I have been having trouble seeing out of my left eye. When looking straight ahead I see a warped second image that arcs downward. When I look at something like a roof line, I see one as straight across and then a second that scoops down. My binocular vision then combines those two images to come up with a sort of jagged edge.
As a freelancer I pay for Ambetter Heath insurance. About a year ago I got glasses from an ophthalmologist on Michigan Street. That doctor no longer takes my insurance. My general practitioner dropped my insurance as well.
I searched through the few eye doctors who do take my insurance and decided on Dr. Sandra Mauro. I researched her education, and she has been in the eye business her whole life. She website also stressed how the office is run with COVID precautions in mind. That however was old news. I was the only one masked. Her office is a small concrete block building with parking behind it. All the parking spots were taken but I was lucky that someone pulled out. It seems like everyone is loosing their sight.
The waiting room was full of moms and their kids. After filling out some paperwork I got my eye pressure checked and a doctors assistant used a bright light to view the inside of my eye. Doctor Mauro had me look through a series of lenses. I was shocked when I found my left eye could not read any of the letters she showed me. I explained that the letters arced downward and were blurry. I wore my mask through most of the procedure but at one point the mask was fogging up the lens, so I pulled it down for that procedure. She put drops in my eyes to dilate my pupils. When she left I sketched some of the equipment in her office.
She asked me to look at a grid and I could see the whole grid which was good she said. At least I don’t have cataracts. Then she repeated the procedure of s shining a bright light into my eye. Her assessment is that I have a swollen macula. Essentially the back of my eyeball is caving inwards. There is also a “floater” in my left eye and I was surprised to find out my right cornea has a scar. She didn’t have the equipment needed to do any more tests, so she refereed me to a retina specialist.
My eyes are a mess. Possible treatments include pills to reduce the swelling, shots into the eye, laser or scalpel surgery to remove the swollen tissue. I am fascinated at the thought of having fluorescent dye shot into my veins to see how the blood flows into my eye. The thought of someone coming at my eye with a knife is terrifying. I am thinking a pirate patch might be enough. Even a cyclops can be an artist.