G for Glaucoma, Google and the Gift of Friendship

G for Glaucoma, Google and the Gift of Friendship

Imagine, there is someone living in your home, without your knowledge. Not when you are out on the weekend. This person stays all the time, roams around in the very rooms you eat/sleep/pray/argue and make up with your loved ones.


How come you don’t know? Because this intruder does everything on the sly, slipping out of the corner of your eye. He (or she, because - gender equality, always), eats from your dinner table, and munches from your store of banana chips in the night, one nibble at a time. And like you, never picks the last piece of chocolate from the fridge (and hence, never raises suspicion).


This intruder walks on tiptoes, concealed under three layers of woollen socks. So he is quieter than your cat. He/She uses your WiFi, only gradually increasing his/her data consumption over the years.


Not that there were no signs. You find yourself uncomfortable reading, even wit a new pair of glasses you got yesterday. Your home, and the world in general, seem to have become dimmer. There has often been this heaviness on your brow, perhaps even a headache- as regular as the newspaper you now avoid reading.


Often when you are driving on an almost deserted road, you see a car pop up right in front of you. But there was no car beside you, right? Do these just drop from the sky or what?


They have dimmed the lights of the room, so gradually that you would never have realized, had someone not asked you to read aloud a letter in fine print. Of course, you never do it of your own accord, you prefer reading on your smartphone, with the screen at its brightest. Since when did you start doing that? You would not know…


And that, my friend, is how, this intruder, called Glaucoma, has been living with you. In fact for a lot of you who will subsequently be diagnosed with glaucoma, this intruder had also been living off your parent’s home, stealing your Mom/ Dad’s vision in the process. Yes, glaucoma can be inherited.


There is so much more to talk about on this subject, and there is G for Google to look that up. Also, I would love to take up a Q and A session when I am in my Dr Jekyll - the Glaucoma specialist mode.


But as of now, let me give you a glimpse of this potentially blinding disease, and how one lives with it- perhaps waddling in G for Guilt.


Guilt for not putting yourself or your loved ones first. Guilt for not taking the squealing eye doctor seriously. The guilt of taking over-the-counter steroids without seeking doctor’s advice The guilt for never realizing you were looking at life through a tunnel- that you could still see your goal, but were missing the bigger picture.


Give me a shoutout if you, your loved one or someone you know, has glaucoma. Also, please listen to the poem and let me know if it resonates with you.


There is nothing to Hyde, as you will see.



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