Picture description: Hazal has her head tilted and is looking into the camera. Her long dark hair is down and she is wearing a black top.
As part of National Eye Health Week, I will sharing stories from the friends I have made across the Instagram community. Many of these friends have different eye conditions to myself. I personally feel it is really important to help raise awareness of a variety of eye diseases, and not just PIC; vision loss of any sorts is devastating. Hopefully sharing these stories will raise awareness, potentially help others spot signs earlier, improve knowledge on caring for eye health, and importantly, help others feel less alone.
Here is Hazal's story...
I have Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH). A rare neurological condition that affects 1 in every 100,000 people. The cause is unknown and there is currently no cure. IIH occurs when there is too much cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) mimics the symptoms of a brain tumour even though there’s isn’t one present. It causes excruciating headaches, pulsatile tinnitus, balance difficulties, memory problems, and sight loss. The best treatment is surgery to have a shunt fitted which controls the level of CSF around the brain. I am one of the unfortunate few who has experienced permanent sight loss as a result of my raised pressure levels. The pressure pressed down on my optic nerves causing irreversible damage. This happened in a space of weeks just over a year ago and it’s something I am still adjusting to now. I pray and hope that one day soon there will be a major development in modern day medicine that can help me regain my sight. Until then, I am embracing life as a VIP.
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