Herpes simplex?!
Friday, February 17th was the day. I had an appointment at the hospital and I would now really find out what's wrong. I was happy to get there, because I couldn't get my eye open in daylight. From school I drove towards the hospital, this was around 10.00 am. The children then break and because of that I would probably be back in time ...
In the waiting area there were, with
all due respect, just older people. The average age must be between 60 to 70. It had all the appearance of that most of them had their
eyes tested or something similar.
I was there within a very different
problem of course. First, I was called by an assistant. She was doing all kinds
of standard eye-tests. That
went fine, though she saw that I had
some trouble with the light. To remedy this she did
put some drops in my eye. First a yellow drop to
numb the eye and one drop to get the pupil
a bit wider. Then I was sent to Dr. Moes,
the "real" eye specialist.
His first response was very clear:
"Wow, that doesn’t look nice." He looked with different colored lights in the eye, despite the anesthetic, I had trouble keeping the eye open. His
conclusion was that it’s indeed a
bacterial infection. For a moment he thought of a herpes, but it was not very clear to see. It seems to be so that
you reach a branching herpes in the eye.
This was not
at all obvious.
To improve diagnosis, he sent me home for the week with
a soothing ointment. I forgotten
the name…
After the hospital visit, I am indeed drove back to my work. It was clear that I couldn't finish that day unharmed.
Saturday
18 and
Sunday, February 19 there was something
different in the eye. The intention
was that it would be quieter, but instead
it became worse. I
decided to relax that weekend. As the weekend was
progressed the eye gets worse. It was red and I
was slightly couldn’t
tolerated light. Fortunately, I had no pain. Sunday I not go to my work. Maud
and I didn’t dare to wait another week on
Monday and so we went to the
hospital again. Dr. Moes was shocked when he saw me appear and was somewhat surprised that
I could so bad tolerate
daylight. After another inspection diagnosis was
clear: "Sir, you have herpes simplex in the
eye, which is almost inevitable. We
are on time fortunately, because with this disease
people can be blind."
I did not know what I was thinking of this and
apparently this visible on my face. "Are
you quite sure?" I asked him.
He replied: "Not quite, but it has all
appearances. Friday, February 24th, you come back." Again I
got a cream to take home. The drug called Acyclovir
Zovirax and he ordered me to put it 5
times a day in the eye.
The
following days went again dramatically.
Sometimes it seemed a little better,
but maybe this had more to do with my mood.
I felt no further ill and I decided to
make the best of it. Most of the
time I sat in a darkened bedroom. Fortunately we have blackout curtains. Sometimes I just
walked into the kitchen to eat or drink and
I went, not unimportant, occasionally to the toilet. I spent my time listening
to the replay of television
programs. Really look
was too much to ask, because the screen was too
bright. Also reading, work
on the computer or other things you
need to light,
I hit on. Dinner
was a chore. I did that in a dark corner of the room and then went right back
into the bedroom. My world was small and quite
literally I lived a hermit existence. The
salving we did very
consistent. I am writing WE,
because it was almost impossible for me to do this alone. Maud helped me to
continue and if she were working, I tried it myself. A hassle, because the cream
is almost as thick as Vaseline.
The
above process
was very gradual. If an assassin my eye made me activities more and
more impossible. The lowest point
for the week came Friday. On the way to the
hospital it was impossible to keep
my eyes open. To alleviate
suffering, I hold a towel before
my eyes. Maud helped me to across
the streets. It gave some frustration sometimes, because I was insensitive to pavement edges and
other obstacles. Normally you
do not pay
attention, but the road seemed a
maze of obstacles. All the people talking, animals and vehicles sounds were double decibels. I was
pleased to see Dr. Moes again. There
will probably be see some progress.
His first reaction was again typical: "Gosh, you're even walking with a
towel? Are you really so bothered
by the light?" After my confirmation he understood that it was serious. After
another check he was still convinced that I
had herpes. Maud
and I hesitated and asked, "Isn’t it better if I still go to the another eye-hospital?" Dr. Moes said: "It is not necessary, Monday
I will be watching
a colleague of mine. She has years of experience and also worked in the eye- hospital." So I went back home and still only used Zovirax gel.
Monday,
February 27 I went with Frans (the
husband of my mother) to the hospital.
Still I held a towel
before my eye. It's funny how I was orientating in a different way.
So I felt the
corners and stops. The movements that go with them gave me a point of
recognition. This time Frans
escorted me to the right desk. We were indeed
welcomed by another doctor, Dr. Tobos. I found out she wasn’t very sympathetic.
She forgot to shake hands with Frans and seemed
not much to worry about the situation. After a short check, it was no
more; she was
convinced of herpes. After 2 minutes (!) I was back outside.
Friday, March 2, on the day of my brother’s birthday,
I could come back. Fortunately, not with her because I found her rather curtly. Dr.
Moes would just
consider it further.
The rest of the week was a bit worse. I did not think it was worse, but this proved the case. The eye was redder and again there was almost no white to be seen. In addition, the view was also slightly degraded. I tied this to the salve that I used. In the leaflet I read stood that some temporary blurred vision was normal. So I trust the doctors. If two doctors says the same, it will be surely ok?!
The rest of the week was a bit worse. I did not think it was worse, but this proved the case. The eye was redder and again there was almost no white to be seen. In addition, the view was also slightly degraded. I tied this to the salve that I used. In the leaflet I read stood that some temporary blurred vision was normal. So I trust the doctors. If two doctors says the same, it will be surely ok?!
Thursday,
March 1st, I went along with Maud
to the musical "Soldier of
Orange" . Along the way I held a
towel before my eyes. I was
lucky that it soon
got dark that night. Once there, I view
rigorous taped. First
the salves in the eye, then gauze over it, then black
paper, then a large piece of
gauze and finally a patch.
I really enjoyed watching the musical. What
a wonderful and great spectacle! Afterwards I
was happy like a child to experience this. I
cried because of that happiness. It was for the first time since 4 weeks, I was in a different
environment. On our way home Maud
and I discus what we should do. We knew that met
Dr. Moes next day. Our judgment was that
I wanted a second opinion or go to the
eye-hospital. Actually I only wanted to remove the eye…
Friday, March 2 was an important day on the road to clarity. In my next blog you will read how that day was!
Friday, March 2 was an important day on the road to clarity. In my next blog you will read how that day was!
