Optical Doom

Today was a day to see Opthamologists. Drew had to go in for a follow-up to make sure his tear ducts are still clear.* They are; everything looks good, so we don't have to go for our next checkup for three years, which is when he should have his first eye exam.

David went to get his eye checked out; it has been bothering him for over a week. It has been really sensitive to light, and really uncomfortable and even painful. I'd been trying to convince him to see a doctor about it, but I'm just the wife--what do I know? One of his co-workers was chatting with him about it and said, "You should really get that checked out," so he finally went to the Immediate Care Center (it's like an E.R. but not as urgent). The doctor there wasn't sure what was wrong with the eye. He and his little intern thought maybe it was scratched or ulcerated, but didn't know, so they referred him to the opthamologist, Dr. F., we'll call him, since I don't know how to spell or pronounce his name. I took David to his appointment yesterday and Dr. F. was also unsure as to what was going on, but had different theories than the original doc from the ICC. So they sent him home with some antibiotic drops and asked to see him this morning. I guess the antibiotic helped; at this morning's appointment, Dr. F. said the problem looked a lot better. He compared it to trying to look through a golf ball yesterday, and looking through a snowflake today. We have to go back on Monday for another follow-up (I say "we" because I'm the chauffeur. David isn't allowed to wear his contact in that eye until they get the problem figured out and fixed, so he can't drive unless absolutely necessary, in which case he'll wear a black patch over his eye like a pirate. Aaarrrr).

The appointment yesterday had me worried for the optical well-being of our children. David couldn't even see the big 'E' on the eye chart**, and when I asked him about it, he said he hasn't been able to see it for years. He has a very strong prescription. Everyone in his family has glasses. Everyone in my family has glasses, too, except for me. My mom wears trifocals, and my sister's prescription is almost as strong as David's. So unless there's some hidden gene out there, I imagine the boys will be getting glasses; hopefully not for a while, though.

*I don't think I ever posted about Drew's eye surgery. He had a clogged tear duct since he was born, which isn't uncommon, and it never cleared up like they usually do. So we went to the opthamologist, who put Drew under a general anesthesia for about 20 minutes and stuck a probe into the ducts to clear out the clogs and open them up. It was such an easy procedure and Drew was running around like normal as soon as we got home.

**David said that the tech at today's appointment asked him to read the eye chart, and when he told her he couldn't see it, she went on to the next test: "How many fingers am I holding up?" David got the first two right, but when the tech moved back, David guessed three fingers, and it wasn't until she moved closer to him that he realized she was only holding up two.