I had an appointment for a yearly check up with an eye specialist, I had seen this specialist in October of 2017. I was given conflicting information on my second visit, as to what I was told in October 2017. As soon as I was shown into his consulting room, he announced that my macula degeneration had worsened. This was before he had even examined my eyes! After an eye test, I was told that my eyesight was very good and that I should be able to drive. No photographs were taken of my eyes on this occasion , so therefore I had no means of comparing if there had been any changes whatsoever in my eyes since my last visit. This specialist was even unsure if I had developed wet AMD, and his answer to my question was 'I think that the changes are due to your dry macula condition.' This was after my pupils had been dilated and he had viewed the back of my eyes! I was left feeling extremely confused and scared. Why did I bother to attend for my appointment, and what is even more pertinent, why did I pay £150 to listen to this confusing dialogue?
Has anyone had an experience like mine wit... - Macular Society
Has anyone had an experience like mine with an eye surgeon?
Test each eye with the Amsler Grid. Print it out or view it right on your display/monitor:
allaboutvision.com/conditio...
If there is no blurring or distortion, then follow Mac Soc recommendations:
macularsociety.org/sites/de...
It's up to you to save your sight....
Thanks Kevinaki,
I am following up on your suggestions as they seem to be a good idea.
I think if there's any doubt whether you have wet AMD or not, you should have an OCT scan as minimum. The Amsler grid can still be square when you've already started to lose colour and acuity.
"The current paradigm for early detection necessitates frequent monitoring, imaging [with optical coherence tomography (OCT) or fluorescein angiography (FA)] and clinical examination at the clinic. "
journalretinavitreous.biome...
Thank you for your answer, I could not think clearly at the time of my appointment. I never thought about asking for a referral for a scan. I am going to write to the said specialist and ask for a referral.
The careless attitude of your consultant is disturbing, say the least. As has already has been said, you should have been given a scan. The split lamp does not necessarily pick up a small leakage while the scan does. I have been told so on one occasion by my consultant when I was exactly at that particular stage after my wet AMD had temporarily dried up, but the fluid had just started to build up again.
Hello ayayay,
I am still sitting here thinking about the consultant's attitude, and it does alarm me. I am left with the not knowing feeling, and that is not a good way to feel. I will write to him and ask for a referral, then wait and see where it gets me.
That sounds to be a classic case of malpractice, diagnosis without examination but, why pay when the consultation is freely available upon the NHS?
Thanks for your reply Rennatk,
I have been reading about your experiences with your eyes, and I do hope that you are faring better now. You are an inspiration to others. Why I had to pay privately, is because my optician, and my GP, would not refer me via the NHS. They said that my eye condition was not bad enough to be seen by a specialist. This is all part of the NHS cuts, which unfortunately is going to affect a lot of us who have recently been diagnosed. Best Wishes.
Yes I am afraid you are right I was referred by optician to my local eye clinic who considered it was not necessary to see me as they were told I had dry MD. I decided to pay privately and guess what it turned out to be wet. Now having injections but no real improvement. Hope all is going well for you.
Whilst my condition is not AMD related it does respond to some of the AMD and I have become aware of some of the issues associated with the condition. I am a member of a PPIER working group at Liverpool and talk to several AMD patients together with their medical team.
I find way you are being handled, I can’t say “treated” because that is not happening, quite horrendous.
Contacting the consultant as you are doing seems to me to be the right thing to do but speed is also of the essence.
Once you receive a response then you can decide a course of action, if needed.
Dear 01776,
It seems that you are seeing a private consultant?
It may be worth you attending an opticians.
If you attend an opticians and they see any signs of possible wet AMD, then they need to do a fast track referral to the NHS eye clinic.
I am copying links to our Guide to AMD
macularsociety.org/sites/de...
Treatments
macularsociety.org/sites/de...
and our Care guide to wet AMD:
macularsociety.org/sites/de...
Just to make you aware, we are currently offering free 6 month membership. This is a good way to keep up with current developments:
I hope that this addresses your query.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any further help.
The Macular Society helpline is open 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday on 0300 3030 111.
Alternately, you can contact us via:
help@macularsociety.org
Kind regards,
Referred to Eye Infirmary for wet AMD ......
High Street Optician versus Charity's Impaired Vision clinic.
Has anyone had an iodine drop instilled 20 minutes before actual injection?
Vision in "bad" slightly blurry; eye sensitive to bright lights
