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should my dads optician have noticed GCA/PMR before he went blind?

Posted , 4 users are following.

ruth_14412
ruth_14412

hello PMR/GCA forum, 

Im in shock as last week my dad suddenly lost his sight 

it was eventually diagnosed at the hospital as GCA. sadly he is now blind

my question is: should his optician have picked this up in his eye tests?

Dad was reading the newspaper and suddenly couldnt see.

they went to the NHS optician who tested him and said she would write a letter to his GP. 

3 days later he visited his GP who ignored his symptoms and told him to go home!

thankfully he went to the hospital who admitted him immediately started steroids, but sadly his vision is gone. 

Im sure everyone has sad stories like this to share. 

but i really want to understand if he has been having regular eye tests, should the optician have noticed the eye problems and referred him sooner? he is 85 but very active and generally healthy.

and when he presented with greatly reduced vision last week, is the optician accountable for not telling him to go straight to A&E with a medical emergcency?

can GCA be picked up in standard NHS eye tests? or at least reduced blood circulation of the eye? any ideas anyone?

many thanks all

 

0 likes, 21 replies

21 Replies

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  • angela43016
    angela43016 ruth_14412

    Posted

    Hi Ruth

    I don't need to imagine how u feel as I have been through the same. I went back and fall to the doctor's for 18 months with my Mum and various symptoms to no avail and unfortunately I hadn't heard of this illness and he kept saying that she had a raging infection but they couldn't find where! I took her for eye tests and they didn't spot it either. It was only when she phoned me one night and said the sight had gone in one Eye that I took her to A &E that they diagnosed it and managed to save the other eye. I'm not trying for sympathy but sometimes it helps to talk to someone who has been through it. I also know another feeling is guilt, don't even go there.

     

    • ruth_14412
      ruth_14412 angela43016

      Posted

      thanks Angela, yes that is another terribly sad story. but thats great that A&E responded and your mum has some sight still. currently im feeling angry with the optician & GP who really should have told him to go to A&E not go home and wait! but thats a all too common story.

      yes its good to connect, thanks  

    • angela43016
      angela43016 ruth_14412

      Posted

      It is a sad story but sometimes we just have to accept that what happens, is! We can't change it unfortunately so we have to go forward. Took me a while but we have to accept or it eats away at us. I'm sure you did everything you could but we are not medics. Bitterness just eats away at you and it won't help you. Try just accepting the situation today. I know it's hard but the only way we can go is forward and I'm sure your 
    • angela43016
      angela43016 ruth_14412

      Posted

      It is hard but I'm sure you did everything you could. We can't change anything now so we have to go forward. You did everything you could, please don't let the past dictate your future. We have to deal with today, hard I know but bitterness just makes it harder and then we can't cope and feel more guilty. My Mum is now in a nursing home as has developed dementia but has settled as such. Hope you can deal with what's ahead. If you don't you won't be able to cope with what is ahead.it's hard but has to be done, sorry to sound brutal 
    • ruth_14412
      ruth_14412 angela43016

      Posted

      yes i agree. we all will make our peace, just a shock right now. thanks angela!
    • mrs_k
      mrs_k ruth_14412

      Posted

      Ruth and Angela

      7 years ago both PMR & GCA were little known.  Then there were two support groups, one in East Anglia and one in Scotland.  Now we have three charities and 14 support groups and we have succeeded in beginning to get these two little known illnesses with a higher profile.

      It has not been easy and there is still a long way to go.   The ultimate aim is that what happened to your parents does not happen to people in the future. 

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