Hey, whaddaya think of my new shades? Do they look like (a) Ralph Lauren? (b) Giorgio Armani? (c) Those cheap plastic ones you get when you have your eyes dilated?If you guessed (c), you're right. I had to go to the optometrist today. The reason is that last night, without warning, my vision went wonky. It was like looking through a really strange kaleidoscope, with flickering lights all around the edges. Some things in the field of vision were in focus, other things right next to them weren't even visible. The effect lasted a half hour or so before it gradually cleared up and returned to normal. Scared the crap out of me. So off I went to sick call first thing this morning. The doc immediately wrote me a referral to see the optometrist over at the military hospital (about 2 blocks away). The eye doc dilated my eyes, poked and prodded and checked 'em out thoroughly. Turns out I'd experienced a "vitreous detachment". That's where the sac of goo inside my eyeball had suddenly pulled loose from its moorings to the eye. Its very common for people who are over 50 and nearsighted. Like me, both counts. Fortunately, unlike retinal detachment, it doesn't normally threaten your vision. And it's not like the goo is going anywhere. It just isn't anchored anymore.
Whew! I tell ya what, I was scared to death it was that other kind of "detachment", the retinal kind. And as an artist, I'm kinda attached to my vision, as warped as it is. So it was a huge relief to hear that it's just a harmless part of growing old.
The doc dilated the hell out of my eyes, though. I had a meeting this afternoon and sat there the whole time, in a dimly-lit room, wearing these stylish shades. And I was as happy as I could be, too!
No comments:
Post a Comment