Bright Eyes

It's a beautiful spring day.

The sun is shining, white fluffy clouds are being chased across the sky by a light breeze.

I have a day off work.

What could be more perfect?

If I could be outside, that's what.

Instead of enjoying this perfect spring day, I'm inside, with all the blinds drawn down and wearing sunglasses. The brightness is turned way down on my monitor, and I'm squinting a little to focus, just so that I can write this.

Why?

Because I'm so very, very bored.

Why am I bored?

This morning, I had a hospital appointment at the Ophthalmology Department, to be tested to see if I had Glaucoma.

You see, about six weeks ago, I went for an eye test at my local optician, and during the test, he tested the pressure in my eyes, and found that it was higher than the normal. Significantly higher.

He looked taken aback, and repeated the test. A couple more times, just to make sure. Then he said I had to go and see my GP, who would then refer me to an Ophthalmologist.

Now, up until that point, I didn't know that you could have high pressure in your eyes, or what effects that might have.

I now know that high pressure can damage the optic nerve, and the earlier it's detected, the easier it is to reduce the likelihood of any further damage being done.

So I went to my GP, and she referred me to the hospital. A week ago I got the notification of the appointment, and this morning I went.

For once, my mother actually gave me good advice and told me to take my sunglasses. I'm so glad I did.

I got there, and had a brief eye test, after which, a nurse put two sets of eye drops in my eyes. These are designed to dilate the pupil so that it's easier to see the back of the eye and check for any damage to the optic nerve.

It took about 10 minutes before my vision started to blur, and I had to put on the sunglasses because everything was suddenly that much brighter.

I suffered through the eye test, and was much relieved to receive a clean bill of health for my eyes. D, who had come with me to make sure I could get back to the flat ok, was fascinated by a closer view of my eyes than he's ever seen before, as what the Ophthalmologist was seeing was shown on a TV screen next to me.

Coming out of that hospital into the bright sunlight is one of the more painful things I've ever encountered. Even with sunglasses on, it was far too bright.

My pupils have started to contract a bit now, but light is still causing me a fair bit of pain.

For all my grumbling, I'm glad I went, I'm glad I had the test, and I'm glad that my eyes are ok.

If it wasn't that I work in a place where they make sure that you get a regular workstation assessment, and make sure that you get a regular eye test, I wouldn't have gone to the optician in the first place, and I wouldn't have known there might have been a problem.

Glaucoma, although rare in people under 40 is a sneaky thing. It's usually painless and has no symptoms, and little by little, your optic nerve is damaged and your visual field is reduced, and typically, by the time it's detected, 75% of the damage has already been done. Damage that cannot be repaired.

If you use a computer for a large part of your day, you should get an eye test every two years. Yes, it costs money, but you can go to your employer and ask them to pay for it - either with an eye care voucher or by reimbursing your expenses.

If you don't, go anyway, it's only £15ish, and while it might not seem worth the time or money, it could make the difference to your sight.

Although having a serious sight problem or losing your sight isn't the life-destroying disaster it once was - there are many, many ways to deal with sight loss, and it's possibly to live a happy and healthy life - it can sometimes be avoided, and surely it's worth £15 every couple of years, just to make sure?

I know it's boring, but if you haven't had an eye test for a couple of years (or longer) do yourself a favour and go get one.

This public service announcement has been brought to you by someone who usually ignores health issues, in the hope that they'll go away.