| Avastin has been a wonder drug for me. Early in | | | | tiny needle and injected the Avastin into the white |
| 2009, I noticed that something was very wrong | | | | near the bottom of my eye. It was over in a |
| with my vision. Vertical lines were all broken. If I | | | | second. Pressure? It was the most awful |
| was driving, the phone poles looked like their top | | | | sensation to "feel" the injection, even though |
| halves were separate from their bottom halves. | | | | there was not really any pain. He flushed my eye |
| Worse, when I looked at the computer screen, | | | | with saline and put in some antibiotic drops and |
| the letters were all broken. I could not read. I | | | | sent me on my way. Time would tell whether the |
| went to see my retina specialist (rs) who took | | | | treatment would work, but my rs seemed to |
| some pictures and then did an opthalmic | | | | have supreme confidence that it would. I covered |
| angiogram. My husband watched the screen and, | | | | all my skin from the sun (Visudyne for the PDT |
| once the dye was injected, he could actually see | | | | makes people extremely light sensitive for a |
| blood dripping in one area. The rs diagnosed | | | | couple of days.) I was to return in six weeks for |
| myopic macular degeneration in my right eye with | | | | a second shot of Avastin, which was to be the |
| a bleed that was causing the problem. He asked | | | | second in a series of three. |
| me to come back the following morning for a | | | | The good news is that the PDT and Avastin |
| laser treatment (photodynamic therapy - PDT) | | | | worked a miracle. By my second visit, my vision |
| and a shot of Avastin in the eye. The whole idea | | | | had improved significantly. As time has gone on, I |
| was horrifying, but I believed it was the best | | | | have had a second bleed, requiring a second PDT |
| option. I truly trust and respect my rs. | | | | treatment. This time, the treatment left a blind |
| The PDT was no big deal. An IV put the Visudyne | | | | spot in the center of my vision. I am now |
| into my arm and the doctor shined a laser into | | | | receiving an Avastin injection every six weeks for |
| my eye for a few seconds. It was bright but it | | | | an indefinite length of time. Forever, I guess, |
| did not hurt. Still, I could not stop crying when it | | | | unless they come up with a new treatment. My |
| was over. The PDT would, hopefully, stop the | | | | vision is best about a week after the shot, is |
| bleeding. Next, a tiny sponge was placed inside my | | | | good for a couple of weeks, and then starts to |
| lower eyelid, to numb my eye for the Avastin | | | | deteriorate. My next shot is in 10 days, so my |
| shot. Avastin would dry up the blood that had | | | | vision is pretty bad right now. I have had seven |
| already leaked into my eye. My rs came in and | | | | shots in all. I hate those shots. I dread those |
| put a clip on my eye to hold it open. I was really | | | | shots. But, I am getting used to them. I love |
| dreading this shot. I could not imagine anything | | | | being able to see. I will do anything to keep my |
| worse than a shot in my eye. My doctor told me | | | | vision for as long as possible. Even take a shot in |
| to look up and to the left. "You are going to feel | | | | the eye. |
| a little pressure," he said, and he lifted a teeny, | | | | |