Had an MD appt at eye hospital. I had had two cancelled MD appts and was very anxious as my vision has deteriorated after two bouts of flashes since my last appt in January. Sorry but I am venting here, but hoping this will give me some relief.
Dr: you have MD, I haven’t had time to look at your file
Me: I have dry do you mean I have wet? (I’d been attending the MD clinic for nearly 20 years)
Dr: You have a leaking membrane
Me: I’ve never been told that (I thought she had looked at another patient’s file)
Dr: points to my scan it is wet up here and there are some bumps down here
Me: At my last appt I was told there was more drusen (Dr ignores me).
Dr: Both these scans look the same.
She was comparing that day’s scan with the scan I had 2 wks ago in the Cornea Clinic and not my January’s MD scan.
Me: My vision has worsened and I have more distortions and I don’t know if the cause is MD or my other eye condition.
Dr: The scan has not shown any more distortions
Me thinking because you are comparing today’s scan with the scan taken 2 wks ago and not January MD’s scan.
Dr: You have a cataract that is the reason but we don’t need to do anything about it. You will be ok as you are taking Macushield. A new prescription for your glasses should help. I am writing your report now.
(I haven’t received her report, because she probably doesn’t want me to know her name. I have found that drs who have been ambiguous don’t bother doing a report. I have chased the report up and told there isn’t one here – it is probably being done now).
Dr: You next appt will be in 9 months but the Cornea Clinic will be seeing you before then.
Me thinking she is giving me a load of flannel, she doesn’t know when my next Cornea Clinic appt will be, Macushield hasn’t stopped my vision getting more distorted and neither has my new glasses prescription.
Dr: You can come back if you need to. Go to an optician first for a scan so the hospital can decide if they need to see you when they see the scan.
Me thinking what if I have a retinal detachment (as I have previously had pvds) that needs to be treated immediately how long would I have to wait to see an optician for a scan. She had such a cavalier attitude, it was useless querying anything she said because she just fobbed me off.
I have had many sleepless nights worrying about my eyes, having dry MD for nearly 20 years and other eye conditions. I would have thought that I would be able to deal more effectively with some dismissive, drs/consultants, but the older I get the more worn down and depressed I get. If having dry MD is not enough to contend with it is contending with drs (I don’t get to see a consultant every time my eyes are monitored) that are unapproachable. I know at the start of appts that some drs are going to be difficult to talk to. I don’t know whether they just lack empathy, communication\interpersonal skills, are callous, arrogant just don’t care, or are burned-out. I cannot be the only person who has more than one eye condition.
Has anyone found that having a cataract removed helped their vision, because I understood that it is a procedure that is not always possible if you have MD. I know I would have to have it done privately now.