Mom
She is in the clear for 6 months on the cancer. Was told that it has a 10% chance to grow back, and for the next 5 years will go in every 6 months for testing.
Thaddeus
I had my first NST for the week and my weekly biophysical exam this past Monday. He is very active, and not one to like having everything on him looked at through ultrasound. He is according to the doctor measuring out perfectly for how far along I am. He weighed giver or take 10 oz 4.6 lbs, and I am 31 weeks. Yeah!!
Diabetes
Being pregnant is definately taking its toll on parts of my body. Dr. MacVittie had blood work done, and my kidneys are doing ok, but the elevated proteins is normal for me so she is not to worried yet. My eyes are taking the worst of the strain on my body. I knew before I got pregnant that I had retinopathy, but had been told that it was mild, and if I got diligent about taking care of my diabetes it should not get worse, well getting pregnant exacerbated it. It is now moderate to severe. In my left eye I have proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).
( This is taken from the pamphlet that the eye doctor gave to me to understand what is going on in my eyes) PDR is present when abnormal new vessels (neovascularization) begin growing on the surface of the retina or optic nerve. The main cause of PDR is widespread closure of retinal blood vessels, preventing adequate blood flow. The retina responds by growing new blood vessels in an attempt to supply blood to the are where the original vessels closed.
Unfortunately, the new abnormal blood vessels do not resupply the retina with normal blood flow. The new vessels are often accompanied by scar tissue that may cause wrinkling or detachment of the retina.
Dr. Goldblatt explained that right now it is not affecting my vision, my left eye they are able to correct to 20/15. But it can get worse. I see him again on Tuesday, so he can monitor how bad it is getting. The treatment for it is laser surgery, but he wants to do that when it is absolutely necessary as in my left I will loose my night and peripheral vision. The laser surgery will burn all the new blood cells, and leave little burn marks on my retina.
In my right eye I have the NPDR. (again taken from the pamphlet) NPDR, commonly known as background retinopathy, is an early stage of diabetic retinopathy. In this stage, tiny blood vessels within the retina leak blood or fluid. The leaking fluid causes the retina to swell or to form deposits called exudates. Many people with diabetes have mild NPDR, which usually does not affect their vision. When vision is affected it is the result of macular edema and/or macular ischemia.
(I have the macular edema) Macular edema is swelling or thickening of the macula, a small area in the center of the retina that allows us to see fine details clearly. The swelling is caused by fluid leaking from retinal blood vessels. It is the most common cause of visual loss in diabetes. Vision loss may be mild to severe, but even in the worst cases, peripheral vision continues to function.
Dr. Goldblatt, said the way to correct this will also be with laser at a lower setting than what would be used to correct the left eye. He knows of no side effects from it, but my eye sight in the right eye will not improve. They were only able to correct it to 20/30 in the right eye and that was still quite blurry.
So if you would please pray that my eyes will not get any worse, and that God would even heal the damage done to them already, and to continue to pray for my mom, and for the health of Thaddeus, that he will be born healthy and with no complications.
Michelle
PDR may cause more severe vision loss than NPDR (nonproliferative diabetid retinopathy) because it can affect both central and peripheral vision.