optic nerve atrophy

Question:

"OptomSteve" <steveop…@bigpond.com> wrote in message <news:tqqR6.29164$hV3.47425@newsfeeds.bigpond.com>… > ". . . In the business, we don’t and shouldn’t give the "don’t worry about it" line > because we don’t wish to explain everything to the lay people. We do it > because we don’t want you to get worked up about every little possibilty > that it could be."

That is precisely the sort of patronizing attitude I hate. If I face the possibility of going blind from some condition, who has more right to the information than I? Not only are they my eyes, but I’m paying the bill! If I happen to get "worked up" about the doctor’s findings, so be it; perhaps being worked up would be appropriate in some circumstances. If I have trouble with being too worked up, I’ll see a psychiatrist, not an eye doctor. There may be patients who are unable to digest or accept information about their conditions. However, I believe the default presumption should be that a patient is an intelligent adult, interested in and capable of participating in his or her treatment. Perhaps if a doctor has a question about a patient’s maturity or intelligence, he or she ought to discuss with the patient whether something more than a "don’t worry, big daddy will take care of everything" response is desired. I recently underwent neurosurgery at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, and the neurologist, the neurosurgeon, the anesthesiologist and everyone else involved were communicative and forthcoming, informing me of risks and benefits involved every step along the way. I liked it that way. Don Singleton

Response:

I was "privileged" to hear 2 doctors mentioning "a pale optic nerve" and that is my "good" eye (even tho I have had laser surgury for a sudden severe attack of glaucoma in it). Now I have a fairly dense cataract in that eye, I’m near-sighted plus I like to spend time on my computer. I wonder if any of that is causing the possible problem. I have an appointment to go for a checkup in 6 months. After thinking it over thoroughly, I realize the doctor is *not* God- He doesn’t really know what will happen in the future. He can only checkup and even *then* if there is nothing that can really be done about a problem what can he, or anyone else do?? I lost the central vision in my right eye by "experimental surgury" for removal of a blood clot. I was told by an excellent doctor that the clot would go away eventually but, then, when I was sent to this "Top Dog" he told me it would *not* go away, and introduced me to this doctor who could do this "latest" surgury. It was to be a fairly simple "put the anticoagulant in and siphon it out" (it was very interesting to watch by the way) until the retina detached and then we had a 9 hour operation with a cute little buckle in there. The moral being I now like very conservative doctors… +- Lois -+ afn12…@afn.org On 1 Jun 2001, Matt Prince wrote: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> >I believe the default presumption should be that > >a patient is an intelligent adult, interested in and capable of participating > >in his or her treatment. > Ditto!!

Response:

>I believe the default presumption should be that >a patient is an intelligent adult, interested in and capable of participating >in his or her treatment.

Ditto!!

Response:

I’ve been being treated for glaucoma in my right eye with one drop of Xalatan in my right eye at bedtime for a few years now. At my most recent visit to the opthalmologist, the dr mumbled "optic nerve atrophy" to the nurse taking notes. When I asked what that meant, he tried to reassure me that it wasn’t anything I needed to worry about — but he also scheduled me for a 4-month checkup rather than my normal 6-month checkup. I do get the impression he’s pretty thorough and errs on the side of caution, but I still wanted to see what experiences (if any) other people have had with this. The numbers: .4 cupping (which I gather is about normal), pale optic nerve head (guess that means it’s not getting enough blood supply, despite the fact that the cupping isn’t that high?), pressure of 18 (which is usually considered OK). Normal visual fields. And me — well, I’m 36 years old with relatively high myopia that’s been progressing little by little over the years (I’m up to -8 on my contact lens prescriptions). It seems like, if I do indeed have optic nerve atrophy, it may be pressure-independent. What else can cause this, does anyone know? Are there any treatments? My right eye is my only good one (the left eye is useless due to strabismus/nystagmus), so I’m a tad nervous about all this…thanks for any info! —- Lee Newman, e…@psulias.psu.edu | Patience, n.: Research Programmer | A minor form of despair Library Computing Services, Penn. State | disguised as a virtue. http://www.personal.psu.edu/ewn1/ | — Ambrose Bierce

Response:

I would love to see a photo of your optic nerve head. A 36 year old with 0.4 cups and pressures of 18mmHg does not sound like your average glaucoma patient. Anyway, the paleness of the optic nerve is the optic nerve atrophy. The cause is most likely due to the fact that your a -8.00 myope. Myopes have a greater tendancy to get conditions such as glaucoma, optic atrophy, retinal detachments amongst other things. Your doc is obviously getting you back sooner so that he can assess if any changes are occuring in a short period of time. The reason that he has given you the "don’t worry about it" line is because there is a slim chance that it could something sinister. The last thing he needs you to do is worry. There is nothing that you can do to reverse optic atrophy, nor is there anything you can do to bring it on. Certainly you need to ask him more questions about why he is getting you back sooner. In the business, we don’t and shouldn’t give the "don’t worry about it" line because we don’t wish to explain everything to the lay people. We do it because we don’t want you to get worked up about every little possibilty that it could be. With situations such as potentially progressing optic atrophy, we really do have to play it by ear. Everybody’s different.

Response:

I’m with you on this. In article <fedf9a3e.0106010625.2b7e9…@posting.google.com>, – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -donal…@sprynet.com (Don Singleton) wrote: > "OptomSteve" <steveop…@bigpond.com> wrote in message > <news:tqqR6.29164$hV3.47425@newsfeeds.bigpond.com>… > > ". . . In the business, we don’t and shouldn’t give the "don’t worry > > about it" line > > because we don’t wish to explain everything to the lay people. We do it > > because we don’t want you to get worked up about every little > > possibilty > > that it could be." > That is precisely the sort of patronizing attitude I hate. If I face > the > possibility of going blind from some condition, who has more right to the > information than I? Not only are they my eyes, but I’m paying the bill! > If I happen to get "worked up" about the doctor’s findings, so be it; > perhaps > being worked up would be appropriate in some circumstances. If I have > trouble > with being too worked up, I’ll see a psychiatrist, not an eye doctor. > There may be patients who are unable to digest or accept information > about > their conditions. However, I believe the default presumption should be > that > a patient is an intelligent adult, interested in and capable of > participating > in his or her treatment. Perhaps if a doctor has a question about a > patient’s > maturity or intelligence, he or she ought to discuss with the patient > whether > something more than a "don’t worry, big daddy will take care of > everything" > response is desired. > I recently underwent neurosurgery at Columbia Presbyterian Medical > Center > in New York, and the neurologist, the neurosurgeon, the anesthesiologist > and > everyone else involved were communicative and forthcoming, informing me > of > risks and benefits involved every step along the way. I liked it that > way. > Don Singleton

Response:

In alt.support.glaucoma OptomSteve <steveop…@bigpond.com> wrote: > Anyway, the paleness of the optic nerve is the optic nerve atrophy. The > cause is most likely due to the fact that your a -8.00 myope. Myopes have a > greater tendancy to get conditions such as glaucoma, optic atrophy, retinal > detachments amongst other things. Your doc is obviously getting you back > sooner so that he can assess if any changes are occuring in a short period > of time. The reason that he has given you the "don’t worry about it" line is > because there is a slim chance that it could something sinister. The last > thing he needs you to do is worry.

At least OptomSteve was good enough — and it is good — to provide an explanation here and help the original questioner, so let’s not jump on him too hard for offering an explanation of how the original doc may have seen it — I agree with the other readers about the default I want to BUT I know from some of my relatives that it is actually true that not everyone feels that way (and they are not the folks one would find on newsgroups, of course), SO . . . practitioners do have a fine line to walk. not necessarily defending original doc, but definitely defending OptomSteve . . . JMHO regards, Anne Peticolas <pet…@io.com>

Response:

Agreed — conservative is very good in these matters. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Lois Finello wrote: > I was "privileged" to hear 2 doctors mentioning "a pale optic nerve" and > that is my "good" eye (even tho I have had laser surgury for a sudden > severe attack of glaucoma in it). Now I have a fairly dense cataract > in that eye, I’m near-sighted plus I like to spend time on my computer. I > wonder if any of that is causing the possible problem. I have an > appointment to go for a checkup in 6 months. After thinking it over > thoroughly, I realize the doctor is *not* God- He doesn’t really know what > will happen in the future. He can only checkup and even *then* if there > is nothing that can really be done about a problem what can he, or anyone > else do?? > I lost the central vision in my right eye by "experimental surgury" for > removal of a blood clot. I was told by an excellent doctor that the clot > would go away eventually but, then, when I was sent to this "Top Dog" he > told me it would *not* go away, and introduced me to this doctor who could > do this "latest" surgury. It was to be a fairly simple "put the > anticoagulant in and siphon it out" (it was very interesting to watch by > the way) until the retina detached and then we had a 9 hour operation with > a cute little buckle in there. > The moral being I now like very conservative doctors… > +- Lois -+ > afn12…@afn.org > On 1 Jun 2001, Matt Prince wrote: > > >I believe the default presumption should be that > > >a patient is an intelligent adult, interested in and capable of participating > > >in his or her treatment. > > Ditto!!

Response:

The technical stuff is beyond me, but one thing seems clear: you should be asking these questions to your own doctor, whom, I presume, you paid, and who has all the pertinent information about your eyes. And in my opinion you should not be satisfied with answers such as, "It’s nothing you need to worry about." I think next time you see him you should insist on a short conversation in which you can ask your questions (among them "Why are you scheduling me for more frequent checkups?") and hear his answers. And if the answers aren’t satisfactory, find another doctor. At least that would be my course of action. I hate that patronizing, "Don’t worry about it" attitude of some doctors, who presume they know everything and you’re not capable of understanding hardly anything, so you should just put yourself in their hands. They’re your eyes, not his. Forgive the rant, but it burns me up to hear about a doctor acting like that. Good luck to you, Don Singleton – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Lee Newman wrote: > I’ve been being treated for glaucoma in my right eye with one drop of > Xalatan in my right eye at bedtime for a few years now. At my most > recent visit to the opthalmologist, the dr mumbled "optic nerve atrophy" > to the nurse taking notes. When I asked what that meant, he tried to > reassure me that it wasn’t anything I needed to worry about — but he also > scheduled me for a 4-month checkup rather than my normal 6-month checkup. > I do get the impression he’s pretty thorough and errs on the side of > caution, but I still wanted to see what experiences (if any) other people > have had with this. > The numbers: .4 cupping (which I gather is about normal), pale optic nerve > head (guess that means it’s not getting enough blood supply, despite the > fact that the cupping isn’t that high?), pressure of 18 (which is usually > considered OK). Normal visual fields. And me — well, I’m 36 years old > with relatively high myopia that’s been progressing little by little over > the years (I’m up to -8 on my contact lens prescriptions). > It seems like, if I do indeed have optic nerve atrophy, it may be > pressure-independent. What else can cause this, does anyone know? Are > there any treatments? My right eye is my only good one (the left > eye is useless due to strabismus/nystagmus), so I’m a tad nervous about > all this…thanks for any info! > —- > Lee Newman, e…@psulias.psu.edu | Patience, n.: > Research Programmer | A minor form of despair > Library Computing Services, Penn. State | disguised as a virtue. > http://www.personal.psu.edu/ewn1/ | — Ambrose Bierce

Glaucoma Disease

Information about Glaucoma

Glaucoma Treatment

optic nerve atrophy

Question:

Response:

Response:

Response:

Response:

Response:

Response:

Response:

Response:

Response:

Related Posts

Write a comment