By Lucy Ashton
A local hospital patient who is able to continue receiving a crucial monthly sight-saving procedure during the pandemic has thanked the specialist nursing team for her care.
“And I would like to join her since I too am benefiting from similar treatment which has been made available at Vale of Leven, the RAH and Inverclyde Royal Hospital, ” says Democrat editor Bill Heaney.
He commented: “I cannot thank the specialist consultants and nurses enough. My vision was deteriorating rapidly and I was concerned I would lose my sight. If there’s one thing a journalist needs to have is the ability to see, to read and observe what is going on around him.”
Bill, like patient Rosaleen Kavanagh, suffers from macular degeneration which means he has to get monthly eye injections to help keep the condition at bay. Without regular treatment, his eyesight would rapidly deteriorate, with irreparable damage caused.
Rosaleen Kavanagh and Bill Heaney who would otherwise have either lost their sight completely or experienced a significant and irreparable degeneration without treatment.
The condition affects thousands of people in Scotland and generally impacts those over 50 years old. Manifesting in sight loss from the centre of vision, Rosaleen describes the condition as ‘tunnel vision in reverse’ as people can generally see better around the edges of their vision.
The retired home-economics teacher, whose mother also suffered from the condition, has been going to the IRH for five years now to receive intravitreal injection (IVT) treatment which has provided a crucial lifeline for her and around 640 other patients in the region who would otherwise have either lost their sight completely or experienced a significant and irreparable degeneration.
This has been particularly important during the height of the pandemic which forced many services to stop operating as normal. Thanks to a dedicated team of eight specialist nurses and strict infection prevention and control measures the service has been maintained throughout COVID-19.
Rosaleen, who has had injections since 2016 to treat her condition, said: “I am so fortunate I have my sight. The team are miracle workers. The early days of the pandemic were scary for everyone with so much uncertainty, but despite that , the team just got on with it in their usual friendly, caring and professional way. I dread to think what might have happened if i hadn’t been able to get my monthly injections. One thing for sure is that my sight would have been awful.
“The consultants and nursing staff at IRH have worked so hard to help me keep my eyesight. Their care has meant i have been able to watch my grandchildren grow up and i can be more involved with their lives. That is an enormous gift to have been given and i will always be grateful to the team for it.
“The treatment doesn’t cure my condition, but it keeps it at bay and I cannot praise the team highly enough for being able to ring-fence that care for me, despite COVID-19.”
Senior ophthalmic nurse, Arlene Rodgers helped pioneer the IVT service across NHSGGC which now delivers upwards of 2000 procedures per month. Currently, around 250 per month are delivered at IRH alone.
The procedure involves an injection into the back of the eye and can help treat a range of degenerative eye conditions.
Arlene commented: “We recognise how important IVT is for our patients. The impact it has on the quality of life for many, is huge, and we’re proud that we’ve been able to maintain the service through the pandemic.
“We’re currently training more ophthalmology nurses to deliver the treatment so we hope to be able to further scale up the number we can perform across the health board in coming months.”
For Rosaleen, the ongoing treatment means she can continue enjoying life AND spending time with family and friends.
Pictured: Rosaleen Kavanagh