Cataract post-op follow-up

Cataract post-op follow-up

Due to a snow storm on January 7th, I had to reschedule my follow-up with Dr Song to today.

Happy that mother nature cooperated and people remembered how to drive today.  I arrived 15 minutes early for my appointment in Waltham.  The office was busy, but things were moving along.  Around 2:45, my name was called and one of the medical professionals brought me over to one of the eye machines where she performed some tests (glaucoma).  I was then whisked away to another room where I was given an extensive vision test.  Upon completion, I was handed over to Steve, who brought me to another examination room where he checked peripheral vision.  

I had not used (or don't recall using) those machines.  One had me looking into a toilet bowl-like opening and needing to use a clicker to identify when I saw various flashes of light.  Very similar to counting stars, one eye at a time.  I'm sure I missed a few since some looked like floaters, so I hesitated registering those.  There's no way of knowing how well I did since I didn't get any audible sounds from Steve other than, "We are almost done."

I was given some drops and was asked to wait for the doctor in yet another examination room.  While waiting, Steve was explaining the advantages of having a barber use a straight edge for a real close shave.  All this while we were wearing masks.  He seemed to recall that I had a 'pringles-style' mustache.  Oh, the impressions we make on others. He was called away and I sat waiting for Dr Song.

Dr Song arrived and after exchanging pleasantries, he indicated that my glaucoma test was good and things looked OK, but he was concerned with a high pressure reading in my right eye (the one that had the cataract surgery first in 2016).  He told me the reading, but it didn't mean anything to me, but the two numbers were far from each other, meaning one eye had higher pressure.  He took more measurements and said his reading was higher than the test I had earlier.  He said, 'We are going to prescribe eye drops'. He went on to say that Timolol was a gel-like drop that I would be using every day on my right eye.  He said that sometimes insurance doesn't cover it.  If that's the case, he would prescribe a different drop that needed to be taken twice daily.  So I said, this is probably something I'll be taking going forward?  He said yes.  [It is what it is.]  He asked if I had any questions to which I responded, yes: Why? and How?

He said they were good questions.  He indicated (and he mentioned this before) that the eye has a drainage system and mine isn't working well enough.  The eye drops will reduce the pressure.  I asked what are the long term consequences of the pressure if not addressed?  He indicated that the pressure over time will cause the retina to get thinner until I lose portions of my vision.  He also said that it's not reversible.   [For joy].  I asked why this eye and not the one just operated on?  He said that he suspects that the same problem will eventually happen on the other eye.  [For joy X2].

He called in the prescription to Walgreens.  He said he would see me in 6 to 8 weeks.  On the way out I got an appointment for March 28th.

When I got home I had a message from Walgreens saying the prescription was out of stock and will be ready tomorrow.  I checked my online account and saw that a price was not listed yet.  So we'll see.

I have my Cystoscopy schedule for tomorrow, so more to come!