I helped my whole family! (and a funny story)

[Phe]

I was telling my dad that i'd finally discoverd what had been causing me troubles with my eyes. He was really interested and said that he'd been having similar pain and blurriness since he was young. Having no idea if DES was genetic or not, i suggested he try out Systane to see if it helped him at all. And it did - he said he can see better now than he's been able to in many many years and a lot of the pain has gone. He'd simply attributed it to old age and needing glasses

He was then telling my grandma, who herself suffers from the same thing but did not know. I've share with them the information i've learned from everyone here and now they're both more comfortable.

Its nice to know that something good has come from this. Does anyone else have other family members with this condition? Is it well known to be genetic?

In a funny story, yesterday after a long day of computer study my eyes were entirely bright red and I looked awful. Later, I went down to the shops to get some food and a child in the queue in front of me looked up at me and started screaming and crying. 'mummy mummy its a devil' she yelled. I couldn't help but laugh. I've spent my whole life with people telling me i have beautiful eyes - definately the first time i've been likened to the devil!!

[dianat]

I draw that kind of reaction, too, but it's not from red eyes...it's from my kids.

[Judy]

Phe,

I'm very glad that you are able to LAUGH!!! I used to be told I had beautiful eyes all the time, now they are always red, dry, glassy and full of pain. Well most of the time the pain, burning, stinging, etc. is there. I feel blessed to still be able to read (when it is not too painful...).

On lighter note, it is wonderful this website has helped both you and your family as well. Along with all of us here! Have a great day!

[Guest]

PHE

It wasn't until after I had Lasek that I discovered that my dad suffered from dry eyes (and he didn't have laser). I wish I had made this link earlier but I simply wasn't aware or appreciative of Dry Eyes until I got it myself and I discussed my symptoms with my mum.

Sometimes, I think that I may have had a degree of dry eyes before (given my dad's history), although I am not sure if there is a genetic link at all and certainly don't want to suggest that there is.

I too used to receive lots of comments that I had "beautiful blue eyes", how laser surgery can change your life, my blue eyes are still there, they are just highlighted in red more often than not.

Cheers

Ian