I went to an office at Tyson's Corner in McLean. Just walked in and Dr. Le spent an hour with me. Turns out that it was an excellent idea for me to have my eyes checked. After awhile she did another test and found out that the oil glands in my eyes are apparently saturated fat. The oil that helps to lubricate my eyes has turned into butter. Not literally of course but the oil is a solid instead of a liquid. I didn't even know that part of keeping your eyes moist was a combination of oil and tears. I came away with a sample of eye drops that are a gel to use at least four times a day especially as I am reading or using the computer. And I have gel/goop I put in my eyes at night.
And once a day I need to put heat on my eyes and then massage the area with the oil glands to start getting the oil flowing again. She said that it would probably take 2 months before my eyes are healed. What fun. In the meantime one of my vision problems is that my eyes are so dry. I blink my eyes to moisten them and to see better but the moisture evaporates instantaneously. It should keep you eye moist for at least 14 seconds.
Oh and that is not the best part. I have a hole in the macula of my right eye. It is only in one layer so she thinks it will heal over. However, I was supposed to see a Retina specialist upon arriving in Helsinki. Groan. I have a chart that she gave me to check every day or two. Cover one eye with something and look at the chart. Cover the other eye and look at the chart. If the lines are ever wavy, it is time to go to the ER and call my retina specialist.
So today I went to get some new glasses. The eye examine was not $500. And the drops and gel for my eyes were not prescription drugs.
So we asked for a reference from the folks at the conference in Tampere last week. One of their suggestions was a company that was having a sale of two pair of glasses for the price of one. The glass frames were 79 Euros and the sunglasses were free with a 20 E extra fee for tinting them.
The Professor about had heart failure when he heard how much the lens were going to be. About the same as in the US I am afraid. A little bit extra if I do not want to have the thick lens. A little bit more because the astigmatism is so severe. It will be 3 weeks before the glasses are ready. I am actually really excited. I hope that it solves some of my reading and long distance problems.
The Professor was annoyed with me in Virginia because I kept saying, 'I can't read the street sign yet.' Turns out there is a reason that I couldn't read the signs. I have had a dramatic change in the distance vision in my left eye. Oh woe is me. I really am not getting older. Just ripening.
The macula of the retina, the light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eye, is the best known macula. It is in the center of the retina. As we read, light is focused onto our macula where millions of cells change the light into nerve signals that tell the brain what we are seeing.
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