Thursday, May 08, 2008

Follow up

I was about to post about my follow up eye doctor appointment when I realized that I hadn't posted about the first appointment.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the opthalmologist (I probably misspelled that). When I went to the optometrist in March, she saw an area that she found "somewhat concerning" and debated whether or not to send me to the opthalmologist. She finally decided that I had good insurance and it was worth the peace of mind to go ahead and refer me.

So, since she was borderline on whether or not to even send me, I figured it would be an "in and out" appointment and scoffed at the recorded reminder message that said that many appointments can take up to 2 hours. It better not take 2 hours.

So, I got there, checked in and waited. Impatiently (since, of course, I was going home early, right?). Finally, I got called back to the room, they did the usual stuff, dilated my eyes, and I waited. And waited. And finally the fellow came in and looked at my eyes. He explained that I had a couple of spots that were very concerning and that the sometimes did a laser treatment to help such things. Uh-huh. I'm thinking of this as an eventuality - in a few years, I might need it.

Then the doctor comes in and looks at my eyes.

Any conversation that starts, "In most cases, I would recommend watching areas where the retina is thinning....." cannot be good. There's always a "but" coming, and this time was no exception, "but in your case, it has not only thinned, but there is actually a small hole. Even this would not be so concerning except for the fact that you have fluid building up behind the holes." Apparently, this puts me at higher risk for retinal detachment or tears. Yippy. And he recommended the laser treatment right away. Like, that afternoon. So much for "in and out."

I had a laser retinopexy done that very afternoon. That sucked. Apparently my eyes have a mind of their own, so whenever the laser would go off, my eyes would flinch and move. Which made this a super-tedious process for my doctor and a super-long process for me. He was nice enough to claim that it was because I am young and have good reflexes and good hearing, so I was hearing when it was about to go off and blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc. And, I am no longer interested in Lasik because I've decided that laser beams and my eyes do not mesh well together.

I have yet to get the bill which I am very curious about. My insurance covers most of it, but I don't think my part will be cheap. I guess we'll see.

Anyway, I went back yesterday for my follow up. Apparently, my eyes look great and the retinopexy is "holding well." I go back in 6 months unless, of course, I develop symptoms of something serious before then. And he remembered me (even though he sees lots and lots of patients and he's only seen me once). I don't like being a memorable patient, but when he walked in yesterday, he said, "I'm surprised you'll smile at me after the torture I put you through last time." hahahahahahaha.....my doctor is a comedian. All I wanted to hear is that my eyes look great, and I heard that much.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

OMG.. I have such issues with things in my eyes. This is why I wear glasses..and not contacts. I want to get lasik.. someday.. but I seriously will NOT look forward to it at all.. and will probably freak out the whole time.