As you’ve read here over the past seven weeks, I’ve been pretty frustrated and miserable. On the way to my my cornea specialist, Eliz and I were talking about what I was planning on discussing with Dr. Ayres. I was going to tell him how tired I was running back and forth to all these eye specialists who couldn’t really figure out why my vision had deteriorated to 20/200 (close to my pre-surgery acuity) after I was able to read most of the 20/100 line a week after the surgery. I was also going to ask Dr. Ayres to ease off some of the drops. I was up to about 8 to 10 per day, and after some, my vision was blurry for varying lengths of time, reducing my vision further.
So we’re driving down Lancaster Ave. after dropping Jane at softball camp at Villanova and we turn on Preston and Steve on WMMR (Eliz is a huge fan.) They were talking about some guy who was trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records by singing the lowest note ever. The discussion somehow turned to the Oak Ridge Boys and their hit Elvira (warning, don’t click the link, you won’t be able to get the song out of your head…) They were talking about how deep one of the members of the band could sing, were making fun of the song and then mentioning that one of the members was from Collingswood, NJ (it is in southern New Jersey.) I was laughing so hard I was crying. Tears were streaming down my face for over five minutes. When they finally stopped, we were just passing St. Joe’s on City Ave. I grabbed a tissue and wiped my eyes and began to look around. Things looked clearer to me. We stopped at a red light and I looked at the trees and buildings and told Eliz that things looked better than before the tears flowed.
We were only a minute or two away (his office is on Presidential Blvd. in the Pagoda Building, just off City Ave.) We sat in the car for a minute or two since we were early. I looked at the building and the trees and things still looked better. Once we walked in, things were still tough to see inside. We took the elevator to his office and signed in. Eliz grabbed a magazine and started looking through it. I glanced at the front cover, but couldn’t make out the title, so I thought my vision was returning to its current normal. After a few minutes, I was called back to Pod 3 (which I suggested on multiple occasions to rename EyePod 3.) Tia was the name of the tech and she questioned me about what meds I’ve been taking and how my vision was doing. Then she turned on the eye chart. E looked clearer. So did SL. I was then able to make out the L first, then the P in the OPLB line. (As I’ve mentioned before, I know all the lines down to DAO6, the 20/60 line, so I’m never 100% sure I’m actually seeing them.) There is no alternative 20/100 line other then the OPLB line, like there are for the 20/80 line and better, so I was given credit for seeing the P and the L. With the pinholes, I tried both the CAV8 (20/80) line and its numerical alternative without being able to read anything.
Dr. Ayres came in a few minutes later and I told him about what happened on the way into the appointment. He then took a look and had me blink twice. He noticed that my eye was losing the tear film in about five seconds (he didn’t use a stopwatch, instead opting for the technical Philadelphia, as in one Philadelphia, two Philadelphia, etc. We always used Mississippi when we played football as kids. You could blitz on five Mississippi…) He then explained to Eliz and I that 10 seconds is the norm for the tear film to last after blinking. I’m not surprised that my eyes aren’t normal. Never have been, never will be. He also mentioned that once the eye begins to dry, the visual acuity begins to fall. He gave me more drops, over the counter lubricating drops for during the day, and a prescription for a drop to use at bedtime. It is an antibiotic that evidently is somewhat thick. It is used for infections in the eye, but I was instructed to close my eye and massage it onto the edge of my upper and lower lids. I’ll let you know how that goes in a few days since I haven’t used it yet. Dr. Ayres also took me off one of the steroid drops (two less drops per day) and Muro 128 (four times per day.)
Can it be that at least part of my current eye issues were discovered because of Preston and Steve? Yup! So, thank you Preston and Steve (and Kathy, Casey, Nick, Marisa, the Oak Ridge Boys, and that guy trying to sing the lowest note!) Now I just have to hope that the new drop works. Wish me luck (again…)