An ophthalmologist did just that this morning, looked into my dilated baby blues. Intently. With a very bright, white light. It was unpleasant. She was checking the slight scarring I have in my left eye. In very (extremely) low levels of light (less than nightlight levels) the room is even darker through my left eye. I've never noticed a difference in any other lighting *, including while driving at night.
So it's not a problem. But after I mentioned it to her, she wanted to see it. It resulted in new experiences for both of us.
The scars are leftover from a childhood infection caused by a bacteria carried by chickens
(I picked it up helping a cousin collect eggs in his family's hen house when I was 10). The doctor had heard of it, but never seen it. Now she has. The doctor who originally diagnosed it several years ago offended me by saying the scars were the result of an untreated infection. Untreated!!! I held a hot teabag over the eye every morning until I recovered. Doctors! :)
The new experience for me? As the doctor moved that blinding white light to various angles to get better views into my eyes, I occasionally saw what looked like a grayish-white surface riddled with tiny connecting lines. I was seeing the capillaries in my eye. It was very cool. I know it's not an uncommon experience during an eye exam, but it was a first for me.
* It's so not a problem, I didn't even notice it until a co-worker mentioned my eyes weren't dilated exactly the same (while standing in a very dimly lit museum gallery after a 14 hour workday).
Have a great weekend, folks. Happy Easter!
Didn't know that something like that is possible. You were only 10 years old when you had the eye infection - it's such a long time & if something seems to resurface now, boy that's scary. Hope it's nothing serious.
ReplyDeleteGlad the scar isn't a problem. But crazy weird that you saw your own eye's capillaries. Aren't eyes amazing creations?
ReplyDeleteEye exams sort of freak me out even though I've been wearing glasses/contacts since I was in elementary school. I HATE when they blow the puff of air into your eyes. They seriously haven't come up with a better way to do that test!? Anyway, glad the scar isn't too bad!
ReplyDeletexo, Yi-chia
Always Maylee
Happy Easter, Rick. Now we both have a similarity -- problematic left eye. It is really cool to see all these stuff in your eye eh?
ReplyDeleteI wanna see my capillaries too!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of my mom telling me how she was so happy to have an eye exam with her eye doctor.. who was apparently a very good-looking man. -.-
Whoa - I'm glad you got it checked out. A dilation is never a pleasant experience but I'm glad they were able to figure it all out
ReplyDeleteI don't like it when bright light shines into my eyes. :P
ReplyDeleteHave a happy Easter!
i really don't enjoy visiting any kind of doctor...haha i'd rather use that hot teabag method!
ReplyDeletei've had too many not so fun experiences with the eye docs! First the scraping of layers of my eye when i got laser eye surgery then the removal of a bump in my eyelid last year. *cringe* good to hear you're ok though! belated happy easter rick!
ReplyDeleteGood thing it was just an eye check up. Like Kym, I had to have a bump removed from my eyelid too. It was a horrible experience, I was wide eyed during the whole removal and it hurt a lot. I was not allowed to blink and I could see the doctor coming closer and closer to my eyelid with a scalpal in his hand. Grrrr. And then all of a sudden I felt like I blacked out but then I felt something warm dripping down my temples and I figured it was probably blood. tsk tsk tsk.
ReplyDeleteDoctors! OBVIOUSLY she had never heard of the hot teabag method. ;)
ReplyDeleteThough I can't personally see my own, seeing your capillaries does sound very cool. I'm glad to hear it isn't a problem. I have my own eye issues: getting tired eyeballs when I read too much and having to wear glasses now when I'm driving at night. Lasik is not forever!
I guess you showed your doctor a thing or two! And you confirmed for yourself that your capillaries are intact ;)
ReplyDelete