Dry Eye Patient Presentation (2/24/2022)

2/24/2022 Patient presentation:

This lovely 73-year-old retired, female patient presented with severe dry eye disease and a SPEED Score 28 out of 28.

She also mentioned a history of cataract surgery (in 2000) as well as Crohn’s disease, hypertension and thyroid disease (controlled with medications). Patient was exposed to Covid and hospitalized for 5 months due to neurological complications (discharged May 2021). She reported a long-standing history of dry eye disease that worsened after her rocky battle with Covid. Unfortunately, she recently lost her 90-year mother to Covid so she now lives alone. 

Due to her significant dry eye symptoms, her primary passion and anxiety coping routine, which happens to be reading, has become a major challenge. 

To amplify the matter, she visited 4 other eye care professionals who provided minimal help and to no surprise, she nearly lost hope. 

Thankfully, she didn’t give up and researched one more location that led her to our advanced dry eye center. During her dry eye consult, I felt her energy being lifted as she went through our diagnostic workup and was shown a new modern approach to tackling her condition.

During her sameday treatments, I sensed her getting emotional but she mentioned these are happy tears and expressed her sincere gratitude for our kindness, compassion, time and professionalism. She continued to share that she grew up watching her grandmother struggle with dry eye, and until today, thought this would be her fate as well. 

At the completion of her 3-hour visit, she asked for a hug and nearly brought me to tears. She reminded me of how important it is to be a humble provider as well as a compassionate practitioner. Although we have quite a road ahead of us, she left in good spirits and a renewed positive outlook. Thank you dear patient, I will continue to root for you and be with you every step of the way. 

#dryeye #mgd #covid #crohnsdisease #hypertension #hospital #anxiety #cataract #cataractsurgery #lipiflow #optilight #ipl #blephex #regenereyes #prn