Wow, has it really been almost 3 years since I posted something! Time flies! Well I have now changed the name of the blog a bit, as I am no longer a student, but a practicing Optometrist.
In my third year of schooling I began to see patients. So I have now been actively seeing patients for 2.5 years, give or take. This has given many wonderful experiences. Some funny, some sad, but others that just make you stop and think.
I had a patient once who when she was informed that she would be dilated at the exam, pulled out her phone to text her husband to ask for a ride home. After typing away on her phone for a while she looked a little puzzled, then pulled out her reading glasses and read what she had typed. She started to chuckle and said "Well it's a good thing I double checked before I sent this text." The text read " Hey honey, could you come get me. I'm going to get my eyes donated today." Oops just a little bit of a typo.
One of the hardest things I have had to do is take someones ability to drive away. When the patient and their family feels that the patient can see just fine, but the patient has severe Macular Degeneration and has the poor eyesight to prove it, it makes it hard for the family to accept. I was informed by a patients family that by taking away his ability to drive I was basically killing him. Not something you want to hear, but something your bound to hear on occasion. But these people need to understand that every time that person gets behind the wheel of a car, every life on the road is at risk, including his.
Vision loss is a hard thing to deal with. The grieving process is very real in these patients. Many deny that anything is wrong. Some get angry when you tell them the vision they have lost is not coming back. The ones that are the best to work with have already accepted it. They just want to see as well as possible, but they know that won't be perfect.
Behind it all lies the truth. Most people don't know much about their eyes. They know they are there, and they allow them to see. But most people can't tell you anything more about them. Dentists have done a great job of forcing into people's heads the idea that you need a cleaning and exam every 6 months. This is for something that you get two sets of in life. One to figure out how to take care of, then another set to care for until they go south and have to be replaced. But they can be replaced with a functional set. We only get one set of eyes. I am always pleasantly surprised when someone comes in, who doesn't wear glasses or contacts, and just wants their eyes checked. I love it! You are doing what you would be doing! Taking care of the only set of peepers you well ever have.
Please take care of them, not for me, but for you.
