Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Eye Doc

Today was my day to drive down to Courtenay (about 40 miles) to my eye guy, I go twice a year and I have noticed my vision getting worse, specially in the left eye. I have also been "conscious" of my left eye. No discomfort. just a feeling of heaviness, stickiness and grittiness at times. Two technicians tested, inspected and photographed both eyes before sending me for a Fields Test. I hate this test where you watch for flashing lights and press a button every time you see one. I actually felt I did pretty good this time compared to last time when I saw virtually none with my left eye, I thought I might be going blind.

Anyway, after visiting with these three women I was sent in to see the actual doctor. An interesting guy, a mountain climber with a photo of himself summiting one of the big ones. K2 I think, a serious mountain that is a bit shorter than Everest but they say is a harder climb.  He is generally not a great communicator, using more grunts, "humms" and nods than words but I was concerned enough to nail him down this time. I asked what was going on with my left eye and he stared at it through his microscope for a while and told me it might be an allergic reaction to the Combigan eye drops he put me on a year or so back. As he was writing a prescription for a substitute I mentioned that someone in his Campbell River office where I go for my glasses told me I was showing early signs of Macular Degeneration but he said he did not see it. I asked if I had cataracts and he said, "Yes but not bad enough to think of operating yet". Why don't they just tell you this stuff up front instead of waiting for you to ask?

So back to the pharmacy in Campbell River to fill the prescription, a happy surprise as it only cost me $29 (after my insurance) for three months supply, about $20 cheaper than the drug it replaced.

Oh yes, on the drive home a farm in Black Creek had a "Fresh Eggs" sign out. I pulled in and their stand was on the honor system. The eggs were $6 a dozen and I only had a five and some twenties. I put in the five and promised myself I would stop in again with a dollar. I could have bought three dozen and paid $20 but then they would have owed me $2. I would have tried to get change from the cash box but it was locked. So much for the honor system!

So by the end of all this excitement it was time to watch the Blue Jays lose their game.






15 comments:

  1. Good luck with your eye tests.. 6 dollars a dozen for farm fresh eggs seems pretty pricey hope they were special. Ended up you got the honor system discount.

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    1. I'm afraid to eat them. I'm too frugal (cheap)!

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  2. Replies
    1. Yes - high pressure in the eyeballs was discovered by an optometrist in Algodones when he was fitting me for glasses.

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    2. Good idea to get checked every 6 months. Same thing for me with my cornea issues. I've been seeing a specialist in Parker when we are there for the winter.

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  3. Croft, yes, I have had new Bausch & Lomb lens implanted to replace my God-given lens which developed cataracts. Accomplished through outpatient surgery with one eye done and the other eye done about 6 to 8 weeks later. Was very surprised how easy and quickly the surgery was done with laser. Little recuperation time, and it opened up a whole new world of color for me. Did have to wear a good pair of shades while I was outside in the sun while going through healing. Never had to wear glasses again while driving, just reading glasses for close up work. Just prepping for the laser surgery a couple of weeks before was a pain in the neck, two types of eye drops you administer every 3 to 4 hours for two weeks before surgery; I set the timer on the stove to make a loud noise to remind me it was time for the drops. I was in and out of the surgery in about an hour, and Beach drove me home. New technology has taken the pain and suffering away that my Mom and Dad had to go through.

    Regarding macular degeneration, do you have family members who today or in your past have had this disease? My doctor considers it possibly as a hereditary disease. Since I have a large number of family members who had it, he started me on the only clinically proven formula of eye vitamins which fends off this disease; the vitamin formula can be found the cheapest at Wal-mart without any prescription; its name is PreserVision by Bausch & Lomb; there are two types, one for people who smoke or have smoked in their lives and one for people who have not; look on the side of the container to determine which you are getting; I take two a day, one in the morning and one in the evening.

    Hope your new eye drops solve your problems.

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    1. Norma is waiting to be called in for cataract surgery in October. This is one of the reasons our trip south is in question as we don't know it will impact our insurance,

      I don't really know if there was macular degeneration in my family but I am taking the vitamins, in my case one capsule every second day. It is sold over the counter by my optometrist, I think I paid $80 for a two year supply.

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  4. Tell Norma to hang in there. Yes, for both eyes, it will take time; 1) the initial consultation with the surgeon to include some tests, prescribing the two types of eye drops, and setting up the appointment for the surgery, 2) about two weeks of prep work at home with the eye drops, 3) the day that surgery is done with instructions as to what to do at home after the surgery; 4) a follow up visit in two weeks with the surgeon to check your healing progress. Then in about 6 to 8 weeks, Norma does it all over again for the second eye. But I just can't describe how so much better she will be in experiencing all the color, crispness, and clarity in her eye sight; really, it will make her jump up and down with happiness. At this point, patience is the name of the game.

    On those PreserVision supplements, I get 210 soft gels in one container for about US$30-35; Beach says lately he has been getting them at Sam's Club (which essentially is Wal-Mart). We only buy one container at a time because it's important not to take them outside of the expiration date.

    Tell Norma I'm rooting for her, and she has made a great decision which will positively affect the rest of her life. Let me know how she is doing (and you too, Nurse Croft). LOL!

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    1. Thanks for this, like I said our eye doc is not very communicative. He gave her a prescription to be filled when the hospital phones with a firm date. For the last couple of years she says her vision was like she has been looking through a thin curtain so the results of the surgery should be quite remarkable!

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