More Medics

     Not the knee this time, but regularly scheduled maintenance on the eyes.  There are  11 eye care professionals at the Ophthalmic Consultants, and I have had appointments with at least 9 of them over the years, plus 2 who have left to set up their own practice, and 2 others who are deceased.  I have been a patient at that practice since it was run by Dr. McCarthy, and that was a long time ago.  I remember that he was a Princeton graduate who rode in a parade with then student Brooke Shields, and that he used to parachute out of airplanes, until he crash landed and messed himself up pretty badly.
     My brother and sister wore eyeglasses since childhood, and while I didn't need corrective lenses until I was in my forties, that doesn't mean my eyes are problem free.  Cataract surgery is pretty much considered an inevitable part of aging, so the need for that didn't come as any great surprise.  But the examinations for that revealed a congenital eye disease that I was completely unaware of.  (It is heredity, so younger relatives should be aware of their risks, but naturally nobody takes that seriously.   I feel  a little like Snowden; he is awaiting September's  solar flares for his justification.)  Additionally, I have had laser surgery for 2 separate retinal tears.  Like applying wallpaper, says the esteemed doctor.  My latest diagnosis, or quasi-diagnosis is as a glaucoma suspect, in danger of what is called normal-tension glaucoma as eye pressure is only 10 and 12, where glaucoma usually has pressure over 20 or so.  Moreover, one of the doctors now tends to prescribe "eye vitamins" to lessen the effects of macular degeneration;  there is no clinical  evidence of that disease, but a lot of older people suffer from it, so taking precautions won't hurt is his philosophy, and he does have a Ph.D., so he should know. 
     The point is that what used to be routine appointments are no longer that exactly; they are follow ups to previous visits that are now problematic in some sense.  I have 3 such appointments in the next week, and none of the news can be really good; the best I can hope for is no further deterioration.  And I'd be the last to know.  At my last visit several months ago, to a new specialist at the practice, he asked how I was doing.  I said fine.  My distance vision is great, and I can read without glasses, all but the smallest print.  "Unfortunately," he said, "that doesn't matter."   I think I'll kill myself.