Full Disclosure: I am decidedly not good with eye stuff. When I worked in EMS, I invariably made my partner handle treatment of all eye issues. I mean, ALL eye issues, even if it was just an eyelash in an eye.

And, of course, in the way of karma, along with Alzheimer’s, my MIL has macular degeneration. This results in her having to have a horrific treatment every 6 weeks. This means immediately after relocating her to AZ, we had a “new patient” visit with one of the top retinal specialists in Phoenix.

New patient visit means a battery of tests and imaging, taking a few hours over the course of an afternoon in a very packed office. I was seriously the youngest person there (by far!) who wasn’t an employee.

Anyway, so far, so good.

We sit down in the first exam room and the polite, chirpy, young tech addresses Mom, “Hi! I’m Jenny! Mrs OMWC’s Mom, please look at the eye chart being projected on the wall and read the first line for me.”

“There’s an eye chart?” *pause* “Which wall am I supposed to be looking at?”

“The one in front of your chair.” Tech taps a few keys and increases the eye chart to Interstate exit sign size. “How about now?”

“Oh! Yes, that’s an…O. Or maybe…a G. Hmmm…maybe D.”

I think to myself, “No, it’s a Q. Damn, can’t I get away from those Glibs even for one afternoon?!”

“Thanks, Mrs OMWC’s Mom. I think that’s all we need for now. John will take you in for the next test in a few minutes.”

***************

It got me thinking. I only go see an ophthalmologist if I need a change in my eyeglass prescription, so every couple years or so. I could never in a zillion years stick a piece of plastic in my eye every morning, so I have never even considered contacts. WebDom has been wearing contacts since she was a teenager. But, then, she’s a honey badger.

Tonight’s questions:

  1. How often do you see an eye doc?
  2. Do you wear either glasses or contacts?
  3. Do you let them do the drops?
  4. Do you have any more serious eye issues?
  5. Is SP a saint for taking her MIL for these horrific treatments?