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.
Hi worrybeads. A few years ago, my late sister had cataracts done and it definitely improved her vision and her husband, who has dry AMD had his done too and he felt there was some improvement. However, he had one of them done again last year but that time it didn't do anything to help his vision. I have wet AMD in one of my eyes for which I receive Eylea injections and cataracts in both of them. The cataract in my bad eye has become bigger and the opthalmologist told me that they need to dry my eye up so that I can have a cataract operation in the bad eye as it is now affecting my vision. Also worrybeads, are you in the UK?
Thank you, it is a problem isn't it when you have MD (wet or dry) and then have cataracts which affect your vision. As if having MD isn't enough to deal with.
Absolutely. x