleb had been used earlier. The better eye still is
correcting well with lesser measures and eyes sympathetically have
pressure respond partly to each other, though, so the rough luck of
the worse eye is helping the better eye along with its meds and laser
surgeries as needed if i ever wind up needing those again.

4. Yes, I hurt. Over time I should adjust to the background discomfort
of it more and more. That is what has always happened with other
things.

5. Yes, it takes longer to do pretty much anything that involves vision
and I have to take breaks and rest my eye which make things take even
longer. That doesn't mean I won't try doing safe things that I did
before. I've been trying "new" things almost every day since I got my
new glasses.

6. Yes, I have a lot to learn and adjustments to make; so does my
family. It goes with the territory.

7. No, the surgery did not repair my glaucoma. Currently, there is no
way to repair existing optic nerve damage. It decreased my pressure
which should decrease the rate of worsening or even stall it. The
improvements I had were because the surgery itself causes long term
problems that have to decrease, and I had some complications after
surgery which caused their own problems. Those things did improve a
good bit over time, though certainly not completely.

I think that covers it, except DO get your own eyes checked regularly.
A great many people with glaucoma correct just wonderfully with meds or
easy laser surgeries, or both, and many have their eyes remain stable
with these easy and comfy measures. Most people who wind up with
advanced glaucoma do not go my route but instead miss having their
glaucoma caught in time due to lack of eye exams. That is a steep price
to pay for not getting checked. Although most cases of glaucoma show
up after age 60 some groups are more prone to it and have it show up
earlier. In fact, increases in obesity are also increasing rates of
diabetes which in turn increases the risk of glaucoma, but a few of the
other risks are having one or more relatives with it, having pronounced
near or far sightedness, being Black, being Asian, and some others.
Having your eye pressures and visual field checked is easy -- far too
easy to skip.

Sukie (not a vet) Ferrets make the world a game.

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
A nation is as free as the least within it.

[Posted in FML 7850]