Second Shot at Sight

I got my second eye injection on Thursday, and so far the experience has been roughly the same. My eye’s still a bit score and scratchy, but oddly enough, I don’t seem to have gained any more floaters compared to the last injection. The doctor says the bleeding under my macula appears to be receding and suggested I may not need any further shots after this one. We’ll see in six weeks, I suppose.

The most annoying part of the last injection is the slight scattering of dots in my vision extending from the center to the bottom right edge, which slowly fans out the further it gets away from the middle. What’s weird about them is that they don’t move with my eye, so they’re not floaters, and they’ve been there since I got that first injection. Still, despite this, it will be worth it assuming my macula continues to heal and no further vessels form beneath it.

To me, the only remaining questions are regarding what steps I should take regarding monitoring to ensure I’m not forming new vascular tissue in the coming months and years. For both of my eyes, even though I’ve only had this problem with one thus far. From what I’ve read, there are non-invasive scans they can use for this. But how often should I go, given my high myopia and the demonstrable fact I’ve already had one bleed?

This whole thing is a bit odd, really. I’ve found that I need more light to see things clearly now, and it’s that same light that reveals all the new imperfections in my vision. Aside from the blank spot in my central vision, there really is quite an increase in several different distractions. There’s some kind of dark haze that hangs out in the upper left quadrant, the previously mentioned spray of dots in the lower right, multiple new and fairly large oval floaters that swim across my vision like some kind of drunk amoebas, and a stark black pinpoint in the lower left of center like the inverse of a star in the night sky. It’s like trying to observe the world through an aquarium that has long since been forgotten by the owner, and it’s slowly becoming more filthy and opaque with each passing day.

I see all of this every time I take a walk to get some sun and exercise. Yet it’s not a universal thing. My brain is trying valiantly to mix the disparate signals from both of my eyes and erase some of these imperfections. The blank spot in the center for example, merely becomes slightly blurry when using both eyes. All the floaters are still there, but not as prevalent. The spray of dots seems to be the only universal that doesn’t vary, and it’s much more obvious under sufficient lighting conditions.

I suspect I’d need a vitrectomy to truly rid myself of all of the new detritus, but because of my myopia, any kind of surgery vastly increases my risk of a retinal detachment. Even these relatively minor injections can trigger such an outcome, so I may have to end up living with it. It’s better than going blind, either by allowing the macular degeneration to continue unchecked, or having my retina detach. I vaguely wonder what my visual field will resemble once all is said and done.

Anyway, we’ll see how it goes.

Until Tomorrow,