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]