The appointment started with the typical questions from a tech about how my vision was doing, if I was experiencing any pain or discomfort, etc.  Then it was time to read the chart with my left eye.  The E was not a problem.  The next line, C and D, I could see, but if I didn’t remember it I might have said G instead of C.  The next line, which I now know is DHN, I couldn’t see.  With the pinholes, I was able to make out the H.

She moved on to my right eye.  Good news there, I can still tell if a light is off or on if it is a foot or less away from my eye…  Yippee.  She then put, or should I say shot, drops into both eyes.  God only knows how many, but it was sure more than one of each.  One is to numb the eye to get IOP (pressure) readings, while the other was to dilate my eye.  While she was doing this, she left the chart on, so I continued to try to read it.  She then used a hand-held device to get the IOP (Dr. Ayres calls this device a glorified random number generator.)  IOP was nine in the left and mid to upper 20s in the right.  The previous week at my glaucoma appointment, it was eight in the left and 13 in the right using the standard device (the one that you put your chin in, press your head against the bar, and look at the blue light.)

She waited a minute or two and then tried to get another number on the right eye.  Meanwhile, I’m still trying to read the 20/100 line on the chart.  She then said I was cheating by continuing to attempt to read the line.  Eliz didn’t like what she said and asked how I was cheating if I was just trying to read the chart.  While the lady answered Eliz, I had my hand in front of my eye, trying to simulate the pinholes while still trying to read the line.  Hey, if you don’t want me to keep trying, shut the effing thing off!  As we got up to move to the next exam room, I glanced behind the chair where the chart is bounced off of a mirror and saw that the line was DHN.  Now maybe that was cheating.  How would that help me though?  It’s not like I could get a drivers license for reading the 20/100 line.

In the next room, Dr. Garg came in and asked some questions and then had a look.  He then told me that the only thing left to try were injections in the eye.  Before we try that though, he wanted to get another OCT scan to make sure the risk/reward was worth the attempt (actually, attempts, as it would take several injections over the course of a few months for it to work.)

Tom gave me the OCT scan a few minutes later, then we headed to another exam room.  After a minute or two, Dr. Garg came in and had a look at the scan.  He said that it wouldn’t be worth trying the injections as there was only a 15% chance of them helping me see better.  At that point, I said, “Okay, so there isn’t really anything you can do for me?”  “That’s right,” he replied.  He told me I could come back in five months (why?,) or sooner if I was having any other problems.  He did tell me to make sure that I see him, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Pro, or Dr. Ruffini frequently to get IOP readings.  Seems like ‘roids that I take 2x per day in the left eye could cause the pressure to rise.  Maybe it’s time to see Dr. House, Dr. Riviera, or Oscar Goldman…

So while my vision is not cuckoo bananas (a technical term Dr. Garg used at my last appointment in June,) it’s not good either.  So what do I do now?  Some days, my vision is better than others.  Today, for example, it sucked big time (I suppose that is a technical term I picked up somewhere along the way.)  Maybe I’ll see a little better tomorrow.  I’m not holding my breathe (but would if it would help…)

It’s Not Cuckoo Bananas, But It’s Not Good Either is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: appointment, C.  The, chart, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Garg, Dr. House, Dr. Pro, Dr. Riviera, Dr. Ruffini, eye, God, H. She, iop, line, Oscar Goldman, pinholes, random number generator, retina specialist, Tom, upper 20s

We left the house at 8.15am and traffic was surprisingly light.  Even the road work on the Girard Point Bridge didn’t slow us down.  Things were going great until we were about 25 yards from the parking garage at Wills Eye.  A minivan was at the entrance and the driver seemed like she didn’t want to go in.  Once she noticed us, she proceeded slowly.  She got her parking ticket out of the machine and continued very slowly up into the garage.  We always like to park on the top floor, which is the seventh, because it is the only floor that you don’t have to go to the ground floor, get off the elevator, and then get on a different elevator.  On seven, you walk right into the hospital and grab an elevator to either nine (low vision,) ten (cornea,) or eleven (glaucoma.)

Anyway, after a couple of floors, this lady has a parade of cars behind her.  She sees an open spot and tries to park.  She pulls in at the wrong angle and sees she will hit the car on her left.  Backs up, but doesn’t change her turn at all.  Tries to pull in exactly the same way, then backs up again because she sees she still doesn’t have clearance on her left.  Horns start honking.  People start yelling.  She then just stops.  Seriously.  I ask, “Who’s driving that car, Stevie Wonder?”  She is in the middle of the driveway, blocking us and everyone behind us.  More honking.  More yelling.  Eliz did neither.  She pulls away from the space to give us and everyone else room to get past her.  At this point, I’m regretting coming to this appointment.  We get to seven and head inside.

We sign-in on the eleventh floor and have a seat.  Eliz starts to read out the letters for the word scramble in the newspaper.  My mind is not in shape for figuring these out (I was up until 2.30am researching colognes, perfumes, and other hair and skin care products that can be drop shipped to our customers — watch for them soon on ForYourSalon.com.)  After a couple of minutes we get called to the desk to confirm my info and to pay the copay.  As the receptionist is running our credit card (we always pay by credit card at doctors’ appointments because we’ve been burned in the past by having to prove we paid,) she is distracted from another receptionist talking on her mobile phone.  She realizes as she’s handing Eliz the slip to sign that she charged us $25, not the correct amount of $20.  ”Oh, I’m sorry, I’ve charged you $25.  You don’t mind if we just put the extra $5 on your account, do you?  It really is a pain to void it,” she says.  Eliz says okay and signs the slip.  We head back to the waiting area.  I’m more annoyed now.  I’m not sure if it was just the receptionist I was annoyed with or me for not saying anything about it.  Eliz and I discuss what just happened and then Eliz starts back on the sudoku.  I close my eyes and wait to be called back.

After some time, we get called and head to a room.  The tech takes us to a room we’ve never been in and begins to ask how things are going.  I tell her the same old story.  She then asks about my meds.  I begin to tell her about the eye drops I’m on, while she is reading the meds that were written in my chart from the last appointment.  She interrupts me before I get one med out of my mouth.  She says, “Are you still on Predforte?”   I answer no and again begin to tell her what I’m on.  She interrupts again asks about another steroid, similar to Predforte (but not the one I’m on.)  Again, I say no and say I’m on Durezol, but pronounce it Durzol.  She then says, “Do you mean…” and says something with about something that begins with a “D,” but is about six syllables longer than Dur ez ol.  Eliz and I say no.  This goes on for another couple of minutes and we move on to the next eye drop.  Since it is the newest one, I had ripped the top of the box off and brought it with since I couldn’t see to read the name.  I then have to explain to her several times how it is applied (though it is an eye drop, the cornea doc told me to put it on my finger — it is very thick — and, with my eye closed, rub it along the seam where my lids meet.)  She wasn’t getting it…  The last eye drop was an easy one.  She writes it down and has a look at my eyes.

She asks me to cover my left eye while she shines a light into my right.  She asks if I can see it, which I can.  She moves the light back a foot or two and asks again.  This time I can’t see it.  Okay, now onto the left eye and the eye chart.  I was happy that it was a different chart, one I haven’t memorized.  ”Do you see that,” she asks while showing the big E.  I tell her yes, it is the E.  The next line was a C and a D, which I also am able to read.  I can’t really see the next line, so she hands me the pinholes.  Still no luck.  She says okay and takes the pinholes from me and writes somethings in my chart.  While she’s doing this, I continue to try to see the 20/100 line.  One of the letters in the middle looks like an H or an N.  I ask if that is true and she says, “Yes, it’s an H.  I’ll give you a plus one.”  Hooray.  We then have to go back to the waiting room until there is a room the doctor can see us in.  I’m happy to get away from that know-it-all tech.

After a short wait, we head to a different exam room.  The tech this time is William, who is 43057895743759385473% better than the first tech, puts some drops in my eyes and Dr. Pro walks in.  He greets us and asks me a few questions.  The first couple of answers where fairly short, like, “yeah, it is about the same as the last time I was here.”  He then asks me another question, but after I say about five words, he begins talking to William.  I stop talking.  He says go on.  I start again and he starts talking to William again.  He says continue, but after a few words, his mobile goes off and he checks it to see that it is a doctor that he needs info from (Eliz later told me that he had an emergency surgery scheduled at 10.30am, so it probably had to do with that.)  He hands the phone to William to get the info and asks me to put my head in the machine so he can have a look.  Let’s face it, I really didn’t have anything good to say, and even if I did, I don’t think he was really interested.  He has a look and then takes the IOP of each eye (13 in the right, 8 in the left.)  William has finished on the phone and Dr. Pro starts giving him the info of what he saw in my eyes (besides the blank stare back.)

Dr. Pro then tells me things on the glaucoma side look good.  He says he believes the vision issues I’m having aren’t glaucoma related and it is best for Dr. Ayres (cornea) and Dr. Garg (retina) to figure out was the issue is.  News flash, no one seems to know why my vision came around for those ten days in April after the surgery and then went bye-bye.  Not me, my doctors, or even that voodoo woman named Phyllis.  We shake hands and head to a different reception desk to checkout.

We get to the desk and the receptionist is finishing up with a woman.  When she is done, she says to us, “I’ll be right with you, I’ve just have to send a fax to a doctor.”  Her tone made me believe she meant: You’re done, you’re not as important as a doctor, so just wait a few minutes.  After about five minutes, she starts to help us, but notices the lady before us is still there.  The receptionist asks her if she had a question.  The lady says she was just waiting for an appointment card for her next visit.  The receptionist apologized for not giving her one and writes one out for her.  Now it is our turn.  She reads the form Eliz handed her and says, “You’ll have to call back on Monday.  The doctor wants you to have a Fields test and I can’t schedule that now.”  So, we wasted our time standing there waiting.

Let’s recap:  We wasted nearly three hours (an hour and a half at Wills, plus travel time to and from) on this appointment and wasted over $43 (the $20 copay, the $5 credit we’ll supposedly get for next time, and over $18 for parking — that is with validation, otherwise it would have been $22.)  I told Jake the night before it was going to be a waste of time.  I only wish I could use these Nostradamus powers to select the correct Powerball numbers.

Why Do I Bother? is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: appointment, drop, Eliz, eye, floor, girard point, Jane, parking ticket, Philadelphia, point bridge, schedule appointments, wills eye institute

Central Vision Visual Fields Test at Wills Eye

One of the problem I’ve noticed is that I seem to have more blind spots, especially in my central vision.  When Eliz and I were working with Jane at softball, I noticed I had trouble following the ball when Eliz would flip the ball to me from three to five feet unless I looked to my right.  I’m not sure what the above test indicates, but since I don’t think I’ve ever had this particular visual fields test I don’t think there is anything to compare it to.

Visual Fields Test Machine in the Glaucoma Dept. at Wills Eye

After my appointment at Wills Eye, Eliz and I walked up Walnut Street and stopped into the Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired.  I had contacted them just before we moved Salon Supplies + Interiors and ForYourSalon.com out of that disaster of a building (which has been condemned, by the way.)  Between the move and setup of the business and waiting to see how things went with the surgery, I didn’t follow up.  Looking back, that seems dumb.  As it stands now, I don’t think things will improve dramatically, if at all.  You may say I’m a pessimist, but I disagree.  I would call myself a realist.  Sure, I can hope and wish, but I’ve been doing that since I was a small child.  Maybe I learn something and gain some confidence.

Visual Fields Test is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: appointment, caption, central vision, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Garg, Dr. Pro, eye, glaucoma specialist, Jane, retina specialist, test, Walnut Street, Wills, wills eye

We didn’t have to wait long in the waiting room.  I was very curious about reading the chart.  The E was not a problem.  I could see the SL on the next line, but it didn’t seem as sharp as my previous appointment about 10 days earlier.  I could not read the OPLB line.  That was a step backward.

When Dr. Ayres came in, I told him about what was going on.  He took a look and said everything seemed about the same as my previous appointment.  No signs of retina detachment, the new lens was still in place, and there was no signs of rejection on the previously transplanted endothelia.  My IOP was at seven, which was down from 10 at my previous appointment.  As he put it, the good news is that it is not a problem from the surgery, but that means I don’t really have any way of fixing the issue.  He prescribed a non-steroidal eye drop just in case there was a little swelling that he didn’t notice.  He said it was like Advil in drop form.

On Tuesday I have a scheduled appointment with Dr. Pro, who is my glaucoma doctor.  I want to have a Fields test, because one of the things I have noticed is more blind spots, especially in my central vision.  Hopefully, he’ll find something that can be corrected.

So, it seems I’ve missed my opportunity to go to the movies or a Phillies game.  It might also be time to learn how to do things without much sight.  I was waiting for the surgery before I tried anything new, but I think it is time.

Going the Wrong Way is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: appointment, central vision, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Pro, eye, eye drop, Friday, phillies game, problem, retina detachment, vision, wills eye

Dr. Pro recommended a couple of retina specialists at Wills Eye, who also have an office at the Pagoda Building in Bala Cynwyd.  It was too late in the day to get an appointment today, so I’ll call them tomorrow and set something up.  I’d like to get something quickly to stop further decrease in my vision.  I already have an appointment with my local ophthalmologist, John Ruffini, on Friday and will discuss the scan, my options, and the cataract (which was the original reason I made the appointment.)

Time to See a Retina Specialist is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: appointment, bala cynwyd, call, cataract, congenital glaucoma, cornea, cornea transplant, Dr. Ayers, Dr. Pro, Dr. Ruffini, eye, iop, John Ruffini, late in the day, retina, ruffini, swelling, wills eye

After lunch, we went to visit my parents.  We do that every weekend and sometimes during the week if they need something.  Today we took them a couple of rye breads, a frozen dinner they asked for, a box of Tastykake cupcakes courtesy of my friend Alex, and a couple of treats.  While we’re visiting, we talk for awhile, watch TV, and help them any way we can.  Usually, the kids and Eliz hang out with my mom, while I talk with my dad.

Today was a bit different because my mom was preparing dinner when we arrived, so we all kind of hung out in the kitchen and dinning area.  When we arrived to their apartment, there was a gift on the shelf outside their door for my dad.  After we went through all the stuff we brought for them, he opened the present.  It was from a few ladies who my father taught to shoot pool.  My parents both laughed as Eliz read who the pound of fudge was from.  Between that gift, the treats we brought them, and the ice cream they have stashed in their freezer from the “cafe” down the hall, they should have enough sweets for a week or two.

After my mom had everything simmering on the stove, my parents, Eliz, and I went into the den, while the kids went into the bedroom to watch TV.  We talked about Shavu’ot, a jewish holiday that Jake has to do a presentation on at school (which neither I or my parents knew anything about,) Jake’s decision to got to Japan with the Japanese club from Westtown, some trips we took when I was a kid, and business.  We spent between and hour and a half and two hours visiting, then we headed across the street to Borders and then came home.

Since it is Hanukkah, we wanted to do one of our family traditions: make potato latkes.  (The kids are being raised without religion, though they are exposed to both jewish and catholic traditions.  If they want to pick a religion when they’re older, that’s up to them.)  The best part of latkes this year was that both kids wanted to help in the preparation.  They both peeled potatoes.  Jake then cut them up for Jane to feed into the food processor for shredding.  Eliz then grated the onion in the food processor.  I added the other ingredients and cooked them.  Jane later said she wanted to form some and cook them, so my cooking duties were over for the day.  Don’t tell her, but she is better at cooking them than me…  We then enjoyed them together, along with roasted turkey breast, at the dinner table.

Simply eating together at the dinner table is good.  We don’t get to do it as often as we should.  We all had a hand in making the latkes and spent real quality time with one another.  Eliz and I both really enjoyed it.

A Good Day is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: Alex, appointment, basement, Borders, Crozer, day, dinner, Don, Dr. Ayres, Eliz, friend alex, frozen dinner, glaucoma, Hanukkah, I, Jake, Jane, Japan, Japanese, japanese club, jewish holiday, mom, ophthalmologists, problems, rye breads, shredding, Today, video

I get called back and the “nurse” (she is more than a helper, but I doubt she is a nurse — please correct me if I’m wrong) puts up the eye chart.  I see the big E (20/400,) but not the SL (20/200.)  She drops the pinhole thingy over my eye and after some searching for the perfect pinhole, I see the SL line.  The OPLB line looks like some black blobs and I can’t make any of the letters out.  The “nurse” says, “Oh, that’s not so bad.  It’s only one line less.”  Really?  So if you are driving down the street, you don’t think seeing a sign with letters about 12 inches tall would be much easier to see than the sign with letters about six inches tall?  I’ve wasted a ton of money on signage then if it’s not that different.

After waiting an unusually long time to see Dr. Ayers (a total of about an hour fifteen minutes,) he finally came into the room.  We exchanged pleasantries and then discussed my eyes.  I told him about my left eye and not seeing as good as I had been and I am now having greater difficulty reading on the computer.  As I put my head into the applanation tonometer (the machine with the blue light on it,) I mention that my right eye is bothering me.  He took a look at the right eye and mentioned things like corneal edema, bullae, and some other things to the “nurse” who was writing everything in my chart.  I kind of knew that I had some bullae (small, fluid-filled blisters ,) because I’ve had sinusitis and been on antibiotics for the past two weeks.  (This is the third time I’ve had sinusitis in the last four months, could it be the mold at the store?)  The problem with the bullae now though is that when they pop, the pain isn’t going away and any kind of light brings additional pain.  I thought I might have an infection in the eye.  Doc said no and to use this stuff called Muro 128, which is basically a kicked up saline solution.  It also comes in a gel that I usually use.  I suppose I could also go to the kitchen and throw some salt in my eye…

As he checked out my left eye, he noticed the “folds” straight away.  He then said the “folds” are Haab Striae and I’ve had them for a long time.  He then (tried to) show me the sketches he’s done of my eye at every visit.  He realized I couldn’t see it and told me each one has them (the striae) there.  He said my eye looks good.  My IOP was eight in the left, 16 in the right.  Wow, so everything is good!  I am so relieved.  But wait, I can’t see as well.  There’s got to be something going on.  I do have a cataract in there, but the doc says he doesn’t think it is time to remove it.  Besides, by taking that out, it may wreck the endothelia that was transplanted in December.  Dr. Ayers says, “But we could just do another one.”  He said I might be able to 20/70 or 20/80!  Of course he said I’d get to 20/100 by doing the endothelial transplant.  I guess I’ve got to wait more than 42 weeks after the surgery to get there.  He doesn’t think the cataract is the problem though.  Dr. Ayers then adds, “Whatever it is, it’s not an easy fix.”  House!  HOUSE!  Where the hell is that guy…  Oh, he’s not real?  I thought that show was one of those reality shows.

Speaking to my dad about the appointment last night, he said, “What are they gonna tell you?  They can’t fix it, it is the way it is.”  I should have listened to him.  I’d have saved a few hours and the copay.  Not too bad for a guy that only spent two weeks in high school.

I’d like to thank Ken for transporting me to my appointment.  Since Ginny and Scott aren’t with us at the store, we don’t have coverage for Eliz and I both to leave store.  Between the mold, the economy, and my vision, it might be time to get into something else.

Everything Looks Fine… is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: applanation tonometer, appointment, cornea specialist, corneal edema, Dr. Ayers, eye, fluid-filled blisters, Ginny, glaucoma, glaucoma specialist, Haab Striae, I, infection, ken, line, Mold, muro 128, nurse, saline solution, Scott, sinusitis, the economy, time, visual acuity

After about 10 minutes, we were called back.  Christy asked about any problems, pains, etc.  She wrote down everything I said.  Then it was time for the eye chart.  Big E, that’s all I saw and even that wasn’t clear.  I could barely see that there were characters on the next line.  20/400, just like at the glaucoma study and Dr. Ruffini’s office.  Christy then flipped the pin holes down.  I saw the next line (CD, 20/200) and a letter from the next line!  The C& D (from the 20/200 line) showed up just like those ballplayers at Ray’s cornfield did for Mark.  For fun, she shined a light at my right eye.  I saw the light…  Hold the applause, please.  Dr. Pro wasn’t quite ready to see me yet, so back out into the waiting area.  We’re back to reading recipes like it’s 1999.  Sad thing is, I would have been able to read those recipes back then…

After five minutes or so, we went into another examination room.  First in was Dr. Katz, who, I believe, is doing a Fellowship at Wills.  He was very friendly and joked with Eliz and I.  He checked the IOP in both eyes (18 in the right and six in the left.)  He also looked around both eyes and mentioned that he saw the “button” in my left eye (the new part of the cornea that was transplanted last December.)  Dr. Pro came had a look and asked Dr. Katz for a quick evaluation while he (Dr. Pro) continued to checkout my eyes.

Dr. Katz stated that he got an 18 for my right eye, but didn’t know how accurate that was.  Dr. Pro said that it is hard to get a good (accurate) reading from that eye because of all the problems with it.  The cornea is thick with some scarring and there is a cataract that is pretty mature in there as well.  He then tried using a different device to get the IOP in the right eye.  From what I saw of it, it looked like one of those digital cooking thermometers.  Since the numbing drops were beginning to wear off, it didn’t feel too good being jabbed into my eye.  Dr. Pro said that the numbers were all over the place and that some of the readings were around 30.  (Perhaps my eye was simply picking the Powerball or MegaMillion numbers for the next drawing.  If Dr. Pro isn’t there for my next appointment in January, I’ll know…)

Dr. Pro then talked about the fold in the left cornea.  He told me to call and give Dr. Ayers (the cornea doc) a heads up.  He also told me to take the Pred Forte drops four times per day until I see Dr. Ayers at the end of this month.  He told me he didn’t know the cause for the fold and if it could be repaired without surgery.  Dr. Ayers would be able to tell me more.  Dr. Pro then began discussing my right eye.  He said it might be time for a trab.  I asked him why.  He thought the pressure was kind of high and I did have some vision in that eye and we should try and save it.  I mentioned that I had been told in the past by Dr. Wilson and Dr. Starer (R.I.P.) that any glaucoma surgery should be accompanied by cataract removal and a new (okay, actually it’s used, but new to me…) cornea.  I was a bit surprised by the suggestion of the trab recommendation.  My eye has very little pain usually (though, at that moment I could still feel where the meat thermometer was jabbed into it.)  Saying that I have some vision in that eye is like saying the homeless guy sleeping on the street with 18 cents in his pocket has money.  Is it true yes.  Is the sight meaningful?  No.  I then mentioned to Dr. Pro that I would be game for any type of experimental surgery on that eye.  After some additional discussion, Dr. Pro told me he just wanted me to know my options.

As we were waiting to checkout at the front desk, Eliz mentioned that my attitude had changed when he talked about surgery on my right eye.  I asked her if it was bad and she said that I was not disrespectful, but she could tell I wasn’t happy.  I wasn’t happy at all.  I still didn’t know what the problem was with my left eye and didn’t really care about how we can make my right eye minutely better.  I was extremely disappointed and frustrated.  When I got home that night, I began searching for answers on the fold.  I posted some questions in one of the yahoo groups I belong to, hoping for an answer.  As of this writing, I’ve got nothing yet.  I’ll keep you posted…  The best thing to come from the appointment, besides the recipes, was the fact that I didn’t notice any kids waiting to be seen.

Glaucoma Specialist is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: appointment, c amp, Christy, cornea, Dr. Ayers, Dr. Katz, Dr. Pro, Dr. Ruffini, Dr. Starer, Dr. Wilson, Eliz, eye, eye chart, family gatherings, glaucoma, glaucoma specialist, I.  He, magazine, Mark, pin holes, R.I.P, Ray

I had also hoped to stop by ASB (Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired – asb.org) tomorrow, as they are just across Walnut Street from Wills Eye.  I didn’t hear back from them, so I don’t know if we stop in.  I don’t get a chance to get out of the store too often, so we’ve got to make the most of it.  Jane and Margaret are covering for Eliz and I tomorrow, by the way.  I will post tomorrow or over the weekend on how he appointment goes.

Wills Eye Tomorrow is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: appointment, asb.org, Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, black eye, clouding, cornea, cornea specialist, December, Dr. Ayers, Dr. Pro, Dr. Ruffini, Eliz, endothelia, eye, glaucoma specialist, Jane, Margaret, ruffini, specialist, tomorrow, Walnut Street, wills eye

The nurse/assistant then put numbing drops in my eyes and took my pressure.  I’m not a fan of them taking my pressure, because they do not take their time getting a reading and are obviously not as skilled as the doctor in reading the results.  She got between 10 and 12 on my right eye (not that that eye matters.  Hell, I’d sell it to the highest bidder if I could – and no, PayPal would NOT be accepted for payment.)  She got eight in my left eye.  That eye hasn’t, pardon the pun, seen eight in quite awhile (since 5 Dec 2008, the day after my endothelial transplant, when my IOP was in the mid-teens due to something being blocked from the surgery.)  It has fluctuated between five and seven at most visits over the last six and a half years since my last trab (glaucoma surgery) in Feb 2003.  She then dilated my eyes.

Dr. Ruffini entered about 10 minutes later, and not a moment too soon, since Eliz and I had finished all the word scrambles from the paper.  I told him of my lousier than normal sight and the double vision I’ve been experiencing.  He had a look with a light that was 3457329845 times brighter than the sun.  He said he could see all the way back to the nerve in my left eye; my cornea was very clear; the cataract had grown slightly, but it wasn’t something that needed to be dealt with near-term.  He also mentioned a slight fold at the center of the endothelia.  He wasn’t sure what might have caused this, since it wasn’t there the last time.  I asked if the low IOP (hypotony) could have caused this and thought that might be it.  Wow, after 44 years of going to ophthalmologists, I actually contributed to the discussion!  He advised me to discuss the wrinkle with both the glaucoma specialist and cornea special at my upcoming appointments with them in October.

I was disappointed  when we left the appointment.  These things are going on in my eye, I still can’t see as well as I did back in March 2008 (before the problems with my cornea started,) and yet there is no solution.  Nothing.  I don’t know why I have such a hard time believing that.  I also don’t know why I’m having such a tough time dealing with it.  I’ve known since I was a little kid that this was my predicament.  Knowing doesn’t make it easier.  As my sight gets worse, I’ve gotten more miserable and I’m too young to be a grumpy old man.

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© iCantCU.com, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: appointment, clear as day, dilated, Dr. Ruffini, endothelia, eye, eyes, glaucoma, glaucoma surgery, hypotony, L.  Then, line, low IOP, mid teens, miserable, nurse assistant, pinholes, pressure, right eye, time, word scrambles, yesterday