The Eyes Have It

Don't you just love going to the Eye Doctor and having your pupils dilated. It was my turn today. Oh joy! And of course, the sun was just bright enough to make seeing just a little bit more unbearable when I was done. Actually, I've had to go regularly for almost 14 years. Some years ago, an old friend accidentally scratched the pupil on my left eye with their finger nail. When I went to the local Hospital's Emergency Department, a specialist just so happened to be on duty. After my eye was taken care of, I was to go for a follow up at his office some time later. The treatment worked and my eye healed with no telltale signs hampering my eyesight.

However, on subsequent visits, he decided to measure the pressure on my eyes. Then he asked if our family had a history of Glaucoma. I vaguely remembered and Aunt or somebody in the family who was diagnosed with it. I really didn't know what Glaucoma was so he explained it to me in laymen,s terms. At first, he just wanted to monitor the pressure in my eyes just as a precaution and so I only saw him once a year. After awhile he prescribed eye drops which I have to put in my eyes before bed every night. That has been going on for Lord knows how long. Today, he wasn't happy with the pressures in my eyes. Specifically my left eye. The reading was around 39. Which is high I guess. So another prescription on top of the already existing drops.

Seeing is important to me. There are too many important things I would miss should I lose my sight. So of course I am going to follow Doctor's orders in the hopes that this will stabilize. In all other ways, I've been lucky with my eyesight. I didn't need glasses up until a few years ago when I found out I had astigmatism. Which annoys the hell out of me by the way. At first I had bi-focals so that I can see the computer and normal range things and the lower half of the lens was for reading things when I looked down. This became necessary because my arm was no longer long enough. Originally I just bought a pair of readers which were great for the computer. I still use those and for a very good reason. Now I have tri-focals! Part of the lens is for normal viewing, another part for computer distance and the bottom for the astigmatism.

When I first got the glasses, seeing was a bit of a trick. I couldn't just move my eyes I had to move my whole freaking head with them. I work on a computer every day. It's part of my job. Anybody not knowing about my glasses and watching from a distances would think my head was on a roller ball as I tried to figure out what part of the lens to look through. They now rest comfortably in the nice little glass case they came in until I need them. I've gone back to the readers and they work just fine, thank you very much.

Anyways, there is a bit of a point to all of this. Glaucoma is one of those diseases of the eye that you are generally not aware of until it is too late. If anybody in your family has it, have your eyes checked as a precaution as soon as you can. If caught early, the treatment may help prevent the onset or worsening of this disease for years to come. Do some research for your own sakes. Memory's of things seen is nice but remember, seeing is believing.