So, you wouldn't put chapstick on your lips from a tube given to you by your mother-in-law would you? I dont think chapstick, or really any personal makeup/medications should be shared. That includes eyedrops.
I think I have written about this before... but EKC - epidemic keratoconjunctivitis is really an epidemic. It is killing me! Literally, my hands are raw from washing non-stop. I have had so many patients come in with it. The worst part, most of them have gone untreated, or wrongly treated for weeks. Many people with red eyes simply go to their PCP or ER. Well, its not that MDs cant diagnose different conjunctivitises, but they dont have the tools to. So, everyone goes home with erythromycin ointment or polytrim drops and end up spreading this eye disease to their entire family.
I woke up this morning, eyes white and quiet. I think Im most afraid of getting EKC myself... A big snow storm was due to hit New England and I was kind of hoping not to go to work. I got up at 730 since I had to be at work by 10. I went outside and there was only around 5 inches on the ground and my street was plowed, so I cleaned off my car, shovelled the porch and driveway and went inside for some hot coffee. I turned on the news and saw that where I worked was covered in a foot of snow and realized, if I made it off the island, I probably wouldnt make it back. I love the snow, but more so if I can be skiing. Stuck inside kind of stinks. So, I turned on my computer and parused facebook. And after all this time there it was. The ex and his new gf in photos of them on a ski slope. Its not that I suddenly wished to be that girl in the photo, but I was jealous of the happiness on their faces. The move here was exciting, but its still been so hard. Im not happy. It hit me harder than I had thought, but my eyes got red and watery pretty fast.
EKC is a virus. Like a common cold, it cannot be treated with antibiotics. Your immune system will eventually rid the virus, but here in lies the problem. Your white blood cells are like the white knights of the immune system. If a bug invades, they go nuts swords blasing. So, your cornea, or the clear part of the front of your eye. When it is infected with this super strong virus, the WBCs come in to fight it. They are white, literally, and form little spots called subepithelial infiltrates. So now your clear cornea is like a white spotted dalmation. Imagine how great it is to see through it. Yep - not good. Now these can go away, but sometimes they dont.
The reason I am so upset about this, is I keep getting patients who had really bad eye infections, werent treated correctly, and now Im the asshole telling them they prob wont see 20/20 again. A large part of treatment is actually giving them steroids. Steroids stop your immune system. It seems counter-intuitive, but you are trying to prevent them from going to crazy. Trying to prevent the SEIs to a degree, or hoping they break up and go away. So, the best recent patient came in and it was just her and her son. Instead of going to the doc, her mother-in-law gave her some drops she got in PR. So she and her family have been using them and just spreading the virus back and forth.
So my eyes welled up a little bit. But there were no white knights coming to my rescue. I dont think I'd want to use a drop to stop them from coming to my aid, but if loneliness was a virus, Id certainly appreciate a cure. After treating my patient and her son, I made her go make appts for her entire family to come in. Lets hope we can get their vision back! For all of us, the best treatment is time... and hope for the best outcome!
No comments:
Post a Comment