- Acanthamoeba keratitis
- Interviews
Moira's interview
How did all start?
It started when I was on my Erasmus exchange study in Ireland, I was studying and my eye was watering at the laptop light, I couldn't bear looking up and felt this gritty feeling. It was also red.
Do you already have a diagnosis? How long did it take you to get it?
I got symptoms second week of December 2014. I remember it clearly, I was so stressed out with exams. I had to visit Dublin before returning to Malta on the 20th of December. Upon my arrival the pain was excruciating. Doctors could not examine the eye. I was being misdiagnosed for herpes. I was actually diagnosed with AK 16th of January 2015.
For what medical specialties have you been treated? What has been the most useful specialty for your?
0.2% PHMB and 0.04% Chlorhexidine
What has been the most useful thing for you so far?
scrapings to remove the parasite manually
What have been your biggest difficulties?
No I do not have difficulties but during the time I was battling AK, I couldn't look, up, couldn't go out in broad day light and I was exhausted all throughout the day
How has your social and family environment reacted? Have your social or family relationships changed?
Not changed really, but you adapt, acanthamoeba is like cancer, it can be cured but one has to live with the complications and the trauma
What things have you stopped doing?
At the time, I stopped my degree, I stopped driving, I stopped working...my life was a stand-still
What do you think about the future?
Since it has been 4 years for me, I thought about my future, which is my present today. I recommenced my studies, got myself a good job, bared a child and travel
So far, which years have been the best years in your life? What have you done during them?
Every year is special in its own way, cannot really state which year is the best year for me.
What would you like to do if you didn’t have your condition?
Smile Eye Laser surgery, but now the risk is too much, having only one eye
If you had to describe your life in a sentence, what would it be?
Vibrant, Exciting, Stressful, Amazing, - I can use adjectives, can't really put it down in a sentence...but having one eye did not inhibit me from doing anything, I simply became more cautious, which is understandable
Finally, what advice would you give to a person in a similar situation?
Be patient, very patient. Do not bring your hopes up easily, there are relapses, if its not a relapse it's pressure or its an ulcer or a retina being detached...just as long as you eliminate the pain...you won....
