Loading ...It has been a busy week, so I haven’t had a chance, until now, to post an update on last Fridays appointment with Dr. Garg, the retina specialist. Unlike two weeks ago when I went to the glaucoma doc, this appointment was lacking most of the nonsense. By the end of the appointment, I wasn’t any closer to an answer than I was since late April.
The appointment started with the typical questions from a tech about how my vision was doing, if I was experiencing any pain or discomfort, etc. Then it was time to read the chart with my left eye. The E was not a problem. The next line, C and D, I could see, but if I didn’t remember it I might have said G instead of C. The next line, which I now know is DHN, I couldn’t see. With the pinholes, I was able to make out the H.
She moved on to my right eye. Good news there, I can still tell if a light is off or on if it is a foot or less away from my eye… Yippee. She then put, or should I say shot, drops into both eyes. God only knows how many, but it was sure more than one of each. One is to numb the eye to get IOP (pressure) readings, while the other was to dilate my eye. While she was doing this, she left the chart on, so I continued to try to read it. She then used a hand-held device to get the IOP (Dr. Ayres calls this device a glorified random number generator.) IOP was nine in the left and mid to upper 20s in the right. The previous week at my glaucoma appointment, it was eight in the left and 13 in the right using the standard device (the one that you put your chin in, press your head against the bar, and look at the blue light.)
She waited a minute or two and then tried to get another number on the right eye. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to read the 20/100 line on the chart. She then said I was cheating by continuing to attempt to read the line. Eliz didn’t like what she said and asked how I was cheating if I was just trying to read the chart. While the lady answered Eliz, I had my hand in front of my eye, trying to simulate the pinholes while still trying to read the line. Hey, if you don’t want me to keep trying, shut the effing thing off! As we got up to move to the next exam room, I glanced behind the chair where the chart is bounced off of a mirror and saw that the line was DHN. Now maybe that was cheating. How would that help me though? It’s not like I could get a drivers license for reading the 20/100 line.
In the next room, Dr. Garg came in and asked some questions and then had a look. He then told me that the only thing left to try were injections in the eye. Before we try that though, he wanted to get another OCT scan to make sure the risk/reward was worth the attempt (actually, attempts, as it would take several injections over the course of a few months for it to work.)
Tom gave me the OCT scan a few minutes later, then we headed to another exam room. After a minute or two, Dr. Garg came in and had a look at the scan. He said that it wouldn’t be worth trying the injections as there was only a 15% chance of them helping me see better. At that point, I said, “Okay, so there isn’t really anything you can do for me?” “That’s right,” he replied. He told me I could come back in five months (why?,) or sooner if I was having any other problems. He did tell me to make sure that I see him, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Pro, or Dr. Ruffini frequently to get IOP readings. Seems like ‘roids that I take 2x per day in the left eye could cause the pressure to rise. Maybe it’s time to see Dr. House, Dr. Riviera, or Oscar Goldman…
So while my vision is not cuckoo bananas (a technical term Dr. Garg used at my last appointment in June,) it’s not good either. So what do I do now? Some days, my vision is better than others. Today, for example, it sucked big time (I suppose that is a technical term I picked up somewhere along the way.) Maybe I’ll see a little better tomorrow. I’m not holding my breathe (but would if it would help…)
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