It has been six years since I underwent meibomian gland probing, as documented elsewhere on this site. It was an utter disaster, resulting in chronic lid margin inflammation when the doctor who performed the procedure failed to prescribe any protocol of steroid dosing for the acute inflammation that followed the probing. Subsequently, my lid inflammation became chronic and could not be brought under control with topical steroids, no matter the quantity or duration of dosing. Each time I tapered off the Pred Forte, the inflammation returned.
Since my last post, I have spent over $25K on travel and treatments by other doctors in the U.S. and Canada, to little avail. I now have punctual plugs in all four punctua, wear dry eye goggles 24/7, use artificial tears daily, and - worst of all - I am now beginning to show the deleterious effects of the 5 mg. of oral prednisone that I will take for the rest of my life to keep the chronic inflammation of my lid margins in check. My skin is thinning, wounds heal slowly, and my blood sugar and bone density are monitored each year. In truth, my life has turned into a living hell. I am on and off anti-depressants, and I sometimes wish I could die.
If there is anything I am grateful for, it has been my success in dissuading those who have contacted me from undergoing MGP - certainly with the so-called “doctor” who “treated” me.
Fortunately - although some have found success through probing - it seems the tide of medical opinion has largely turned against probing and its assault on the delicate meibomian glands.
If only I had listened to the still, small voice in me that, from the beginning, was saying “no”. Life offers its lessons.
Since my last post, I have spent over $25K on travel and treatments by other doctors in the U.S. and Canada, to little avail. I now have punctual plugs in all four punctua, wear dry eye goggles 24/7, use artificial tears daily, and - worst of all - I am now beginning to show the deleterious effects of the 5 mg. of oral prednisone that I will take for the rest of my life to keep the chronic inflammation of my lid margins in check. My skin is thinning, wounds heal slowly, and my blood sugar and bone density are monitored each year. In truth, my life has turned into a living hell. I am on and off anti-depressants, and I sometimes wish I could die.
If there is anything I am grateful for, it has been my success in dissuading those who have contacted me from undergoing MGP - certainly with the so-called “doctor” who “treated” me.
Fortunately - although some have found success through probing - it seems the tide of medical opinion has largely turned against probing and its assault on the delicate meibomian glands.
If only I had listened to the still, small voice in me that, from the beginning, was saying “no”. Life offers its lessons.
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