The Inside Of My Eye

I went to the ophthalmologist today, at my primary care physician's behest, to get my eyes checked out.

For those who don't know, I have retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a disease that causes partial vision loss. I was diagnosed about 15 years ago, and according to my mother, do not take the condition seriously enough, since I only go see the specialist when other people bug me about it instead of under my own initative.

But in my defense, I can see for myself that my vision is stable. If there had been a change, I would be more motivated. Plus I don't like going through the tests, especially the visual field test. (I know that I am going to fail the visual field, but the technician doesn't, and I have having to deal with the upset look they get on the faces when they see how bad my eye is.) I loathe getting my eyes dilated and I have vivid, unpleasant memories of the fluorescein angiograph.

But this visit wasn't that bad. I did have to get my eyes dilated, which I also hate. But the Dr. G. (the ophthalmologist) was nice and told me that I didn't have to get another angiograph, since it wouldn't tell her anything she didn't already know. And she was appropriately impressed with my unique presentation of RP (generally it effects both eyes, but mine is confined to my right eye). And the good new is that I don't have to go back for three years.

Dr. G. did want photos taken, for reference. So after our visit, I walked down to the testing room.

The technician was very cool and knew my diagnoses as soon as he looked through the camera. He decided that he wanted to get a 7 angle series of my bad eye, but was a struggle, because I couldn't see the dot that he wanted me to follow with the affected eye. My medical practice uses computerized medical records, so I got to see the pictures on the screen as he took them. When we were done, I asked if he could e-mail me copies. He couldn't e-mail them, but he did print them out on photo paper for me.

The first 7 pictures are of my right eye (if you click on the picture, you can see an enlargement) and the last two are of my left eye. The difference is fairly obvious. I think is is pretty cool to be able to see something normally not visible.