I had floater issues yesterday, off and on throughout most of the day, especially when at the computer. Not a single large floater, but a variety of smaller sized ones--the usual black blob, the illusion that a gnat was flying by, an empty watch-stem configuration, but most ominous was that bug that seems suspended just to the upper right, as if caught in my hair. I saw floaters when I woke up, so I called and got an appointment with Dr. Salgado. I went through a series of tests with 2 different assistants, both male, before I saw Dr. S. She said, in essence, there was no visible damage, but advised watching it closely, because of the presence of "lattice." If any changes, call at once, weekend, or holiday. She wanted to schedule a return visit with Dr. Sax. I told of my other plans for next week, and she said to tell the doctor there to contact Dr. Sax if need. But in the end, she found that Dr. Sax had a cancellation for Monday at 9: a.m., so I was lucky, she said. We'll see about that.
Dr. Salg. said the IOP in my right eye today was 12. and checking my chart said Dr. Weiner is wanting it to be 11. So I'm almost there. I've have had no treatment in that eye, I told her, the SLT only in my left, which did not have a pressure check today. I don't see the value in having an SLT to lower eye pressure only a single point, but as he said last visit, everything changes from time to time.
(I can picture myself, lying in a hospital bed with my knee in a sling while having a laser procedure to my retina. All I'd need is to have a kidney stone episode. If I weren't so old, I'd laugh and laugh and ...
So obviously "trained" in dealing with the elderly, she tries to explain the situation in terms that I can understand. I had asked a question, which signaled to her that I knew nothing. She used the analogy of a cold to show that sometimes the onset of a scratchy throat signals that you are catching a cold and sometimes the scratchiness goes away without a cold developing. So it goes with floaters: sometimes they can mean that a significant problem is developing, and at other times they are insignificant. (Just like sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, goes through my mind, but of course I don't say that.) She then stresses that it is critical that I be on guard to note any change and immediately call to report such. I point out that was why I was there; she confirms that I did the right thing. Ever since the first day of this month, everything seems just plain stupid, and I don't exempt myself from the equation. Any progress seems to be subsumed in a circular pattern, like in those websites that keep bringing you back to the entry page, and blocking you from moving ahead.
I had asked a question, about a possible association between one of the myriad of eye conditions and another. She responds by saying that in all her years of practicing ophthalmology, she has never heard of such a thing. And then she ices the generational cake: "And I have been in practice for 10 years." (Again, I don't point out what goes through my mind, that half of the underwear I have on is older than that.)
I get the sense that she is deferring to her elders to some degree though. She schedules a follow-up appointment with the esteemed Dr. Sax. She says she doesn't want anything to be overlooked. Remember that toy tin train set, the Honeymoon Express or whatever it was called, with the little train that went perpetually in a circle?
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