A glasses wearer who visited an optician thinking she needed a stronger prescription owes her sight to the optometrist who examined her.
During the examination the optometrist Miriam Conlon noticed inflammation and swelling of both optic nerves at the back of Louise Murie’s eyes.
She was immediately referred to St George’s Hospital, Tooting, where she underwent a series of tests and was given a lumbar puncture immediately to drain the excess fluid and relieve the pressure on her optic nerve.
Her fluid levels were so dangerously high that had they been left any longer she could have gone blind.
After visiting Croydon Specsavers in North End to say thank you, the 28-year-old said: “This has been an absolutely terrifying ordeal.
“If I hadn’t visited when I did and was referred to the hospital for treatment, I could have lost my sight.
“After my experience I’ve told all my friends how important it is to visit an opticians regularly.
“It’s such a quick and easy process and one that can really change your life.”
After having treatment in June 2012 she stayed in hospital for a week and had to endure a lumbar puncture every four weeks for the next year before having surgery to have a shunt fitted in her back on a permanent basis to drain the fluid.
Although she is now in remission she still experiences some side effects from the swelling of the optic nerves and sees her neurologist consultant every six months.
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