Dawn’s Story

I want more people to know about acute glaucoma, and how it can result in blindness instantly…

Easter 1999, I was in my lounge room just on the phone when my right eye instantly went blind. I also had at the same time, shocking pounding in the forehead, bad pains in the stomach and vomiting.

I went to an all-night doctor who said it was one of three things – one of them being acute glaucoma. We were sent to the emergency department, at this stage I was in a wheelchair, and it was decided immediately that I had acute glaucoma.

The hospital contacted an ophthalmologist at eleven o'clock at night, who treated me with drops for quite a few hours until the pressure was right. I had four nights in hospital so that my pressure could be monitored.

I followed this up with laser surgery with a specialist, I had a v cut in my right eye and four weeks later I had the left eye done also; I was informed that if I got it in one eye, I could get it in the other.

All these years later, I have wonderful sight, and no drops have been required since that year of my treatment, I am now 82 years old.

Editor note: "Dawn was diagnosed with Angle Closure Glaucoma which affects 10% of glaucoma cases in Australia. Please consult your eye care professional if you have a history of the symptoms experienced by Dawn or if anyone in your family has mentioned having narrow angles". 

No photo supplied, stock image used.