The Joys of Aging

Are you troubled by stiff joints, receding gums and thinning hair? No? Consider yourself lucky or too young to read this column. Here's another problem to worry about.

On Tuesday, I started getting flashes in my right eye of slivers of light. Then a new floater appeared. I'd had this before, like a little spot that floats around in your vision, but this new one was more annoying, like a hair hanging over my face. I let it go for a day, hoping the visual effects would fade away. But then the next day, I started seeing an occasional dark shadow at the bottom of my visual range. I got alarmed. These could be signs of retinal detachment, a medical emergency.  

I found a retinal specialist group right nearby. Their office opened at 8:00 am, and the three doctors were available 24/7 for emergency calls. I phoned on Wednesday morning at 8:05, and after hearing my symptoms, the receptionist said, "Come right in."

Why can't all doctor groups be as accommodating to patients as this one?

This is why I pay a lot of money for a health insurance policy that's a PPO. I don't need a referral and can go to any doctor I choose.

I downloaded the new patient forms that were conveniently online and filled them out before leaving the house. The office was less than ten minutes away. I checked in and didn't have to wait long at all to be called. A technician did the initial exam, checking my vision wearing my various pairs of reading and distance glasses, and taking a pressure reading which was fine. Then she put in drops to dilate my eyes.

     

Twenty minutes later, the doctor examined me. He said I didn't have any retinal tears or detachments. However, the symptoms are the same. What happens as you get older, is that the vitreous gel inside the eye becomes dense and pulls away from the surface of the retina. When the gel is too thick, sometimes it adheres to the retina and causes a tear. If fluid passes behind the tear, it can cause a retinal detachment. When untreated, this can lead to blindness. Treatment may be done in the office or in the operating room, depending upon the situation.

The doctor said there's nothing you can do to prevent this problem. It just occurs. I should come in again if I see a cascade of light flashes, a meteor shower of floaters, or have blurring or vision loss in one part of the eye. So I left the office feeling much relieved that I don't have any tears or detachment right now, but aware that as this posterior vitreous detachment occurs, there's still the possibility.

I'll return for an exam in a month, barring any changes. Meanwhile, the floater is annoying but I'll have to get used to it.

So watch out for these warning signs and add them to your list of What Goes Wrong as you age. Have any of you had a similar experience?

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Coming Friday: I'm guest blogging at Denise Agnew's site on WRITING IN DIFFERENT GENRES: http://deniseagnew.com/blog