Sheesh. The ophthalmologist is worse than the sheriff. Every time I go for an eye appointment, they come up with some other ailment to charge me with.
It seems that laser treatment a couple of months ago didn’t do diddly. The left eye’s fine, the pressure there responded nicely to the eye drops I’ve been taking (and will apparently have to take for the rest of my life) and the cataract isn’t so bad it’s blocking my vision. But the right eye hasn’t improved at all since its zapping, and now they’re talking about something called “pseudo-exfoliation” which I don’t know what it is but I’m pretty sure eyeballs aren’t supposed to exfoliate.
Anyway, they’re supposed to call me back and give me a ballpark figure for the cataract surgery on the right eye. The regular ophthalmologist wasn’t there and the one who did show up was a lot more talkative – he said the pseudo-exfoliation, whatever the hell it is, will complicate the surgery with (he went into gruesome detail on this point) a possibility that once they’ve removed the natural lens the itsy-bitsy tendons inside the eyeball won’t want to hold the implant in place. He also said the implant will probably improve the right eye’s myopia to the point where my overall vision will be really screwed up. The left eye isn’t anywhere near as myopic as the right but I’m sure in no danger of pitching for the Dodgers, so…
At this point, a drinky sounds really good. Perhaps many drinkies. Too bad there’s no booze in the Lair.
The good news, contrary to that shock I got in December, is that I’m in no particular danger of going completely blind.
Eye docs LOVE gruesome detail. Sometimes, rarely, ignorance is bliss. Have a drinky or two (but no more, I know my limits) for me and try to not worry unrationally. Took me about six months before I could read without the page wiggling exessively due to sloppy suspensory ligaments. It got better. Now I read you obsessively. 🙂 Hang in there.
P.S.: Improving myopia is a GOOD thing.
Eeeeeeeew. Eyeballs exfoliating. That sounds like something a Hollywood horrormeister would come up with. Can’t you just see some bug-eyed monster shedding its eyeballs?
Thanks, Claire. Cheers me right up.
You might consider this, Joel. Some doctors… well, lots of them, will paint the worst case outcome they think they can get away with and still have you agree to the procedure. Then, when it turns out a whole lot better than that, they can bask in the glow of their marvelous talent. See, if they tried to convince you to have the surgery with the best outcome predicted, and it was even a partial flop… well, you get the idea. They hate lawsuits, and I don’t blame them for that.
Now, for that pseudo-exfoliation, here is a good outline of the condition:
Pseudoexfoliation Glaucoma http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1206366-overview
It may be too clinical to digest easily, but I’m glad to answer questions any time. 🙂
And yes, I’m so glad you won’t lose your sight completely (if you take care of it). Just consider that the prognosis would have been a hundred times worse not too many years ago. In spite of everything being done to screw up medicine, wonderful things are being invented and discovered all the time.