Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

This was a follow-up to my appointment last month to have the doctor ( eye stuff, mild ). All is basically well. He gave me a prescription for computer-distance glasses, as well as the progressives/bifocals I already have.

ETA, Before I forget again: The doctor explained why I'm having more trouble with small print in the mornings. Corneas (or at least my corneas, with the Fuchs dystrophy), swell a bit with fluid during the night, and then return to normal after waking, but not immediately.

And then I came home, via Lyft, because it was pouring rain and I didn't want to wait outdoors for the 62 bus.

I won't be seeing the eye doctor in November, because the other eye doctor did a full exam in July. I now have an appointment with Dr. Lazzara for next July, in Arlington, at a convenient hour of the afternoon.

I have seen (and been seen by) the eye doctor. He confirmed what Dr. Umlas said a few weeks ago. So, he did a laser procedure, and I have a follow-up appointment next month. And I am getting more prescription eye drops.

( more details about eye treatment, nothing graphic )

The only person I saw wearing a mask, other than me and cattitude, was Dr. Lazzara. On the other hand, the assistant who looked at my eyes first didn't ask me to remove the mask, just to slide the top down by a millimeter or so, to avoid blocking her view of the eye. Dr. Lazzara taped my mask in place before we went downstairs to the room with the laser, for similar reasons. I had already noticed that he had taped the top of his own mask in place.

The follow-up appointment will also have to be in Lexington, because the doctor is only in Arlington one day a week and didn't have any openings in the right time frame. But they had an appointment available at 1 p.m., not 11 a.m. (or 9:15), so I can plausibly do that trip by transit, and eat lunch en route, weather permitting. Today has been rainy, not surprising, but cooler than I expect in Boston It was raining and 68F/20C when we left the house at 10:00, and about the same now.

I saw the eye doctor this morning.

tl;dr Nothing is seriously wrong, but I am likely to need a follow-up visit.

I made the appointment because I was noticing blurry vision intermittently in my left eye. I also noticed that I needed brighter light and/or larger print for reading than a year or two ago. I saw Dr. Umlas, because the first available appointment was with him--and that was three weeks after I called, at 9:15 a.m.

A technician asked me questions and took various measurements, then gave them to the doctor. He checked a few things for himself.

Most likely, this is cells growing on the artificial lens from my cataract surgery. Both the tech and Dr. Umlas said that Dr. Lazzara (my usual eye doctor) had observed a little of this when I saw him last October. It's also possible that this is from further thickening of my corneas (Fuchs dystrophy). If so, treating that is simpler than it used to be, with quicker recovery.

So, I can stop worrying that something is seriously wrong. Dr. Umlas is going to put the results of today's visit in front of Dr. Lazzara, and see whether he agrees that I should have a quick laser treatment to clear the artificial lens. If so, I'd have to go to their Lexington or Concord) office, because they don't have the equipment in Arlington.

From there, I went to Penzey's for herbs and spices; the clerk was very helpful, going around the store with me because I told him my eyes were still seriously dilated. I happily handed him my shopping list, and he asked a few questions like "do you remember which sweet paprika you usually get?" This time, I remembered to bring the Penzey's gift card with me, and used up the remaining $18 on the card. (They periodically offer gift cards at a significant discount, which are worth buying if you shop there regularly.)

When I was almost home, I tripped and fell while crossing the street. Fortunately, adrian_turtle and I had wound up on the same bus, so I assured the helpful stranger that I'd be fine, and Adrian \sat with me for a couple of minutes, then helped me up. I scraped my right knee in a couple of places, and it will probably bruise, but there's no serious damage: I landed about evenly on both hands, and Adrian says the brim of my hat absorbed a little of the impact and may have protected my head, including my nose and eyeglasses.

I saw my eye doctor yesterday. The appointment itself was straightforward--masks and hand sanitizer, and they told me which of the two available chairs to sit in while waiting for my eyes to dilate--and everything continues basically well. No change in my eyeglass prescription, though I got a hardcopy in case I need to get a new pair of glasses sometime in the next year.

( eye stuff, no worries )

My eye doctor now has an office literally around the corner from adrian_turtle's apartment, so I scheduled a visit with Adrian around seeing the doctor. That's partly just convenience--why spend twice as much time on buses?--and partly that while the risk of each trip is low, one round trip is still lower-risk than two.

tl;dr: all is well

I had the one-week follow-up appointment after the cataract surgery on my second eye today. All is well; there's a bit of swelling, but no more than would be expected. I have the doctor's okay to resume normal activities--exercise other than swimming, leaning forward, carrying more than eight pounds, sleeping without the eye shield. The doctor sent me home with samples of the two kinds of eye drops I still need, the Durezol that the insurance won't cover, which is what I had called and asked for, and the Ilevro, which is covered but still not cheap.

I have one more follow-up appointment, in mid-April, at which time Dr. Lazzara will prescribe new eyeglasses. In the meantime, I have to make do with the drugstore reading glasses. I told the doctor I was having trouble reading my computer monitor, because it's at an inconvenient distance, and he suggested I try a weaker prescription, maybe +0.75 or +1.0 (I'm using +2.0 for reading on paper or with the kindle). I have now measured the distance from where I normally sit to the monitor, and am going to try drugstore glasses while holding something to read about a foot and a half away.

I am enjoying being able to see, though not read, without glasses; it's weird having to remember to take my glasses off to see properly when not reading. I figure I'm going to want prescription glasses that can deal with the astigmatism; I may buy small ones that I can look over, rather than something complicated in the way of bifocals. That's a decision for next month at the earliest, but thinking about it now seems reasonable.