My Eyes

In 2021, my eye doctor, Shannon Moore, said my eye pressure was high. Elevated eye pressure, known as ocular hypertension, is a significant risk factor for, and can lead to, open-angle glaucoma and blindness.  I followed her advice, and all has gone well until my most recent eye exam. 

High eye pressure alone does not cause glaucoma, but is a contributing factor. I won’t go into all of the details, but ultimately it can damage the optical nerve, leading to open-angle glaucoma, the most common type of glaucoma. It develops slowly, without warning and often without obvious symptoms. It can cause vision loss before you’ve had any reason to suspect it, and you never regain the vision. 

 When living in Fairfax in the ‘90s, I had an eye doctor who came out in a driving snowstorm to treat me for an eye injury. He was so good, I swore I would use him for as long as he had his practice, which I did even when we moved to our farm, over an hour away. He eventually sold his practice to “MyEyeDr”, but still worked in the office. When he finally retired, I moved my files to a MyEyeDr office in Warrenton. They were good for the basic stuff, but did not do much else. When covid hit, they all but shuttered their business and I looked elsewhere for a new doctor. As luck would have it, I found Dr Moore, for which I am eternally grateful.

 As a new patient In April of 2021, in addition to my routine eye exam, Dr Moore gave me a complete series of tests, including an eye pressure test, which assesses ocular hypertension. Unfortunately, my numbers came back high, and that led to an additional test – a Visual Field Test to assess any loss of eyesight or peripheral vision. Fortunately, that test came back “normal.” Also, she could detect no damage to my optical nerves. 

 Based on the testing, Dr Moore proscribed Dorzolamide HCL Opthalmalic Solution (try and say that quickly three times in a row ;-)… ), an eye drop to take twice a day in each eye. The eye drops help lower the pressure in your eyes. At every one of my follow-on exams, we measured the pressure. The good news? My eye pressure remained at a reasonable level, and the drops were doing their job. 

 Until this year. 

 My eye pressure spiked at this year’s exam. It worried Dr Moore enough that we did another Visual Field Test, which showed some small degradation in the peripheral vision of my left eye, which concerned her. The small bit of good news was the optical nerves in both eyes looked fine. Dr Moore made the decision to increase my eye drops to three times a day and referred me to an opthamologist.

 A couple of weeks later, the appointment with the opthamologist took place. Another pressure test, another Visual Field test. A couple of other tests. The results? Yes, the pressure in the eyes was a little high, but not as much as the earlier test with Dr Moore. She also thought that although the Field Vision test showed some minor degradation, it wasn’t much and she wasn’t overly concerned. She noted I have thicker than normal corneas, which can cause high eye pressure readings, even when there is no damage. She thought Dr Moore was doing the right things, although she also mentioned the possibility of Laser Trabeculoplasty, a type of laser surgery that treats open-angle glaucoma by allowing the fluid to drain properly in your eye, reducing the eye pressure. She was not recommending I needed it now, but put it out there as an option. 

 I spoke again afterwards with Dr Moore. The decision on the surgery is obviously mine, but we decided to wait until after my next appointment in May to see if adjusting to three drops each day further lowered the eye pressure, before contemplating the surgery. 

 So, there you have it. I have ocular hypertension. The answer is not definitive on whether I have progressed to open-angle glaucoma. As I mentioned before, one of the problems people face with open-angle glaucoma is the changes to your eyesight take place slowly over time and if you aren’t having regular check ups, you don’t even notice the changes to your vision. As you lose that vision, it can never return. The key is to prevent the loss from ever happening. 

 Going forward, I feel I have a good plan, with options, including the laser surgery or different eye drops. It’s good to have a doctor you trust. For everyone reading this, I hope you too have a good optometrist, who is doing more than just working on the prescription for your glasses. Someone who is giving you an occasional Eye Pressure test. Someone who is concerned with your health. Someone like Dr Shannon Moore of Warrenton, Virginia.

PS – if you don’t wear glasses, and have great eyesight, STILL go to an eye doctor to have them checked out.