Back To The Emergency Department For My Eyes
[ Tuesday November 7th 2023 at 12:39 pm ]
I am back at my hospital. My eye is right back to the way it was when I had my first eye specialist appointment on October 6th. There has been a long wait tonight. The hospital emergency department was just slammed with critically ill people when I arrived. I didn't mind the wait.
The emergency department doctor was very thorough. Before I went to the hospital I prepared a brief typed 1 page chart with the significant dates and what happened to begin building a picture in the doctor's mind of what is wrong and help the emergency department doctor be able to quickly focus in on what questions to ask in order to help me effectively. I am again having a severe allergic reaction to something. The doctor has asked me to start looking through my home and see what changed over the past 3 months. I can only think of using different deodorant right now. But I am not home. I have bought into this process and will gladly look when I am home and rested up. To address the allergic reaction I was asked to start using an antihistamine. This will bring down the swelling and break the cycle I've been caught in for the past 3½ months. I asked about drug interactions with what I am already using for managing my chronic pain. I am really glad I did. One of the possible antihistamine medications reacts with some chronic pain medications and causes breathing to be suppressed. It was a really good question I asked. There is a specific one I am able to use that is safe.
The emergency department doctor said she would do the referral to the dermatologist. The eye specialist I saw on October 6th and again on October 27th wants this to happen. He wants the eczema on my face resolved. With how sensitive eyes are the emergency department doctor isn't sure what the protocol is. This likely explains why my eye doctor wanted me to be seen by a dermatologist. With my eye symptoms outpacing when I am able to get an appointment with my family doctor I needed this set in motion. I explained that I sent a one off letter to a random dermatologist in town in an attempt to get an appointment without going to the hospital. But this hasn't been acknowledged. The emergency department doctor will send a referral to this same dermatologist and CC my family doctor so she knows what is happening. She explained these waits are typically long and some even get to the point of no longer accepting referrals because they have just too many people waiting already.
I am still to have the appointment with my family doctor on November 21st regardless of how this progresses. I can't see into my own eyes to make an evaluation myself.
In addition to the antihistamine to bring down swelling caused by the allergic reaction I have medication from the eye doctor to use for the next 7 days. I also need to put a warm wash cloth on my eye 4 times each day to help flush it out. I previously purchased about 30 wash clothes so I wouldn't reinfect my eye with each successive use.
If this just doesn't work then I am directed to make an appointment with the eye doctor on November 20th to decide what is next. We need to know how my body responds. We also need to see if I am able to identify what is causing the allergic reaction. This makes sense to me. I accept that it is process and not instant results.
The best news of this evening is that there aren't scratches on my eye from the eye 3 eye lashes I washed out. I didn't want to use the medication that goes into my eyes without knowing this first. The medication I was given for my eye is very powerful. When it is used for more than a month it causes complications that impair vision. I am trying to be responsible. Everything that was talked about this evening was very reasonable.