Fox News Anchor Shannon Bream's Eye Pain Was So Severe She Contemplated Suicide
Fox News anchor Shannon Bream felt hopeless after her optometrist told her she was being “too emotional” over her extreme eye pain.
So hopeless, in fact, that the “Fox News at Night” host contemplated suicide.
Thanks to the determined support from her husband, however, she was able to find a specialist who knew how to help.
Bream was nearly 40 years old when her eye pain first woke her up from her sleep, according to People.
Soon she had to set alarms throughout the night so she could apply eye drops every hour or two.
“I was in searing pain,” she said. “I couldn’t get any rest.”
Her eye drops became an essential part of her day over the next two years, but even they couldn’t fully alleviate the excruciating pain she experienced.
She consulted a doctor about her pain, but he wasn’t able to diagnose the cause of her pain.
“He told me he thought I was being too emotional,” she recalled. “That put me into a tailspin — I’m desperate for any lifeline any diagnosis, any treatment to help me through this nightmare, and my doctor was questioning my sanity. That was really hurtful.”
“I felt like no one was going to help me,” she added.
Bream began looking for support on online forums from others who experienced similar pain, and she found she wasn’t the only one who felt hopeless.
“There were people talking about how the only way out was to take their own life. And that didn’t seem crazy or unreasonable to me at all,” she recalled.
“I was two years into it. I was in my early 40s, and I said, ‘No way I could live another 40 years like that. If all of my waking hours are in pain, what is the point of going on?’”
But instead of following through on those thoughts, she opened up to her husband, Sheldon, and shared how just how much the pain was affecting her.
“I just can’t go on,” she said.
Thankfully, he took her pain seriously.
“He said, ‘We are going to start over. I don’t care if we have to go around the whole world and we have to spend every dime we have in the bank. This is our priority, and we’re going to get through this together,’” she said.
Together, they found a specialist who was able to diagnose what was causing Bream’s pain — chronic erosion syndrome as well as corneal map-dot-fingerprint dystrophy.
Even though the chronic condition has no cure, the new specialist was able to form a treatment plan to help alleviate some of her pain.
It only took her a few weeks to see results.
“Within a few weeks, I actually slept through the night for the first time in almost two years,” she said.
“It really gave me my life back,” she continued. “My eyes are never going to be perfect. But they’re 95 percent better. I do occasionally have a little pain here and there overnight. It’s nothing, nothing like the pain I had before.”
Bream said she is thankful for both God and her supportive husband for helping her through such a difficult time.
“I couldn’t be more grateful now. When I get out of bed in the morning, I literally say a prayer,” she said. “The first thing I do is thank God that I got through the night.”
Ultimately, she hopes that others going through tough times will feel less alone by hearing her story.
“It’s such a hopeless place to be, but I hope my story will encourage other people who live with chronic pain and don’t have a diagnosis to find the right doctor,” Bream said, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
“You must be your own fiercest advocate when it comes to your health. Walk away from medical professionals who dismiss your concerns, and don’t quit searching until you find someone who will truly partner with you to find the answers you deserve.”
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