"Eye bleeds," as I have heard them called by fellow CMLers usually consist of a broken blood vessel that bleeds out under the lining that surrounds the eye. Thus, the white of the eye turns red and looks bloody. I had one 3 years ago and it went away without any problem. Although it looks horrific, it appears to be a common and harmless enough event.
I had another eye bleed last Sunday. The blood filled up the lining of my eye pretty fast and it was bulging by the time I went to bed. I woke up the next day with blood outside my eye. To put it into perspective, the lining didn't actually burst, but the blood leaked out through my ducts. Therefore, it was leaking blood instead of gushing, and it appeared to clot a little overnight. But to be safe, I ran to my cousin, who is an eye surgeon. First thing he said upon seeing me was, "This looks bad!" Great...what totally not to say to a patient upon first seeing them. Anyway, he looked at my eye and he told me there was a burst blood vessel behind the lining of the retina in my eye and that it was infected. He felt the infection was secondary and was a result of the irritation from the bleeding. So, he made me go see a retina specialist downstairs. Freakout time. And I thought it was just another CML eyebleed.
Anyway, after an hour sitting with a bunch of very nice elderly people and a cranky, toddler (mine), and reading signs about glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetes and blindness, and noting how funny it was that there were impressionist paintings on the walls, (but ironically, no Monet), I was getting very depressed. I was thinking, "First CML, now blindness. How am I going to take care of my kids?!? Why is it always the old folks at the cancer, or now blindness center and me?" I just heard about premature aging, and I am certain I have it. Anyway, I tried to be positive by saying, "But I have one good eye!" Sadly, it didn't make me feel much better.
Well, it turns out the bleeding eye was not serious. The retina specialist took one look and told me it would heal up (but I have to come back in 6 months). My cousin gave me an antibiotic and I was on my way, back to my lovely life. I so hate these CML interruptions.
I had noticed a grayish, opaque, blurry spot in my right eye after working out a few days before. I could still see a shadow of it when I closed my eye, but it went away. The doctor said it was probably working out that brought it on, along with "leukemics get this kind of thing" or it just happens sometimes, (more reinforcement that most people who practice medicine spend little time with cause and effect--kind of a sadness I carry--God bless those in research). Afterward, I noticed a big red splotch on the top of my right wrist. I usually get this when my PLT are low along with plaques of broken blood vessels on my neck and chest. As I am female, I am also menstruating, so it appears this bleed was resultant of a few things.
The moral of the story is, an eye that drips blood is not always a sign of impending doom. However, it is always prudent to go see your eye doctor.
Hope this story will help ease the anxiety for another poor, freaked out CMLer with a dripping, bleeding eye. The more I live, the more I learn, the more I love my life. May we all outlive this crappy disease.
Tedsey
