Places you don't want to go to:

Number One on the list might be the Ampulla of Vater.  Steer clear.

Je ne comprends rien de la mein eye appt.

   I had three ophthalmology appointments in  two days.  I fully intend at each visit to get a status report so I can keep better tabs.  There are so many tests and retests and the patient can see the computer charts of all eye activity, with lines and graphs of various colors, extending to various angles, but they  mean nothing unless they are interpreted, and they never are.  Those readings are a carefully kept secret between the doctor and the assistant, and they keep it between them by whispering to each other, while the patient sits there, with nothing to do but stare at their shoes.  When they have finished conspiring with each other, the doctor turns his attention to the patient.  "No change," he might say, or "at least no significant change. We'll keep an eye on it.."   Come back in 9 months, says one doctor while the other says to return in 6 months.  I don't understand how they can compartmentalize the different maladies into time units for follow-up visits.  What if one eye condition spills over onto the other; blindness is blindness, after all. 
   A  visual field test is a purely subjective assessment that is treated as if it is objective.  The graphing and color lines support the findings.  There are even 2 different categories of that test, one more specialized than the other.  I have taken the test more than a few times in the past several years, and each time the test has been affected by various factors, including the tester and the conditions of the  machine, in addition to the mood and condition of the test taker.  Is that a spot that I'm supposed to click on, or merely the aura left after the original spot disappears?  Since there is a light showing at the top of the machine  that could be a clickable spot when you are supposed to be staring straight ahead; should you click on it, though it seems too high?  When the test taker tells you not to worry about missing something, because you'll have another chance the next time around, what does that mean?  When the tester forgot to close the slot over the light at the front of the machine, did I click on the wrong spots?  I never feel that I have made a definitive decision, though the computer readings scan all the results into my file.  Done and done. 
   On the Corneal Dystrophy site I belong to, the members all seem to know their numbers  of their BVA, and all their other testing results.  But I can never get further than the basic send-off.  I think by the time you're through with all the eyedrops, tests, dilations and drawn-out time spent  in the different waiting rooms, all you want to do is get out of there.
  "Who cares?  What difference does it make what the tests say as long as you are doing okay?"    No, these are not my comments, but the words of the last eye specialist I visited.  At the time, I agreed with him, because that was what was expected, but really?   I hope to tune in tomorrow's Medical Monday on NPR to see if he reinforces this credo.  The show accepts call-in questions; I hope someone asks, someone else, that is.