Infantile/Juvenile Glaucoma - Story Time

It's been a while, and work and additional duties have been keeping me but hei the science community continues to remain one of my favorite places to be on the blockchain because not only do I get to learn about the latest events and happenings in the world of science and technology.

But I also get to meet great minds and research that is making waves and impacting the world. Learning is an everyday thing and what better way to do it than on the blockchain. Anyway, today I have a story or more or less a case to share from my recent healthcare expedition which I was privileged to render my support to a community in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

On the 31st of October which was yesterday, the Hive Borehole project as led by @Mcsamm and @Collinz launched the 12th and 13th Borehole for the Asamankama community, in addition to that held a free eye screening program for the community for which I was privileged to lead the medical team on that. During the program, i came across an interesting condition that I had yet to meet in person since I started working as an Optometrist, and thus wanted to share it with you.

For individuals who may have followed me for a while, you may realize I have spoken about Glaucoma over and again since it's a leading cause of blindness in Ghana as well as Africa. And so most often whenever I get the opportunity such as this to go on healthcare programs we always screen for glaucoma and in this the inhabitants of this town we privileged to also receive free medication from the leaders of this project.

My patient was a 5-year-old child who had recently been diagnosed with glaucoma, just as was expected, he presented with very large pupils and bluish appeal for his sclera. His vision didn't seem to be so ok however he can go about and play with other kids accordingly. The mother was informed that the child had had glaucoma growing up from infancy and that from the look of things needed surgery to release the pressure and aid his long-term vision.

Unfortunately, the mother was informed by other people from the town that if the child had the surgery he would certainly lose his vision so the mother didn't go ahead to help the child get the surgery. Since then she testified in an interview that things seem to have gotten a bit worse for the child. In addition to this, she has stopped giving the child the antiglaucoma drugs that were prescribed for the child because she says she can't afford them every month.

It was a sad situation and I so wish there was so much I could do to aid them because the child's vision would probably be gone in some very few years to come looking at the blue appeal of the sclera (the white part of the lens) which suggests that it's weakened due to the pressure built in the eye as well as how the pupil has enlarged as a result of the same pressure.

The cornea could possibly develop striae if things get worse in addition to the death of the nerve cells which would come from the pressure pushing against the optic nerve. Fortunately, we had some of the antiglaucoma drugs available and gave her 3 three-month supply to use for the child while we found other ways to aid her in the days to come by communicating with the community leaders and the project managers.

Why am I sharing this? Many of us take knowledge from the right source like this mother who listened to the townfolks who probably know very little about the surgery, the eye, and the condition of the child, this is not a healthy habit and could cost us dearly which is why I always say, always seek information from the right source.

The other lesson I seek to draw our attention to is the fact that this child needs care, has been diagnosed, and could still possibly lose vision because help is not available, many of us have good financial living and yet refuse to check our health and our eyes regularly, even when we do and we have a particular diagnosis we take it for granted until we lose out dearly.

Remember how privileged you are when these things happen, make reference to the story I share with you today, and do better for yourself in the days ahead.