Iridocyclitis

Now, I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned that Ankylosing Spondylitis sufferers have a high chance of suffering from uvetis also.  Simply put, people who suffer from joint inflammation conditions will be prone to inflammations of the eye as well.

Last year, I had some serious bouts of red eyes and every General practitioner (GP) I visited all boiled it down to  conjunctivitis or some kind of eye infection.  Only when the eyedrops they prescribed made my eye worse & not better, I realized it was something more serious than conjunctivitis.  My left eye was red, swollen, teary and hurt A LOT. 

Finally, after visiting the eye specialist (Prof Arthur Lim) at Gleneagles Hospital, I was diagnosed with Iridocyclitis. 

Wikipedia describes it as:

Uveitis is, broadly, inflammation of the uvea. The uvea consists of the middle, pigmented vascular structures of the eye and includes the iris, ciliary body, and choroid.

Anterior uveitis, also known as iridocyclitis and iritis, is the inflammation of the iris and anterior chamber. Anywhere from two-thirds to 90% of uveitis cases are anterior in location. This condition can occur as a single episode and subside with proper treatment or may take on a recurrent or chronic nature.

I thought about it...which is harder to bear?  The painful teary swollen eye and blurry vision, that always causes me to have headaches?  Or, the intense pain throughout my spine and ribs that make movement difficult?  I can't decide, they are both just as bad.  They both somehow restrict me from leading a normal life. 

You must be wondering... Why a post after 3 months of silence? 

I admit, in good times, I never feel the need to blog.  I have been having a good spell and even participated in the JP Morgan corporate challenge last month, completing 5.6km, and doing myself proud with a time of 34minutes! 

As you can guess, a post must mean something bad has happened.  Well, my RIGHT eye went red and swollen yesterday, and it hasn't gotten better today.  I'm not 100% certain if it's just a sore eye or iridocyclitis coming back to haunt me.  I had 2 eye flare ups last year (or was it 3), and those flare ups got me really down.  It was not easy to bear at all.

I'm also experiencing some mini inflammation in my neck and spine, but this is easy to bear compared to the hell I went through last year.
 
Praying hard that my eye isn't going through relapse!