Ophthalmologist

(Terrible picture but I'm too tired to take another and it's hard taking a picture of your own eye at night...)

Today I went down to the AMAZING Eye Care Center down at VGH. It was so awesome. Three floors full of ocular/orbital specialists. It's times like these that I don't mind paying my taxes to see some super awesome specialists. A whole building of people who specialize in eyeballs!

Okay, so my greatest fear about today was that Dr. R (whom I had never met) would say something like `What are you doing wasting my time? There are way more serious cases out there!'. However, that was the furthest thing from what actually happened. I almost wanted to hug him at the end because he was the perfect ophthalmologist for me!

So, although I did end up waiting an hour, he was very efficient, friendly, validating, and I can't think of the word right now, but he talked to me like an equal. Ya know? He was saying things like, `I'm so glad you came in', `You've been doing all the right things', `Your summary is very accurate' etc.

The equipment was awesome and high techy. I was scared because he told me to look straight into this laser beam type light. I'm sorry, but when you've been hiding from the light, that is a scary feat. It was fine. The only actual pain I had was when he had me keep my head straight but look up with my eyes. OUCH.

So, since stopping ALL OF MY MEDS as of one week ago, my eyes have improved a ton. I still need my artificial tears and bright lights hurt a bit but nothing like before. Still red, especially in my left eye, but not as bad.

So, what did the lovely Dr. R say? He said some of the following:

-he is very interested in seeing if I have Graves' or PPT because he hasn't seen (any?) patients with eye problems like this with PPT. Usually, it is just some swelling. I will see him again in 4 months.

-my problems are now considered mild (but he did not minimize it). He was glad they are mild now because it provides a great baseline.

-he gave me a prescription for some new drops that should alleviate the red but not solve the problem of the bumps. He told me the name of the bumps, pterygium or pingueclula, which are deposits of fat and protein due to eye irritation, generally a lot of sun or wind exposure. I don't see how I could've gotten it from that but I know my eyes have been VERY irritated!

-if I have any change for the worse, call, and he will get me in.

-because it is painful to look up, most of the inflammation has occurred at the base of my eye. He said they could do a CT scan to see how much but it wouldn't be worth it because there is nothing you can do.

-He also told me that his one year old daughter wasn't walking yet and asked if I had any tips:) ha ha.

He was great. He is an ocular surgeon and orbital oncologist. Doesn't that sound impressive? I'm hopeful that my eyes will heal but I really need to take care of them.

My only question now, is do I have TED (thyroid eye disease also known as Graves' Ophthalmology)? I didn't ask. I need to look into this a little. But not now. Must close the eyes. Bon nuit.