First was the GP,but he didn't know what it was and decided I should get an eye doctor. His preliminary diagnosis was migraine, and after my
master of all headaches the day after the research I could see that - but the blurry vision didn't go away like a scotoma would, so I relented
and contacted the hospital when my eyes became bloodshot.
Today was the big day of the eye exam. Went well prepared with a photo of my bloodshot eye, a complete written medical history of the past 5 weeks,
passport and insurance card.
With the appointment at 8:30 it was a bit early in the day for me, but still manageable. On the way there I spotted a frog that jumped away from right
in front of my bicycle.
After checking in, I was picked out of the waiting room to get a preliminary check. The doctor had me sit at one end of the room and had a nifty
computer screen with letters on it at one end, I had to read them with one eye. It showed that the right eye indeed is rather blurry, but I already
knew that. After that doc pressed a button and a hi-tech machine used to test for myopia and such. Everything was bad for me, but there wasn't
much deviation in that regard.
Then he put some drops in both my eyes for measuring the eye pressure. The drops weren't pleasant, to say the least. Doc gave me a tissue to wipe
the tears in. I noticed the drops were a toxic yellow. Maybe my eyes will glow in the dark!
The pressure measuring device came straight from hell. A large apparatus with a bright light in the distance and a large pole with a blue light at the
end poking out has to be placed pretty much on the eye - my right eye is sensitive now, the proximity hurt, not to mention the light.
He jotted the data down, did some more eye movement tests and eventually set me up to meet the eye doctor.
Inbetween the doctor visits I'm called to update my info. My old GP retired and they wanted the name of my new one.
The second doctor was thoroughly looking at the eye, made me do all types of test I don't remember well, but they were rather painful. All I
remember is at one point he told me to look at a box and asked me if one eye saw a different hue of red than the other. The one on the right was a bit
more red.
After the tests, he asked me if I felt one eyelid hanging down a bit lower than the other. No, why? He directed me to the mirror, and lo - my right
eyelid was drooping.
He noticed that my right eye veers off. It has always done that, for as far as I know. I primarily look with left and ignore the right image. So he
referred me to the orthoptist, and I got to the waiting room again.
A friendly little lady comes to pick me up. As I walk into her office, I immediately notice that her average patient is a lot younger than me.
Children's drawings thanking her for curing her eyes line the wall. After some following the little lamp research, she sets me behind the
Viewmaster Master. It is a device where each eye has to see a different image, and you have to merge them. The first one is a puppy and a dog house,
where the assignment is "move the dog until it's in the dog house". The second one has a mother rabbit with one baby bunny, and the
same mother rabbit with another baby bunny, and I have to merge the two pictures to see one mum and two bunnies.
Apparently I have a noticeable deviation on both sides.
So now I have two follow-up appointments. For my blurred vision, more data is needed. On September 28 I'll be getting more tests, and I need to
administer eye drops an hour, and at 30 minutes, before the appointment. These drops will dilute my pupils and relax my lenses, so vision will be
troublesome.
For the eye straightening - the orthoptist is fully booked. My next appointment for that is November 9. |
They're very practical to get around in a country without mountains.