27yr old struggling w glaucoma and now cataracts

[brick865]

hi this is my first post here , ive been reading around this spot seems well informed and generally nice!  im 27 yr old white male with open angle glaucoma , pressure ranged from 40-55,,, with drops around 38-45, had a SLT, it did nothing but give me iritis for a few months no change in iop, had a trab 7 months ago ,which resulted in hypotony around 0-4, which caused massive pain and wrinkled the retina , my doc is a great guy best in 400mile range , but my doubts started then , anyhow 2 months after failed trab we did the  trab revision, now my pressure is 5-8 still painfull , extreme light sensativity, i was on pred forte from oct 2009 --march2010...i now have a posterior subcapsular cataract in that eye ( its all in the left eye)...my doc wants to do another surgery and im frankly scared to death that its only gonna get worse, everyone i talk to seems to think my dr is knife happy, and basically im in worse shape now then before...my mother told me to get a lawyer but that scares me even more ..
any words of advice would be great, i have another eye app in a few days to take a few more test but till then im searching for someone with more experience , i dont know anybody w cataracts or glaucoma, especially at my age (27)
thanks again

[GP77]

Hi brick,
Im in Australia, a 33 year old male and ive been through the exact same experience since a blunt trauma 1 year ago, Im now going in for my 3rd revision in 2 days after low pressure issues and retinal wrinkles, it kept dropping after about 4 weeks with each surgery. I too have a cataract forming. I was also told that younger people are more sensitive to low pressure post trab.. What is your vision like? Mine is about 6/18 when the pressure is low and 6/6 when it is normal, though I have problems with things like traffic lights which have a ghosting starburst type effect.. Am still able to work at the moment but things like driving cause me issues unless I have the bad eye covered
Cheers
Grant

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

THe progression of glaucoma treatment is generally drops, laser, surgery. That high IOP the first two are normally not enough.

Glaucoma is not the same high success rate surgery that cataract surgery is and multiple re-ops are part of the practice.

If you're not comfortable where you age tet a second opinion even if you hae to drive 500 miles.

JCH MD

[brick865]

what would you consider knife happy? he's done 4surgeries in less then a year, my reg eye doc referred me to this guy, ive seen 3 specialist, but they are all in the same building , he is the most accomplished, and i actually like this man , it just that im in worse condition now then before with the high iop, for one reason i cant get back to work because the light sensitivity is that strong, it brings migraines, its not really the cataract that worries me so much as the fact that last 4 surgeries have only made things worse...my dr said something about younger peoples sclera doesnt have as much calcification , so its more elastic and thats one reason why my eye wont stabalize,and the next best doc is over 200mile drive, each way,  and its to the point were i cant drive that long and dont have anyone to drive me , i have a 2 yr old daughter , all i want is to be able to see her grow up , thats what got me in the eye doctor in the first place,
im located in east TN ,any help will be greatly appreciated
thanks again doc

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

1. Your IOP was so high that drops rarely control it and most people especially your age need surgery like trabeculectomy.
2. Better very low IOP than very high IOP.
3. Cataracts often develop afte trabeculectony.
4. Catarct surgery often helps IOP
5. Suggest you get a second opinion from another glaucoma Eye MD ophthalmologist. Find one at www.aao.org

6 nothing you presented indicated your MD is "knife happy"

JCH MD