I am not going to give any introduction to segue into this. I will just tell it straight what has happened in the last few weeks.
For a while now, I thought my peripheral vision was fading so a few weeks back, when one of my friends suggested I get my left eye checked out, I thought why not. I wanted a quick response and I didn't think very much would ensue so I went to the Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, where I knew there would be a multitude of eye specialist clinics which I could walk into, as opposed to a government setup, where I would need to get an appointment.
After examination of my eyes, I was told that I had a detached retina and would need an operation soon. As the doctor told me that I could have an operation at Mount Alvernia the next day and because I thought there would be nothing more, I agreed to it, even though the cost was a lot more expensive than if I went to a government hospital.
I went for the op, which I was told was a success. The surgeon however said that he saw a small black mass which looked like an old blood clot after draining the water from my eye. He did not think it was anything sinister but said I should get it checked anyway. As such, a few days later, I was referred to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), where a series of tests were done, including an ultrasound and angiogram of the eye. After the tests, the examining doctor opined that it was more likely that the mass was a tumor rather than a blood clot, though he could not rule out infection either. In the premises, because primary tumors originating in the eye was very rare for young Asian males, he was of the view that there was a likelihood that the mass in the eye was a manifestation of a cancer that has metastacised from another primary source in the body. I was thus referred to an oncologist who would go through a thorough work-up with me.
For the next week or so, I went through a battery of tests, including a cancer markers, urine and stool test, a PET Scan and an MRI of the orbit and the brain. Waiting for the results of the tests was agonising, the two hours spent at the oncologist's clinic waiting to be called into his room among the most painfully long. They reminded me of the time spent on the AirAsia flight back last year just after I had been told of my Dad's passing.
The results of the tests were generally clear. They suggested that there was no cancer or suspicious activity in other parts of the body. The technician commenting on the MRI suggested that the mass could either be as a result of haemmorhage or a growth. Discouragingly (for me at least), the PET scan, which goes on glucose metabolism, did show that the mass in the eye showed mild avidity, which means that it was metabolizing glucose faster than the rest of the surrounding tissue.
I next saw a uveal specialist at TTSH who said he was asked to hunt for TB of the eye. He said that there was no way of conclusively finding out what the mass was except via a biopsy, which meant cutting up the eye again - which may be a bit too soon after the operation. So he suggested that I should start trial TB treatment soon to see if there was any response from the mass in the eye. I then saw my oncologist again, who seemed mildly surprised that the eye doctors would suddenly think it was no longer a tumor but a growth borne out of TB. I thought that it was because he had been in touch with the eye specialists at TTSH and had told them the results but apparently he had not spoken to them. That in turn surprised me, because the uveal specialist looked apprised of the latest cancer test results. Now I do not know if he was.
In between, I had seen the eye specialist who conducted my original retina re-attachment - he didn't seem to know all that had transpired. And yesterday, I saw the TB specialist at TTSH who did not seem to know what had happened leading up to my treatment for eye TB. All that she would say was that eye TB was also very rare and that she did not think results would show in the eye after just a few weeks.
Tomorrow, I see again the uveal specalist who had recommended TB treatment. Over the past few weeks, I have been looked at by four different doctors - two from the field on opthalmology, one each from oncology and TB. I am no closer to finding out conclusively what, if anything, is wrong with me. I have been to for different hospitals - Mt E, Mt Alvernia, TTSH and Gleneagles and have gone through a 5 different tests.
I hope that all turns out fine. For all those of you who still read my blog, do pray for me and wish me well.
