You might think that your vision is something that you use every day, so if it worsens, you will notice it, right? Interestingly, that isn’t always the case. Some eye diseases, such as glaucoma, can cause such a gradual loss of vision that you might not notice any issues until the disease has progressed.

Thankfully, Vistar patient Carolyn Mathena caught her glaucoma diagnosis in its early stages.

Carolyn’s Story

Carolyn had been going to an ophthalmologist to treat an eye disease known as Fuchs’ Corneal Dystrophy, in which the innermost layer of cells in the cornea deteriorate. Fuchs’ runs in families, and her brother had it, so she wasn’t surprised when she had to have surgery to address it. But after her surgery to treat the condition, she noticed some changes in her vision that were abnormal.

“I had some pain in my eye and noticed a little blurriness in my vision that almost looked milky,” said Carolyn. “I went to the eye doctor, and the pressure in my eye was sky high.”

“It was close to 70, whereas normal eye pressure is between 12 and 22,” said Carolyn.

Working Under Pressure

Carolyn’s ophthalmologist got her an appointment with Dr. Tad Schoedel at Vistar Eye Center as quickly as possible.

“At those pressures, permanent vision loss can occur in a matter of hours,” said Dr. Schoedel. “Carolyn arrived at the clinic in this dangerous state but was relatively asymptomatic.”

“He immediately prescribed me special eye drops that are designed to bring the pressure down,” explained Carolyn.

Carolyn had to go in every week or so to make sure the pressure in her eye stayed steady. The eye drops helped, but it became apparent that the eyedrops on their own weren’t going to solve the issue.

“Dr. Schoedel eventually recommended that I have surgery to continue stabilizing my eye pressure,” said Carolyn. Through the surgery, Dr. Schoedel was able to place drainage tubes in Carolyn’s eyes to allow fluid to drain from her eyes, thereby reducing pressure.

“Glaucoma is treated with drops, laser, and surgery,” said Dr. Schoedel. “In a stepwise fashion we were able to achieve a terrific pressure for Carolyn with zero glaucoma medications.”

Back on Track

Two years after the ordeal, Carolyn is back to living her life normally. Thanks to the quick action of Carolyn’s ophthalmologist and Dr. Schoedel’s effective glaucoma treatment, Carolyn enjoys living life with great eyesight.

“Honestly, looking back on everything, the key really was Dr. Schoedel,” said Carolyn. “He’s an excellent doctor. He didn’t rush me into all of the extremes of surgery. He helped me find the least invasive solution, and he did what was best to get me back on track.”

Dr. Schoedel was happy to partner with Carolyn to get her eye pressure stabilized and back to normal levels. “Glaucoma care is a partnership between an eye doctor and the patient,” said Dr. Schoedel. “Getting to know patients like Carolyn is one of the greatest joys of my career.”

“If I had one piece of advice for everyone,” said Carolyn, “it’s to pay attention to your vision. Even if it’s just subtle changes, make sure to ask your eye doctor about it. Thankfully, Dr. Schoedel was able to lower the pressure in my eye before any damage happened.”

“I wear glasses, as many people do, but it’s unrelated to glaucoma. My vision is still really great.”