Thief in the night

Today was my first follow up at the eye specialist in Singapore following his confirmation that I had early stage glaucoma.
I was toying with the idea of telling him that I had not been taking the eyedrops and had been taking the sinseh's midicines instead but decided not to do that. He checked my eye pressure and said it had gone down to a good level - 17 and 18.
I had come prepared with my questions. This time, he did not seem to be in so much of a hurry and took time to answer them.

Question: Is it the pressure or blood supply issues that causes glaucoma.
Answer: Increased pressure has been associated with damaged optic nerves. Perhaps poor blood supply could make the optic nerves more vulnerable to heightened pressure.
Inherited traits in the eye structure could also make one more vulnerable to glaucoma - how the optic nerve is positioned as it exits the eye.
Elaboration: Three tests used to check for glaucoma - measuring the pressure, scanning the eye to map the thickness of the optic nerve network, and the visual field test. If glaucoma has gone to an advanced stage, a visual inspection of the eye will reveal it.

Question: How often should the progression of glaucoma be monitored.
Answer: More frequently at the beginning so as to establish a base line data - once a quarter; later, if tests show there is little change, once in six months and eventually once a year. But it is important to monitor because the changes are hard to detect; glaucoma robs you of vision like a thief in the night.

Question: Will you become dependant on the eyedrops?
Answer: You have to decide that you are going to take it for the rest of your life. No getting away from it. The drops available now are much more better than what may have been available years ago. There are three kinds of drops - beta blockers (don't remember the other two)

That was a sobering discussion. He gave me three months worth of drops and set another, final, follow up for Dec 24, after which he said he would give me a referral to a doctor at Regency hospital in Johore Baru. I shall have to think about this. Iwill probably continue with my sinseh medicine and keep the eye drops in the fridge in case I eventually have to resort to them. Meanwhile, I must make arrangements for further monitoring in Johor Baru.