Yesterday Asa had the followup appointment with the ophthalmologist for his eye. The good news is Asa still has his vision, limited as it is, in 2024! We are very grateful that he does at least have peripheral vision, considering the uncertainty of Golden Retriever Pigmentary Uveitis and the trajectory that he is on. The bad news is given the uncertainty of Golden Retriever Pigmentary Uveitis and the trajectory he is on, we don’t know how long his vision will last. In fact, the eye specialist sighed and called Asa a “conundrum.” Because even with the unpredictable nature of this disease, Asa still manages to throw in surprises making traditional courses of treatment not a viable option.
The fibrinohemorrhagic clot continues to block his pupillary aperture, leaving him with just periphery vision. There is the option of going ahead with the surgery that was planned in November to remove the clot. However, given that we still do not know the cause of the hemorrhages that prevented the surgery then, by doing this surgery now we could essentially do what the ophthalmologist called “poking the bear.” In short the surgery could improve his vision for months, or it could accelerate his blindness to a matter of days. Considering Asa is active and his current state of poor vision is not slowing him down, it was agreed that it isn’t worth the risk.
Adding to the conundrum of the situation is an incident of temporary blindness that Asa experienced in early December. Our apologies for not telling you about that sooner, but it was very upsetting for us, then resolved itself, and we didn’t want to worry our friends. What happened that day was while out on a routine potty break, Asa suddenly lost his vision. It happened that quickly. He was trotting back to the house and suddenly he was blind. It was a very sunny day, and he was walking in the direction of the sun when it happened. So logic would say that his pupil naturally constricted behind the clot, reducing his already limited vision, thus temporarily making him blind. However, once inside the darkened house with the shades drawn, his vision should have returned. Instead the blindness continued for several hours, only improving slightly as the day progressed. Which is an atypical response. But hey, when is Asa ever typical? The vision gradually returned that evening, and by the next morning Asa was acting like nothing ever happened. He was maneuvering around the house with ease, pouncing on favorite toys, and tracking objects. The eye specialist has not seen this type of reaction before. He speculated that it could have been a sudden rise in pressure, the clot could have shifted, or some other sort of flareup. But given Asa had a quiet morning, wasn’t playing at the time of the incident, and there was no head trauma, he couldn’t confirm what could have caused this event to happen so suddenly and last as long as it did, even though it was temporary. However he did caution that episodes like this could happen again, and that the blindness will someday be permanent.
Therefore, because Asa does not seem to be in any distress at the moment, not showing any signs of pain or discomfort, and is able to get around and play with just his periphery vision, the plan is to continue to keep Asa on his current eyedrops schedule. There is a new medication that could be added if he experiences another episode of blindness due to an increase in pressure. But right now his pressure is really low, and not an issue. Besides, here’s the irony – that eye drop would further constrict the pupil and would make it impossible for him to see because the clot who completely block the pupillary aperture. It would be like him always walking into direct sunlight. So as the ophthalmologist put it, we’d be making him blind to save his vision. Not much of a choice.
Therefore, we will continue on our course, enjoying each day Asa can see, while preparing to help him for when the day comes that he cannot. Thank you again for all your love and support as Asa’s journey with Golden Retriever Pigmentary Uveitis continues.
