Living With Glaucoma

Video Transcript

"Well, let's talk a little bit about living with Glaucoma and what that means for the patient and their families. So, sometimes what happens is that, you know, we'll see patients back in the office, we're not getting the results that we're looking for and I think part of that, part of the equation is the compliance. You know, the drops really getting in as we think they should. And so that, I think involves, in terms of living with Glaucoma, is making sure that we can get those drugs on board as often as needed and consistently. And so, sometimes, you know, it's important to leave that bottle in a particular place, so it's in that place every time, and so you establish a routine. Sometimes it works for patients leaving it in the bathroom next to their toothbrush. And so they know, every night I have a routine of putting this drop in, brushing my teeth, all at the same time. Or another place, maybe next to their bed stand and next to their favorite book or something that provides the same exact system every night. And that, I think, will help at least to some degree, help with the compliance issue. So, in my opinion, living with Glaucoma I think one of the more important things is to make sure that drops get in. That we're getting one drop in at whatever the interval is, once a day or twice a day, every time consistently, time after time after time. I think the second problem with living with Glaucoma, which is very important, is making sure that you are going in to see your eye doctor for ongoing follow up care. One of the most common reasons why people lose eyesight and can go blind from Glaucoma is those two problems. Either there's a reduced compliance or the patient gets lost to follow up. So they might move out of the area, they don't establish a new eye doctor, or gosh, you know, they've been taking the eye drops for three, four years and they don't, themselves, notice a benefit to doing that, so maybe they go back and they forget to go in for their follow up. They stop going for their follow up. And that's really unfortunate because it's only through the follow up, ongoing follow up care by your eye doctor can you truly follow the patient that has Glaucoma and do the best thing you can for them. Which is to make sure that the drugs are working well, and we're not losing any eyesight."