(Glaucoma Case Study)
Glaucoma? If you have it so could someone you love
 This is Hayley and her
daughter Amy Louise. Hayley
is 45 and lives in Merthyr
Tydfil. Hayley was diagnosed
with glaucoma in both eyes,
when aged 39. Her dad had
also had the condition.
Hayley wants to raise awareness of the importance of regular eye health checks for
close relatives of people with glaucoma (primary open angle glaucoma, the most
common form of the condition in the UK).
‘My dad had it, I have also been diagnosed and now I am concerned that my
daughter, Amy Louise, may also develop glaucoma. If you have glaucoma you must
tell your close family as they may also have it. It is important that they have an eye
health check’.
Brothers, sisters, parents and children are all four times more likely to develop the
condition, compared to someone without a family history. Close relatives in England,
Wales and Northern Ireland can have a sight test and examination by an optometrist
which is paid for by the NHS if they are aged over 40, and everyone is entitled to free
testing over the age of 60. In Scotland, the NHS will pay for glaucoma examinations
offered by optometrists, regardless of age. The IGA believes that all close relatives
should be having regular eye health checks, at least every two years.
Hayley says, “It was a shock when I was diagnosed. I thought that it was a
condition that only affected older people. I’d had headaches, and my job can
be stressful so I put it down to that. Then it felt as if I had a bit of grit in my
eye and it wouldn’t go away, so I went to see an optometrist”.
As Hayley was diagnosed early, her life carries on as it was before. She has lost
some peripheral vision, but takes eye drops twice a day to control her
glaucoma. Hayley is a Family Support Practitioner at Ty Hafan Children’s
Hospice, a job which involves her driving to visit families with children who are
ill, so her main fear when diagnosed was whether she would lose her driving
licence.
Hayley comments, ‘I love my job, which I’ve been doing for many years. I spend
all day on the road visiting families in south, west and mid Wales. My daughter
Amy Louise had also just gone to Bangor University which is 4 hours drive from
my home, so I was worried about how I would get her to and from university.’
Fortunately owing to her early diagnosis and treatment, Hayley is able to drive
as normal but has to take her driving retests every three years.