Did Robert Karlsson Have Macular Degeneration or Not?
by Ryan Ballengee on Aug 2, 2010 9:54 PM EDT
in Golfiness
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PrintA few months ago, Swedish golfer Robert Karlsson was the subject of several pieces in golf and eyesight circles. Why the bizarre combo? It was reported widely that Karlsson was suffering from a rare case of middle-age macular degeneration - an eye condition in which fluid build up behind the eyeball can lead to blindness.
Karlsson was even featured by Brian Wacker on PGATour.com discussing his battle with it during the week of the St. Jude Classic. Getting into a playoff with Lee Westwood and Robert Garrigus, Karlsson finished tied second.
He told Wacker of his condition, "You see it quite a lot in athletes, pilots, doctors. [My doctor's] colleague had it. He played tennis. He knew where the ball was going and smacked a hole in the air."
We did a post here at Waggle Room about Karlsson not taking a free read during the playoff, wondering why. Part of the speculation was that it could have been the eye condition - also perhaps explaining the terrible exhibition of putting in the playoff between he and Westwood. (Garrigus was eliminated early.)
Now, though, Karlsson says he never had macular degeneration. On his Twitter account this evening, Karlsson randomly sent out this message:
I did not have macular degeneration so I think there is some misinformation. but I use indocollyre and azopt. Good luck.
Robert Karlsson
robertkarlsson
Then why tell Wacker that he did suffer from the condition? Perhaps a misdiagnosis at the time, but if not, why go along with it? And what does Karlsson have, if anything?
According to Dr. Randall Wong, Karlsson likely suffers from a condition known as cystoid macular edema (CME).
"It usually arises secondary to other retinal problems such as recent surgery, iritis, vein occlusion or even diabetes," he says in a blog posting. "Two drops, a steroid and a non steroidal agent, are commonly prescribed."
Karlsson's two drops are what are typically prescribed for CME. So, while Robert Karlsson may have a serious eye condition, it is not macular degeneration and does have treatment options.
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Well CLEARLY !!…or as clearly as a situation surrounding someone who might or might not have macular degeneration (nothing to joke about, by the way) can be….this is a conspiracy developed around Karlsson to distract from the virtual flood of two 59’s and two 60’s over the last four weeks…
Or maybe there was a misdiagnosis…or someone jumped to an incorrect conclusion…
(has that GWAA card been tested for hallucinagenics ?) :-D
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Don’t worry, we’re getting to that.
This is actually an important story to me because I have an eye condition that nearly caused me to go blind in one eye. So, having a misdiagnosis definitely registers with me and does matter.
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroom, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
psst – RB – getting smacked by some chick at the bar for making a pass doesn’t count as an eye condition. ;-D
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I don’t think any of you guys know this, but in 2006, I came back from Las Vegas after graduating from grad school. Next day, went to play golf at an outing in PA. Played the round, decently. That night, went to play a friendly cheap game of poker at home. My eye started to hurt. I thought I had been wearing my contact too long. Went to sleep.
Next morning, my left eye was really red. I thought, ‘Ok, this has happened before, I’ll wear my glasses for a day and I’m set.’ But, it didn’t get better. The next day, my eye was EXTREMELY light sensitive. I was crying uncontrollably out of my left eye only. Went to an eye doctor. They thought it was Herpes in the eye – which is unbelievably common, believe it or not. They gave me some Valtrax to take and thought it would go away shortly. Never did. They tried drops with a steroid to see if my immune system needed a boost. No avail. Meanwhile, I would cry out of my left eye inside, outside, sunglasses on, off. Had to drive with basically one eye. The pain was very hard to deal with. Constant.
Annoyed with my doctor just shrugging his shoulders and letting me go blind, I asked for a recommendation to another specialist. Up in Baltimore, this guy Allan Rutzen figured out that it might be amoebas in my eye. Those single-cell organisms? Yeah, in my eye. Apparently, because I have a HUGE threshold for pain, I was fooling my other doctor by saying it didn’t hurt all that bad. I should’ve said I was dying inside. Dr. Rutzen did a biopsy on my eye, and within 15 minutes of leaving the hospital, he told me that’s what I had.
For a year, I took a cocktail of drops that only an old school apothecary can make. Eventually, everything was cleared up. Vision was still blurry in my left eye. The surface of my eye is jagged because of the amoebas eating away at it. So, a soft contact lens wouldn’t help. But, a hard lens might. So I was fitted for one by a specialist dealing with strange eye shapes – my case is literally 4 in a million, so strange indeed – and my vision instantly went to 20/20 in the left eye.
I’m very lucky that this has worked for me, and over time, hopefully my eye heals even better.
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroom, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Aug 3, 2010 9:38 AM EDT up reply actions
Yikes ! That’s some scary stuff. Will the outside of your eye smooth out over time just with natural blinking action ?
I understand your interest in the Karlsson story, but that doesn’t explain that snide tone, questioning someone’s integrity who isn’t a doctor.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
That’s why I said I figured it was a misdiagnosis, cause of how tough it can be to identify things related to the eye (from personal experience).
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroom, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Aug 3, 2010 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions
Perhaps Karlsson just concentrated on the word "macular"
when discussing his condition with Wacker & didn’t make the distinction at that time between degeneration/edema?
My husband has macular degeneration in both eyes (which is why those nice yellow Srixon golf balls ProGolf is sending me are for him).
I think I got off lightly compared to you, Ryan. Scratched my cornea v. badly . It was agony and like you the tears just kept streaming. Spent a fortnight in a dark room having eyedrops administered several times a day. No permanent damage but no more contacts for me. Hope the healing process continues in your case.
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