The Ophthalmologist

I have been up since four this morning. I thought I might have been able to go back to sleep, but my mind and thoughts turned on. Thoughts 1...Sleep 0....Sleep over.

Rambling thoughts. I was thinking about yesterday and today and the rest of the week. Orthodontist appointments, eye doctor appointments, Suessical rehearsals, grocery shopping, banking, gas station (yikes) and back to rehearsal to retrieve child. Home to make dinner and then drop into a sound sleep for a couple of hours.

I took Zoe for an eye appointment, which took 2 1/2 hours yesterday. She has a lazy eye and needs new glasses. We didn't know she had a lazy eye until the school nurse called me. Zoe was in third grade (almost six years ago) and the nurse told me Zoe could not read the top line on the chart. I told her she must be mistaken and she told me she would retest her. Well, it was true. She couldn't read the top line...Shit. How did the doctor miss this after every physical since she was born? I mean every physical, not one was missed.

I called the doctor and he said, "It must have just happened." No, she was either using both eyes or she memorized the freaking chart! The doctor was not happy that I blamed his staff for missing something that could have been corrected if caught early enough. By the time we caught it, Zoe was about eight. The muscles can be retrained and corrected on younger kids, but at her age, she was at the end of the scale. She did wear a patch over her good eye for about a year. Every afternoon. To make the bad eye work. It did work some. But her vision was till 20/200 with a corrective lens.

First I took her to the local optometrist. He wanted her to do eye therapy...I told our doctor neighbor and her scientist husband and they referred me to a well known pediatric ophthalmologist that they knew. He laughed at the idea of eye therapy. Told us to do the patching and hoped for the best. Then the well known ophthalmologist returned to his other office at Cedars Sinai in LA, full time and somebody new took over his practice locally, at UCI. The place is almost impossible to find on the campus. I get lost every time I go there. Yesterday was no exception.

We went through all the pre see the doctor stuff. She had her eyes tested, then dilated. We waited twenty minutes in the "dilation" area until she, the nurse, came to get us. One more test. Then taken to the room and the doctor would see us...... An hour later. She didn't even apologize for making us wait for an hour. Must be the norm not to apologize anymore. The doctor is the important person, our time is of no value, obviously.

She said that Zoe's eyes were 20/50 corrected. "What? How did that happen?" I wonder. "What do you mean?" asks the doctor. I told her that she was 20/200 before. "Oh, hmm. I will have to go back and pull that chart!" This one is a real winner, I thought to myself. She recommends a contact lens for the bad eye. She thinks it will help with depth perception and also thinks it will keep Zoe from being dizzy while wearing her glasses. The lens is so thick for the corrected eye and just glass for the other eye. However, if her prescription changed then that would be a reason for the dizziness. But, I am not a doctor, and I don't play one on TV.

She recommended an ophthalmologist in her practice who specializes in contact lenses. I use my outside voice on this one. "Well, I could take her to my optometrist. No, he is a wacko. I think I will use your guy initially." She asks, laughing, "Why is your optometrist a wacko?" I told her for starters he wanted Zoe to do eye therapy and tried to dissuade me from going to an ophthalmologist. Tried to convince me that eye therapy would work, even though it has no scientific proof that it works. Okay for some, but no practicing on my daughter! And he probably gets a fee for sending people to the eye therapist...But, worst is during my eye exams. He drives me crazy. He asks which is better while looking through the lens machine. Which is better? Right or left? Normally, this would not annoy me, but he says, "And right or left, and right or left, and right or left, in the voice of an undertaker asking what kind of casket you would like. Unlike the Fisher Brothers on Six Feet Under. The old stereotypical morose voice.....Droll sounding.

So, we are going back Friday to see the contact lens dude. At least initially.