I spent the whole of last week's blog going on about my mobility scooter adventures that I never actually mentioned the Gilenya related news that I wanted to share with you. But that is me, I'm afraid.
Had I not bored you with my self indulgent story of crashes etc, I would've told you of the visual fields test they did on my eye. For those that don't know, a visual fields test is when they get you to look into this white box and stare at a black dot. Then very small lights will flash intermittently at different places outside of the black dot. Every time you see a light, you push a button on the clicker thing they give you to hold.
The lights can be a distance from the black dot, so it's checking how far you can see out of the 'corner of your eye'. I never really understood that saying. Your eyes are spherical, circles don't have corners! Anyway, who cares, back to to point, you repeat the test with the other eye and the results will show what lights you missed and the ones you saw. That is your visual field.
Mine is okay. My left eye isn't as good as my right eye, but I know that anyway from whenever I do that optician's eye chart, where you read through a row of letters that decreases in size every time you you go to the line beneath.
They then put in some eye drops to make my pupils dilate so they can look into my macula - a spot in the centre of the retina. Because of the Gilenya treatment, they check it for swelling and whilst they're there, they check the optic nerve for signs of disease activity. They didn't find any lesions or swelling on the nerve and my macula is normal too.
The consultant also informed me that I don't need glasses either. This news leaves me content that the issues I was experiencing with my eyes in the summer haven't left any permanent damage. Dan likes this.
If you're taking Gilenya, or considering switching to the medication, I would advise you to keep an eye on your vision (yeah, I know) and report any visual disturbances you may encounter.
Getting cold in the UK. Keep warm people.
Dan
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