The follow-up ophthalmic visit today went better than I anticipated. The inflammation went away almost completely. Annie is doing well. We have to continue with the eye drops but now Artie and I face a decision. Do we continue to pursue a course of medication to treat Annie's eye issues or because of the subluxation and cataract do we put her through surgery.
The doctor feels she is a good candidate for surgery and that she will have a good outcome. The plan is to remove her lens replacing it with an artificial one and anchoring it into place. This will give her improved vision and prevent discomfort and blindness from the lens moving around or pushing forward through the opening in her eye or back into the vitreous of the eye.
If her medical condition is such that it precludes her having an artificial lens, the cataract-clouded lens will be removed leaving her without a lens. This will make her farsighted in one eye. Finally there is always a chance that certain tests will indicate Annie is not a viable candidate for surgery. The doctor assured us this is very rare and most dogs do fine with the surgery. After such surgery there is an increased chance of retinal detachment and glaucoma but the percentage is minimal and the benefits of the surgery far outweigh the risks. Annie's current condition is controlled sufficiently that surgery is not considered an emergency.
We were told to think this over but Artie and I feel there isn't much to think about. The thought of Annie having repeated inflammation and the chance of the lens moving forward or back or detaching completely creating more problems for our little sweetie really leaves us no choice but to opt for surgery now.
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