Dry Eye Stories

02/05/2021

Great Dry Eye Story highlight from Molly:

"The past three years since I had LASIK surgery have taught me important lessons in courage, vulnerability, and connection. I wanted to share my story with others to break the isolation that this condition can cause us to experience."

Read her story, "Surviving and thriving after LASIK" here: https://www.dryeyestories.com/new-blog/2020/12/11/surviving-and-thriving-after-lasik.

09/25/2020

Welcome to Dry Eye Happy Hour! It's all about conversations and keeping connected. And we need the connections more than ever... seven months into our new covid lives. Summer ended this week. As the weather turns cooler, we spend even more time indoors, and the heat comes on, there are seasonal chal...

07/11/2020

If you'd like to hear from others, live, join us next week at Dry Eye Happy Hour!

Save the date! Join us at 3pm Pacific time on Friday, July 17 for our very first Dry Eye Happy Hour. It starts with a webinar-style Zoom panel discussion (thanks to Laura, Mandy, Debbie!) about living with dry eye in a pandemic. We'll be taking questions, live-streaming on YouTube and hosting a dry eye social hour afterwards. Registration link: https://bit.ly/2ZkC2FL

01/08/2020

Read a new :

Andrew used to be self-conscious about his red eyes caused by dry eye and blepharitis possibly linked to medication. Now, he writes, the whites of his eyes look much more clear and more healthy. Read his whole story to find out what works for him.

"Sometimes when people have found relief from dry eye, they've never come back to this site to inform others, so I thought I would write. Hopefully this can help some people."

Andrew used to be self-conscious about his red eyes caused by dry eye and blepharitis. Now, he writes, the whites of his eyes look much more clear and more healthy. Read his whole story to find out what works for him.

11/21/2019

A new from Jean from Arizona. Like many, she struggled to get an accurate diagnosis after cataract surgery. Her journal of past treatments helped her new specialist isolate the problem.

"I feel like living now and can enjoy all my activities...My recommendation is to keep a journal of what treatments you are using and find a doctor who will actually read and listen about the pain you are suffering. Never give up--there is a doctor out there who probably has the answer for you"

Like many, Jean struggled to get an accurate diagnosis after cataract surgery. Her journal of past treatments helped her new specialist isolate the problem.

07/29/2019

New from Eric, who I met and interviewed at BostonSight. This one's about KC!

"In the last two to three years, however, my vision has worsened. I could feel it slipping away. Glasses had reached the limit of what they could correct. My doctor recommended that I try scleral lenses. I was hesitant, the trauma of wearing RGPs made me swear never to wear lenses again. In the end, it must have been something about hitting 40, the onset of dry eye symptoms, and recognizing that my vision would never improve on its own."

Eric’s been dealing with Keratoconus for over 20 years. As his eyesight has worsened, there’s always been a procedure available to improve his vision. Although he’d known about sclerals, he’d been putting them off as long as possible, but was eventually able to find relief with PROSE.

07/12/2019

Fantastic , "Beauty from Ashes" by Kate detailing invalidation with doctors and a paradigm shift that led her to change her perspective on living with dry eye.

"I have only recently come to terms with this condition as something that is 1. chronic and 2. going to be part of my life-maybe forever. I hit rock bottom one particularly bad day, finding myself feeling defeated and suicidal over the chronic, never-ending relentlessness of this condition. As someone who enjoys people and is making a profession out of making eye contact I did not understand how I was going to be able to handle dealing with this the rest of my life socially or professionally...Every hard thing a person is given in life is an opportunity for a choice. I'm of the belief that beauty can be made from ashes as I allow God room to create it and I want to live my life reframed with that perspective."

Kate is still looking for a diagnosis after trying out multiple doctors. While they haven’t been able to help her much, she’s developed skills and a routine to deal with dry eye on her own. The hardest parts for her? Invalidation from doctors, trouble navigating social situations in a world that...

05/03/2019

Scoelicolor still has concerns about starting her career in science with her specific dry eye needs. Take a look at her story and consider commenting or sharing your own dry eye story.

https://www.dryeyestories.com/new-blog/2018/8/9/theodores-slk

05/03/2019

New

Gary says to never give up and to know when to find a new specialist. After LASIK he was dealing with MGD, RCE, and nerve pain, "in October 2015 my specialist at the time ( #3) patted me on the back and said “Just keep hanging in there” – I took that to mean he was out of ideas. He had to go! ... Now I just have to stand the pain for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night i.e. when I am not wearing the lenses. I can cope with that much pain."

Gary’s breakthrough happened after switching specialists. Now that he has scleral lenses, the only time he’s in pain is when he doesn’t have his lenses in.

05/03/2019

A great from Hanns detailing how advice on Dry Eye Talk has helped him deal with his ocular rosacea.

"My motive for writing this is to thank those who have provided me with advice, to emphasize how important it can be to participate in a forum like this and to offer hope to those that are near despair. I have been there, but improvements can unexpectedly occur, perhaps via a treatment you had not previously heard of – hope, I can testify, is always justified!"

Hanns succinctly recounts what's helped his ocular rosacea and how online forums helped him get to where he is today.