"Eye" had an interesting day!

You know you're going to have an interesting day when you call the eye doctor for an appointment and they ask, "Could you come in this afternoon?"

I had started seeing flashes in my left eye the night before. Doing a little Google research taught me that almost everyone, at one time or another, has flashes, so that generally it's not anything to worry about. But I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and schedule an appointment to get it looked at, and was a little surprised that they wanted to see me the same day.

Most of the appointment was just following the same routine every eye exam appointment follows -- vision check, pressure check, dilation, exam through the scope and with the head magnifier, at which point the dr. said everything looked perfect. Things changed a little, though, when he decided to take a second look, this time using a contact lense in addition to the scope. After looking for a while, he asked his colleage to step in and have a look. They both agreed there was a separtion of layers of the retina, but seemed unsure if more was going on, so arranged for me to see a retina specialist as soon as I could make the drive to his office.

The retina guy was waiting for me, as by now it was after office hours. "What we find will determine whether we go to the operating room in the morning" set the tone. He did an intial exam, and announced that everything looked fine. As he continued using the contact lens, he announced that what I had was retinoschisis, a separation of the layers of the retina, but no detachment, holes, or tear, and further that I have it in both eyes. Other encouraging words was that the condition does not require treatment, and that he would not expect it to progress sufficiently to threaten my central vision, but that we would monitor it. Next he took photos of the inside of the eye, both so that there would be a baseline and to show me what he was seeing. He did discuss the possibility of using laser to tack the retina layers to themselves as an attempt to prevent progression, but noted that in the long run that can complicate repairs if holes or tears or detachment occur. So the current plan is to monitor, although I'll see his partner Friday morning to see if he concurs.

So, it was an interesting and unsettling afternoon. My prayer is that there is no progression, and no need to do anything but monitor it over time.