First our friend Colleen won the first of her games. Then we found out that my surgery worked with ocular pressure down to 15 (so I continue Lumigan drops and we hope it holds for a long time). Then we learned that our nephew Max was being born (a month early but that wasn't a surprise). Then we learned that my cousin got through her surgery well (pathology results due today). Then Colleen won her second game. This is Colleen: http://www.6footsix.com/ We celebrated with Thai food from Thai Thai. YUM! The ferrets picked up on our tension and were worried yesterday morning, but we were so cheerful after the good news that Telemna spent a lot of time playing cheerful little ferret tunes on her toy pianos later in the day. Waiting today to hear about my cousin's pathology report. Late next week I'll have glaucoma surgery in my better eye so like last time I'll probably be totally off-line for at least 2 days, then on for tiny amounts for a half week to a week, and not returning to full steam for monitor use for about 2 weeks. That is mostly because light is just hard to handle afterward, even turning the setting way down on the monitor. For those who are in a similar position: The surgery I had was the ALT surgery. You are awake. Numbing drops are used and if half the eye is being done there are 150 hits with a gorgeous gem-like green argon laser. It stings a little when they are near certain nerves at the 3:00 and 9:00 positions, but nothing even hinting at terrible -- just a little stinging. Then you go home to be rechecked in a month and use steroid drops for a few days as well as your usual meds. Mostly, it's a cinch. The aim is to improve drainage and prevent further damage to the optic nerve. It can't repair what is already lost, but can slow or stop vision loss. When it works the effect lasts anywhere from 6 months to forever and lasts longer if drops are continued. Some get a large enough effect to go back to gentler drops some need to stay with stronger drops like I do. Each half of the eye can be done twice with this particular procedure if more surgeries of this type are needed. There are other surgical approaches, including multiple laser ones, and the type used depends on the type of glaucoma, the degree of the problem, how responsive it has been, and other factors. Even race matters in this case since it can increase risk rates for specific types. Those with Asian ancestry (and I think also Native American ancestry but am not sure) are more prone than others to a form that requires jumping fast. Those with Black ancestry usually need to start testing eye pressure earlier than ones with only White ancestry. Family history of glaucoma increases the risk rate but anyone might be vulnerable so everyone should have eye pressure checked, especially with age. The risk rate increases with age, but we had have three or four friends who began it in their 20s or 30s, and childhood cases have occurred but are rare. Some info: http://www.glaucoma.org/treating/surgery.php Pressure checks are about the easiest things imaginable. Most people just need the simplest one that involves staring into a light and having a little puff of air blown. That's it, no drops or anything. The more precise ones that ophthalmologists use when the numbers are more serious are also easy but do involve a set of simple numbing drops. These days there are 4 categories of medications for glaucoma, with multiple meds in each category. Even those of us with asthma can be safely treated with drops for as long as those remain effective. In my own case I guess that I first developed ocular hypertension in my 30s or maybe early 40s, then pre-glaucoma, and i guess I've had full blown glaucoma for at least 5 years now. I haven't keep close track on how long it's been, but long enough that I've been though 3 meds till they didn't work for me. Mine is the open angle kind and came on slowly. Glaucoma can also happen suddenly if the eye is injured (such as a blow to the eye) or if the drainage just closes off. Then the eye becomes red and hard and this is a medical emergency requiring rapid response to avoid losing too much of the optic nerve. Signs like that don't happen with the slow onset but a small portion of people (including me) do get eye discomfort with the increases in pressure, though most have no warning signals (that they notice) until things are pretty advanced -- which is where the hazard comes in, and is the position you want to avoid being in yourselves. Glaucoma can not always be treated, but it usually can. Yet, about half the people who get it go blind simply because they do not get tested in time and treated in time. First portions of the visual field go and then things can get worse. If you find that you have to thread a needle by holding it in front of an eye instead of in the middle, if you regularly step into trouble because you don't see it, if you regularly bump into people or things when you turn or walk through a crowded area then you might have some visual field loss. If you have shadow where once there was vision then you do have some visual field loss; I find being aware of the large shadow I have in one spot annoying but it does remind me to be more careful how I move, though recently another person with some field loss and I wound up in each others shadowed areas and collided at a grocery store -- luckily with both of us finding it funny. The most precise visual field tests are annoying and boring but they also are completely painless. And, YES, ferrets can get glaucoma, too. Usually it is not found until there has been vision loss so the treatment is geared to reducing or stopping pain and avoiding the risk of the eye rupturing. In the FHL Archives (and I think maybe the FML Archives) there is info on treatment with drops from Julie Fossa: http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG11175 though at times the ferret's eyes need removal instead. If you have a ferret with protuberant eye (or eyes) or apparent pain in eyes get the ferret vet care right away. Meanwhile do me a favor that will help you: go have your eye pressures checked and have your family members and friends get theirs checked. The blindness you prevent could be your own or that of someone you love. [Posted in FML 5960]