Hi Dr Diana,
I visited the Opthamologist and it’s taken me until now to be able to post about the experience. A week before the appointment I’d been put on very heavy anti-seizure medication for migraines by my Neurologist which had affected my brain function and speech and balance, so I’d mentioned this to the Opthamologist’s assistant but still felt able to handle the appointment, I was just a little bit slower than usual. The Assistant then stepped me through a detailed interview about the problem with my left eye and I confirmed I had the beginning of a cataract and required a corneal transplant and that I only had blurred and double vision in that left eye. The assistant took copious notes and gave all of these to the Opthamologist who then asked me to come through. He spent quite some time reviewing all the notes and reciting information about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome & migraines which I found quite confusing with my medication and I mentioned that I was on heavy anti seizure medication and was experiencing difficulty with brain function. He then asked if it was only my left eye affected by the double and blurred vision and I didn’t answer as I knew the assistant had written down that this was the case. I then got side tracked and answered a different question and the short story was he got very angry with me for not listening to him and I started crying as he would not repeat the question so I could properly answer it and he had to do all the eye tests on me while I continued crying. He then said after 30 minutes of testing that I needed to travel an hour into another city for him to use machines that would measure OCT-M and keratometry. On the up side, I’m glad I made him terribly uncomfortable for the whole appointment as he seems to have a form of aspergers and an inability to gauge social queues (he looks after my Father and me but only recalled knowing me when I was leaving). I hobbled out to reception on my walking stick with my sunglasses on with the receptionist trying to rebook my appointment thinking I’d never go near him again.
I would now like to know the best way of finding another opthamologist. I have a recommendation for an Opthamalgic surgeon or otherwise do I aim for someone in Sydney that does the cross linking as I would bet that I need that, given my EDS Hypermobility diagnosis and my further deteriorating eye sight even since I last posted.
Sorry about any spelling mistakes and many thanks for your help to date.
Cheers,
Lisa