Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Doctor My Eyes

This morning I had my annual eye exam.

Dr. M is one of my favourite people. We've known each other since I was born (she went to school with my oldest sister). When she became an optometrist, I was excited to be one of her first patients. I always look forward to seeing her, it's more like visiting an old friend.

Until today. Today was all business.

Ok, that's not true. We spent about 60% of the visit chatting about our families in between questions of which line of scrambled letters I could see clearest, and which is better - this lens or that lens?

Then she put in those damn eye drops. You know the ones I'm talking about. Within 15 minutes my pupils were large and I looked like I'd indulged in some illegal substances.

She shone various lights at my eyes and scanned for broken blood vessels.

First the left eye. "Gorgeous, darling".

Then the right eye. "Looking lovely, girl..."

Her voice trailed off and I heard her mutter a soft "hmmm..."

I saw the bright yellow line stop and scan back and forth, over and over in the same spot.

She said there is a light hemmorage in my right eye.
She said to try not to worry, that often they clear up on their own.
She said if it was at the outside of my eye, she wouldn't be as concerned, but it is toward the center of my vision.
She scheduled a follow up next month to recheck.
She said that if it hasn't gone away, I'll need to see a specialist.

I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I don't think I'm scared or worried. I mean, I AM... a little... but I guess I've decided to not let it get to me until next month when I have more information.

I think, more than anything else, I'm a bit peeved since my control has been so much better these past two years. As if my eyes would do this to me now, the nerve!

Anyway, hopefully it will resolve itself. All I can really do is wait and see what happens.

7 comments:

Dee said...

Good luck with the follow up appointment. You may need a little bit of laser. I've had laser treatment and it doesn't hurt at all.

Anonymous said...

I like your train of thought. Don't worry yourself, wait for a definite evaluation. Good call

Anonymous said...

My thoughts are with you!

Chrissie in Belgium said...

I dido Scott's comment. Also, the best way to avoid complications is through strict diabetic control and we have to realize that the damage we do our body is NOT zero on good management days and large on those days we goof it up. Large fluctuations in bg values are hard on us physically. The main thing is to try and keep a steady "good control" that we can live with. Although control sounds like we are steering the wheel and managing all the cogs, in reality no matter how hard we try, we cannot keep our blood sugar levels balanced every second - we ARE diabetic. Damages happen. All we can do is try and keep them at a minimum. Forget the guilt factor.

Penny Ratzlaff said...

I've got my fingers crossed that when you go back next month they won't be able to find even a trace of it.

Scott K. Johnson said...

I've also heard that it can be expected as you tighten down your control. There's just something about the eyes that get a little worse before they get better when your control suddenly gets good.

Bernard said...

Lori

I think you'll be fine, though I'm sure it's very scary. For years we've all heard about eye problems and diabetes. But the issues that do come up are usually gradual. It looks like you're working with a good Dr. and that she'll take great care of you.

My thoughts and prayers are with you. (I had a similar kind of issue earlier this year and He seems to be taking good care of me.)