A weird Feeling

During the last few weeks my eyes have been playing me up. Last night I had had enough and telephoned Shropdoc to make an appointment to see a doctor for a check. Instead of being told to attend their premises in Telford the doctor telephoned me back and informed me I needed to be seen by the specialist eye team as my symptoms were something to do with my retina.

My symptoms were flashing lights to one side of my right eye and an appearance like a spider's web to the front of my vision.

An appointment was made for me to be seen this morning (Saturday) at 10 am. I was a little bit worried as the doctor informed me under no circumstances was I to drive myself there and had to have an escort for the journey home.

After tossing and turning till the early hours I eventually got some sleep.

We arrived at Shrewsbury and attended the eye clinic. It was extremely busy for a Saturday. Many opticians had referred patients, some had telephoned themselves to make an appointment and there was me with my referral from Shropdoc.

The nursing staff were wonderful. They made me feel at ease as they assessed me and then put drops in my eyes.

I was then to be seen by the doctor, who was extremely busy being there on his own, but he made me feel relaxed and did not rush his examination of my eyes despite the fact he knew he had a waiting room full of people and there was only him on duty. During my assessment he informed me I had a torn retina and that it would need laser treatment. I was a little bit nervous as the doctor explained that it would be undertaken this morning and would only take ten minutes.

Meanwhile I had drops inserted into my eyes to ensure my pupil dilated enough for the treatment to take place and he saw another patient while waiting for this to happen.

For once I didn't feel like a number I felt like a human being despite the fact the unit was really busy.

Each and every patient was treated in exactly the same courteous manner by all the staff despite the fact there was only one receiving nursing assistant, one nurse and one doctor for the whole clinic.

No one seemed to mind waiting either.

The doctor prior to the laser treatment made me lie down to ensure there were no further tears or lesions in my eyes that needed immediate treatment.

The doctor explained as I am myopic and short sighted I am now prone to retina problems. This now means further check ups in clinics to ensure my eyes are checked regularly to detect any retina damage early.

I had the laser surgery done. Steve had been with me during all the assessments but when it came to the laser he had to be out of the room. The doctor informed him. "If you hear screams you may return immediately" (Joke).

As the doctor knew I couldn't see a thing as my vision was so blurred he read out the consent form to me. I had been worried as to what the adverse side of laser treatment was and the doctor obviously read my mind as during the form he informed me what they were as he was writing them down. Strangely enough one of the side effects could be detached retina which is what they were trying to prevent by carrying out the laser treatment in the first place.

Being a contact lens wearer made the procedure easier to endure as a lens was placed on the front of my eye during the laser treatment.

I sat as still as I could while the treatment was undertaken. It was just a bit disconcerting looking one way while flashing lights were being pumped into the other side of me. It was not painful just felt weird sitting in an awkward position for a while.

The flashing stopped and the doctor moved away. It was all over and done with.

I just have to wait for an appointment to come through the post for my checkup.

As I left the hospital the sun was out, not too bright but too bright for me. When we got to the car sunglasses were put on and this made a huge difference.

I really appreciate eyesight now. I was trying to explain to Steve what I could see and how.

Traffic lights of the green light at the bottom was a blob of green in the middle with about eight green blobs around it forming a circle. Trees were outlined with a bright blue line amongst the fog.

The road was grey with no white markings as far as I could see. Buildings were large masses of colour with no distinction.

The wrekin was a dark imposing mass in the distance with no deep characteristics for me. I knew what it should have looked like but it didn't and this made me uneasy like being trapped in fog.

On the way home we stopped at Attingham Park this was eerie to someone in my state of vision. There was a marquee to the right of the entrance I could hear a voice say hello so I answered but could not make out anyone.

Visitors at the centre were a blur of colour with no distinguishing features. I knew what I wanted something familiar a cup of coffee and piece of cake. Sitting staring at it savouring every moment of what it looked like close up to my face. I will never forget the delicate sponge touching my tongue and melting in my mouth. It was delicious.

We returned home to be greeted by the cat (to me it was a furrry thing with a mixture of colours blurring into the other). I had to carefully move her with my foot to get indoors and take one faltering step after the other to ensure my footing.

It was a relief to be in familiar surroundings. I knew I would be tired so slept this afternoon.

I now appreciate my senses far more than I ever did prior to this experience.

Thank goodness it happened last night and not next weekend.

I have been informed if this happens again not to hang around for weeks on end hoping it will clear up by itself but to contact the team in the say way as I did last night and ensure I get seen quickly.

Thank goodness for the NHS.

Best wishes to everyone

Fee