Thursday, August 09, 2007

Aging sucks

The day I bought new running shoes, Mike and I went for a short hike after lunch. Midway through, I noticed a blurry spot in my vision. A bit later, I noticed that it was crescent-shaped, acting like the afterimage you see when you look at a bright light. It was a very bright day, so I assumed I caught a reflection off a windshield or something. It faded, but it was back the next day. I kept seeing it off and on over the week, and went to my optometrist to get it checked out.

He noticed that my left eye (where I could sometimes see the crescent) was still 20/20 but was now weaker than my right eye, and told me I had vitreous separation, something that happens to everyone when they age. If there's a problem, it will show up within 6 weeks, and I should call if there are changes. He also mentioned that I might need reading glasses.

So I went merrily on, still worrying off and on about the new blurriness. I decided to check in with my g.p. He looked alarmed, suspected I had retinal detachment, and sent me immediately to the ophthalmologist. Several tense hours later, the ophthalmologist confirmed the original diagnosis -- I'm getting old; it's nothing to worry about.

Oh well. I look good in glasses. Time to go buy some.

While I was waiting, I noticed this in the exam room:

If you click through to a higher resolution, you can see it says "Place sharp in container opening then lift door until sharp drops." When did "sharp" become a noun? Why wasn't I informed of this?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

yeah apparently 40 does something magic to your eyes (magic, but not great). I put off the glasses thing for a while, then lived on dollar store readers for a while, but I know have prescription reading glasses. And I need them remarkably often.

This is the only thing about aging that I have found sucks (so far).

Anonymous said...

I've worn contacts for several years, but in the past year I've had to also include reading glasses to knit with - the cheap magnifying ones you get at the drug store. They work great, and I'm not dependant enough to have to carry them with me every where I go. Yet....

Mel said...

"Sharp" is just medspeak, since it's easier than saying "needles, scalpels, broken glass, or any other item that might have a sharp edge and cut someone, contaminating them with biological or other hazardous material".

I'm sending this on to David. He's had a spot in his vision for a little while and hasn't gone to the doctor yet.

Matt....... said...

thanks for reminding me I need to get to the doc to get my eyes checked.....

Cat Herself said...

Yea, aging sucks. Yes, you've been under a rock about the "sharp" thing. Funny, isn't it?

so how are your new shoes?

FiberQat said...

Like Dr Mel said. So if you use your knitting needle to poke someone (like your GP) in the eye, it's become a sharp.

Welcome to the half-moon club, dude.

Diane said...

I wouldn't mind the whole aging thing except my brain still is under the impression that I'm somewhere around 24. It still wants me to do all kinds of stuff that my 40+ yr old knees don't agree with.

Have fun shopping for glasses. I love picking out new onces every couple years. So many to choose from.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about your eye sight, old man.

Sharp became a noun the same week that google became a verb