Seeking Second Opinion

Seeking a second opinion with St John saved Layali’s sight

  • 23 Sep 2019

Leyali is a successful accountant from Hebron City in the South of the West Bank. She is proud to be working in this profession as it enables her to support her parents and five siblings.

For two years Layali was complaining of pressure behind the eyes. She attended several general clinics who misdiagnosed these as mere pressure headaches and sent her on her way. However, her condition continued to worsen, affecting her daily life and her ability to perform at her job, which requires a keen eye.

Layali heard of the quality of the eye care at St John Eye Hospital in Hebron and in August 2019 decided to seek a second opinion. After thorough examination, our doctors diagnosed Layali with a pseudotumor cerebri – a build-up of fluid in the brain. This condition is often misdiagnosed as it presents with symptoms of a tumour but shows normal scans, and it can eventually cause blindness if left untreated. They referred her to the Al Makkassad General Hospital in Jerusalem where she received urgent brain surgery to relieve the fluid.

Just two weeks later Layali was back in our Hebron Hospital for a full ophthalmic check-up, and was extremely pleased to share that her vision had returned to normal! She will continue to come for regular checkups as this condition can return with time, this will be very convenient from Hebron and she does not require a permit to travel for her checkups.

I am so happy I chose to seek a second opinion with St John, they were the only doctors to recognise the severity of my symptoms. I shudder to think I could still be misdiagnosed had I not come here. The staff here are excellent and have provided the highest standards of care throughout this entire experience. I was so worried about my condition, and in such pain from the constant headaches, it is such a relief to finally be better! Thank you to all who support this hospital and thank you to all St John staff for saving my sight!

Leyali