A weekend with Jan-Q and Fritz

 

One Sunday afternoon in September, I brought Jan-Q and Fritz to Bonifacio High Street.  This is Fritz' favorite hangout---he loves to strut and lounge on the grass and watch dogs walking around the place.  This is where I stretch my legs, punctuating my walks with a cold drink or hot coffee while browsing the latest best-sellers at Fully Booked,  or contemplate at the water features around the mall grounds, or check out what's on sale in one of the stores.

Jan-Q, on the other hand, was reluctant to pose for the camera.  He thinks  it was so uncool  and "baduy" that his Tita  was taking lots of pictures.:P  He obliged because of my "near-senior-citizen-status" and  I was paying for dinner (hehehe).

This sculpture makes me think of meteors coming from space.

 I always tell my young nephews that they will  thank me someday for their  cute baby pictures, snapshots of their toothless grin and framed bunny-rabbit smiles, their  rock 'n roll poses and awkward moments in front of the camera, and all the memories that go with the photos.  And of course, they would show me the photos to remind me of their names when I'm a  senile and doddering old woman.:P

Fritz doesn't mind...he loves to lick the camera!

Posted for Our Weekend Memoirs and Weekend Snapshot

Jan Q

A self protrait of Jan Q, my 18-year old nephew. He was diagnosed with Keratoconus, a progressive, noninflammatory disease of the cornea, last week. The family is devastated, his younger brother wept with their grandfather, his teenage cousins cried over the phone while telling other relatives of his condition. Jan Q is trying to be cool as most 18-year olds are but I know he's worried about his condition. The probability of blindness is no joke, even to an 18-year old.

We have never heard of Keratoconus until last week. Jan had been treated for an eye infection a couple of times since childhood, was given prescription glasses, but nobody diagnosed it correctly until he was seen by an Ophthalmologist in PGH last week. His eyes were examined and scanned through a corneal topogram and he was directed to another Ophthalmologist who can fit him with corrective lenses. The challenge with Keratoconus is that it deforms the cornea to a more conical shape than its normal gradual curve. Because the cornea is irregular and cone-shaped, glasses do not adequately correct the vision of patients with this condition. Jan's eyesight was restored to 20/20 when fitted with rigid contact lenses (rigid gas-permeables, or RGP) but because of his conical cornea, the lenses fell off. RGP lenses provide a good level of visual correction, but do not arrest the progression of Keratoconus. The Ophthalmologist quoted P60,000 (or about $1,300) for a pair of Rose K lenses with a 2-year warranty. The lenses will be specially designed to the shape of Jan's corneas. Rose K lenses are imported and there are no local distributors.


We went to another Ophthalmologist, a cornea specialist, yesterday for a second opinion, also hoping for a better price for corrective lenses. The doctor agreed to the diagnosis from PGH and referred Jan to another Ophthalmogist in Greenhills for RGP fitting. The second Ophthalmologist told us that there are only a few doctors here who do contact lenses for Keratoconus patients, it's possibly the reason why the lenses are so expensive.

From various articles I read in the net, no one truly knows the cause of Keratoconus. There have been many theories like a genetic predisposition, deficient collagen crosslinking caused by free radicals but there are no scientific evidence to support such theories. The doctor we've seen yesterday mentioned that vigorous eye rubbing causes the progression of the disease. Jan may have an untreated eye allergy that causes his eyes to itch. The doctor also stressed that about 25% of Keratoconus cases will progress to a point where corneal transplantation (or penetrating ketatoplasty) becomes necessary. I pray that Jan's condition will not progress to that point. For now, Jan applies 2 kinds of eye drops to treat his eye infection. We're going to see the doctor in Greenhills on Monday, and hopefully, Jan Q will have clearer vision soon and can go back to school. 


Photo: a "conical cornea" that is characteristic of Keratoconus