Over the past two months, I have been tending to an inflamed cornea in my left eye, related to my Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), that was triggered by the smoke from the Napa/Sonoma County fires, north of San Francisco. I have had eye related flare ups two other times in recent years. My first eye incident was in spring of 2013. I was preparing to depart for a long awaited ocean paddle training camp in Hawaii. I had to cancel. I had an infected ulcer on my retina that was serious. Life threw a curve ball. Time to re-group, tune into the healing mindset, take action and be pro-active towards healing.
In all cases, multiple trips to see the ophthalmologist was required during the first week to assess my treatment response. Thereafter, I saw the eye doctor weekly for the next month. I have a stellar doctor who provides quality care and is conservative when it comes to prescribing prednisone, a potent steroid. I began with an intensive antibiotic treatment. Then Prednisone was prescribed for 6 weeks. Eye care and treatment has been a learning curve and new subject on living with Rheumatoid Arthritis for me. Reading up on eye care and the affects of Prednisone informed my decisions and choices of activities and diet during my healing.
In my discovery, I found that “Ulcerative Keratitis”, inflammation of the cornea, is most common in people who have Rheumatoid Arthritis. Meaning, that, the eyes are another way inflammation can manifest in the body. Now, for me, it is one more thing to be aware of and prevent re-occurrancies. The ulcer, the infection, was an advanced condition that developed because I waited too long to take action. For two weeks, my eyes had been bothering me – dry, irritated and itchy. I didn’t take it serious enough to get it checked out until I could no longer open my eye due to light sensitivity and my eye ached. Stubborn me. Finally, I went to the ophthalmologist. Note to self – take action sooner.
Every flare up has had a short lived impact on the quality of life in my work, socially and with regular activities such as paddling, reading, watching movies and driving. Suddenly, a key sense, the eye, is compromised. Our eyes are the windows to our world. Thankfully, we have two of them. My affected eye was sensitive to computer screens and bright sun impacting my vision. At times, I just wanted to close both eyes and rest them. Some days, I was averse to going outside. Anyone who knows me would consider this strange that I wanted to stay indoors since I am known to go for a hike, run or paddle outdoors almost every day. I wanted to be in a protected space and had to surrender to nesting, nurturing and being still. After a week of treatment, I have been fortunate enough to maintain my regular active lifestyle with a extra focus and discipline on healing. To heal my eye has taken a lot of energy, focus and intentional self care.
During this time, self care has been a routine of steroid and antibiotic eye drops several times per day and also oral doses of both. Prednisone was prescribed to me. Known as an effective drug for inflammation, it is a powerful drug that affects brain function. The treatment begins with a high dose and then you taper down each week. For me, prednisone impacts my ability to focus on anything for more than a few minutes. I now can imagine what it may feel like to live with Attention Deficient Disorder and can empathize more with those challenges.
Prednisone has also disrupted my sleep pattern. For the first 3-4 weeks, many nights, I could only sleep 4-5 hours when my norm is 7-8 hours. Prednisone, can also weaken bone density and reduce muscle mass fairly quickly. So, I kept to my training regime with running, weights and core exercises. Self care has been front and center during this time- staying hydrated, taking vitamins and probiotics to counter the antibiotics, plus eating well. I eat wholesome food and love to cook. We are lucky to have a year round farmers market where I shop for local veggies and am able to find good deals on organic produce. All of these meds are hard on the immune system making it even more important to keep the immune system strong during this flu and cold season. Careful with Prednisone- effective high risk meds.
Every time I have had an eye flare up, my ophthalmologist has sternly requested me to put a hold on doing any water related activities such as paddling and swimming. I paddle between 40-50 miles weekly on San Francisco Bay to stay fit for outrigger canoe racing season. I do not attempt to explain to doctor that it is highly unlikely that I would capsize my outrigger canoe or that I can wear large wrap around sunglasses for protection. That said, I take heed of his warnings and the seriousness of this eye condition that could lead to blindness. Bottom line, I will make my own decision on risk taking. My compromise has been to paddle in flatter conditions with less wind and waves and with good eye protection. Salt water heals. Next week, I see my ophthalmologist with an expectation that my eye has completely healed and to get my official green light okay for returning to all water activities. For me, it has taken an average of 2-3 months to heal and fully recover each time.
A few of my strengths in dealing with curve balls and everyday living with RA, is my mindset to heal, learn and take action related to self care. No matter what the chronic condition may be or the curve ball, I envision a healthy and positive outcome. I learn as much as I can without getting bogged down in information. I take action in the areas of what I can control- my food, environment, nutrition, exercise and stress management. Next week, I will paddle a 12 mile single canoe race to put closure to 2017. In spite of the curve balls, this year has been a gift!
For more on this subject, go to Chronic Life and Ouch! 6 Lessons Worth Sharing. Interested in your comments and feedback, click here, contact me.
