So lately I’ve been worrying about my eyes. Up until now it was probably the only somewhat rational worry I had. For quite a while my eyes had been going down hill. To put it in perspective I wear a -8.5 contact in my left eye and -8 in my right. So I worried that my eyes would just keep getting worse. I knew that was irrational, but it worried me anyway. For the past year though, they’ve been holding steady so that’s a good thing.
But on Saturday I went to the Doctor. In the middle of the main exam he told me that I had a blood vessle in my retina. This apparently happens if your eye is not getting enough oxygen. Fantastic. He said it’s nothing to worry about unless there are lots of them, but I should change my contact brand just in case. He gets me setup on a new more oxygenated contact brand and sends me back out to the waiting room to wait for my eyes to dialate.
When my eyes are fully dialated I get brought back in and he pulls out the little light and magnifying glass. Up and to the Right. Down and to the Right. Up and to the Left. Down and to the Left. Pause. Keep Looking Down and To The Left. Pause. Pause. You have some retinal tears. Now I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty scary. The good thing I am told is that they’re all healed. Because apparently they’re ok when they’re scars. It’s the open tears that are the problem. So he sends me on my way letting me know that I should call immediately if I see stars out of the corner of my eye, or if it appears that a curtain has fallen over my vision. Wonderful.
And these new contacts irritate my eyes. And I have trouble focusing. It’s wonderful. Although, I guess I shouldn’t worry too much. There are plenty of IT professionals with vision problems.

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Comments

Christine

2006-08-22T00:34:08.000Z

Yikes! if it makes you feel any better, I can’t see totally without double vision unless I wear my glasses. I have soft toric lenses and they feel decent on my eyes, but to read or do computer I really should wear glasses. Thats scary, I’m glad you went to the doctora. Love you! BeanBean

mcoker

2006-08-22T14:30:33.000Z

yeah that sucks man. bad vision runs in my family. Fortunately, the onset is pretty late, but it deteriorates pretty quickly. By the time my grandfather was in his 70’s, he was nearly blind. Sucks. If I could only keep one of my senses, it would definitely be my vision.

Mindy

2006-08-24T13:29:47.000Z

That’s rather frightening, but leads me to an interesting question. Which would you be more willing to lose? Your sight or your hearing? Me? I’m a movie buff. As long as I have subtitles, Im in good shape. Most of my favorites are french anyway. I’d miss the rapid-fire dialogue that I love so much, but I have no patience for braille. Besides, I don’t think hearing Oli grow up would be as satisfying as seeing it.  But what about you? Is the essence of stage in sight or sound? Or does it depend on whether you’re the playwrite or the director?

Tim

2006-08-24T14:46:20.000Z

I think this may reflect on how bad my eyes already are, but I’d rather have hearing. I love music and singing and people’s voices too much. I like running in the morning and hearing all sorts of quiet sounds that you don’t hear in a car. I’d miss sight a lot, but I think I’d miss hearing more. And there would be a lot of retraining, but I know from working with blind people that technology has made it much easier to communicate and read. Screen readers are pretty amazing tools, and it’s amazing how fast you can get at navigating a computer while just hearing what’s on the screen. I would miss seeing movies and theater, but I think at least with theater you could still get a lot out of listening.

Kate

2006-08-28T03:09:47.000Z

That so completely sucks.  I hope the new contacts are okay and things don’t get any worse.  I already promised Ryan my corneas, but you can have the rest if something ever happens to me.  Different blood types be damned.

Kate

2006-08-28T03:14:24.000Z

So, what causes the lack of oxygen to your retinas?  Is it the contacts or should the new contacts just make it less of a problem?  Of course, I wouldn’t be shocked if it was some genetic thing.

Tim

2006-08-28T14:37:29.000Z

Apparently caused by the contacts.

Julie

2006-08-28T16:07:19.000Z

That’s such an interesting question!  I was thinking of this the other day and I leaned towards I would rather keep my hearing.  I just love music so much.  My second favorite love, theatre, would be out if I lost my sight, which would be devastating, but it would pretty much be out if I lost my hearing too, so…  Although in terms of Stella, it would be awful not to be able to see what she looked like as she grew up.  I think I vote not to lose my sight or my hearing!

Mindy

2006-09-01T16:30:43.000Z

 I like music too, dont get me wrong. Seth says I am the most musically eclectic person he knows. My Ipod goes from Tool to Louie Armstrong in 6 seconds flat. But here’s the dorky thing. I like drums. Lots. And of all the instruments, drums are the ones you feel. So I think I could get by without hearing. Besides, you put Satchmo on a good enough sound system, you’d be able to feel his voice too, I reckon.

Second dorky thing. I am super claustrophobic and acrophobic. (tight spaces and high heights) Combine this with an overactive imagination, and I think blindness for me would transmogrify into the sensation of being nailed in a coffin precariously balanced on the edge of a cliff. Yes,  I have a dark turn of mind.

I just dont think I could risk it. I got burny-floaty eyes just reading Tim’s blog. Thats how much lost eyesight freaks me out. I wonder if theres a phobia for that?