January is Glaucoma Awareness Month – a time dedicated to a series of conditions that cause irreversible damage to the optic nerve. Glaucoma is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the U.S., yet as many as half of those living with it don’t even know they have it.
I was one of them, right up until February of last year.
It started during a routine afternoon while teleworking. I was home because I was feeling under the weather and didn't want to spread germs at the office. Suddenly, during a meeting, a sudden flash of pain struck above my left eye. I couldn’t even finish the meeting because it had spiraled into an unmanageable sense of pain that I hadn’t ever experienced before.
I told my husband I could feel a "massive pressure" building, but I dismissed it as a symptom of being sick. I tried to sleep it off, pressing my hand against my temple for relief. When I woke up the next morning, the headache had dulled, but my vision was replaced by an increasingly, terrifying blur.
The timing couldn't have been worse; it was Valentine’s Day weekend, and we had a trip planned to a spa resort. Instead of a romantic getaway, we headed to Urgent Care.
Because my symptoms were so non-specific, finding an answer was a rollercoaster:
Thankfully, I work at the headquarters of Navy Medicine. My team there recognized the urgency and connected me with an optometrist at the Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Because I was a beneficiary with emergent symptoms, I was seen immediately. That was the moment my "stye" was revealed to be something much more serious.
My initial symptoms pointed to zoster iridocyclitis (eye shingles), likely triggered by my recent sickness, causing my eye pressure to skyrocket into the 60s (the normal is typically between 10 and 21).
I was given an option for an emergency procedure to drain fluid. Luckily, my vision was too blurry to see the needle entering my eye, but the thoughts were far scarier than the actual procedure! However, while the pressure dropped initially, it wouldn't stay down.
It was then that the doctors discovered the root cause and true diagnosis: I was born with anatomically narrow angles – checks notes – very narrow. Coupled with farsightedness, my shorter and smaller eyes create a "crowded" drainage area. This ends up increasing eye pressure since the fluid has nowhere to go.
Despite maximum therapy and a laser peripheral iridotomy to create a drainage hole in my iris, the "hazy film" I was still experiencing didn’t lift after a couple of months. Scans showed that the retinal nerve fiber layer was thinning, resulting in vision loss.
The ophthalmologist at Fort Belvoir immediately referred me to a glaucoma specialist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland – and I was seen that same day. The specialist there determined that my next step was a surgical implant. I now live with a tiny drainage shunt – a mechanical bypass – that keeps the pressure in check.
I am forever grateful to the Army, Navy, and Air Force doctors who collectively saved my sight. Today, I still live with light sensitivity, which I wear glaucoma sunglasses for, and continue to see "smudges" in my left eye. These smudges remind me every day of the “scare” from my acute closed-angle glaucoma attack – a true medical emergency. These daily reminders don't hinder my ability to contribute professionally; instead, they fuel my passion for raising awareness.
Don’t Wait for the Flash of Pain If you experience sudden, intense eye pain, headaches, or blurred vision, don't "wait and see" – act today:
Early detection is the only way to stop the "silent thief." I share my story so that your first warning sign isn't your last day of clear vision.