eye doctor, and errands

[redbird]

I went to my eye doctor today, for my once-a-year eye exam.

I told the assistant, and then Dr. Lazzara, that my vision seems a bit worse in the last year, and also that I thought I needed new glasses, because the current pair have gotten scratched over the last few years.

The new glasses will have a slightly different prescription, and Dr. Lazzara thinks the new glasses will solve the problems of blurring and difficulty with small print.

He also suggested that I use the hypertonic saline twice a day, and see if that gets me more hours of reasonable vision: the Fuchs dystrophy isn't much worse than a year ago, but I was already noticing effects a few years ago. This is the main reason I go out to Arlington to see an ophthalmologist, instead of just visiting an optometrist closer to home.

Since I was going to Arlington, I stopped at Fabric Corner for iron-on patches to mend a pair of jeans, and went to Penzey's after the eye doctor, for ground cumin and high-fat cocoa.

Comments

[otter]

It's not often occurred to me that a person could go JUST to the optometrist. I've been under care of an ophthalmologist for more than 50 years.

[redbird]

I’ve been seeing ophthalmologists since 1999, when I had a weird symptom that turned out to be optic neuritis. Before that, I’m not sure, but I was just going in periodically to see if I needed new glasses, and be tested for glaucoma while I was there.

My current eye doctor’s practice includes both ophthalmologists and optometrists. I suspect Dr. Lazzara sometimes tells patients that they don’t need an ophthalmologist, and that the optometrists sometimes tell patients that they do, but that’s a guess. I do know that he’s booking several months out for non-emergency appointments, but they got me in to see a diffierent ophthalmologist within a few days in 2024 when I said it was urgent.

[kate_schaefer]

I don't think I knew you had Fuchs. I do, too, diagnosed about two years ago. What effects do you notice?

At the time of my diagnosis, it was so mild that it was just an interesting and only slightly worrisome piece of information. After the cataract surgery a year ago, it became much more than that. The cataracts had acted as a layer of protection, like always wearing sunglasses, that had come on so gradually that I hadn't noticed it. Once that layer was removed, I could see what looks like a grid of small black holes. In the first few months after the surgery, how I perceived that grid was as a set of holes in reality through which I could see to the abyss behind reality's facade, which was a pretty darn scary way to see the world. That is, I knew that it was not an accurate interpretation of what I saw, but I couldn't get my brain all the way on board with seeing reality normally. Bright sunlight made the problem worse.

After a few months, it got better. Now I usually don't see the grid any more. I see it as black dots, when I see it at all, rather than as holes in reality. This is a big improvement. It's disconcerting sometimes, when I see a large flock of birds in the distance and then realize that most of those birds are actually my brain misinterpreting the grid, but at least I can figure it out.

Bodies! They are so weird.

[redbird]

I don’t remember whether I got the Fuchs diagnosis before or after my cataract surgery (which was in 2019).

So far, the main effect I’m aware of is that I have trouble focusing my eyes for a while after I get up, and that I have trouble reading small print both then and late in the evening. Nothing like that grid of black dots.

Dr. Lazzara thinks I will need a cornea transplant, or partial transplant, eventually, but not yet.