After Care – It Is For Ever After

It was probably a mixture of British reserve and “not wanting to be a nuisance”, that held me back.

Although I was never one of the fourteen out of fifteen London Vision Clinic patients who didn’t realise that you could contact the clinic with any concerns even years after surgery, I suppose I just did not want to “make a fuss” … besides my sight was still vastly improved since before my operation to correct presbyopia (that’s aging eyes to you and me) in March 2007.

It was still a joy not to reach for the reading glasses when perusing restaurant menus, newspapers or to operate my new Iphone. The deterioration was incredibly slight ― some days hardly noticeable at all ― so I continued to ignore it.

However, as time passed, I sensed that it was not going to go away and it was beginning to bother me – especially when I was tired – for instance reading in bed late at night. My vision had also become slightly blurry first thing in the mornings.

This situation had crept up on me gradually over the last twelve months or so and despite at first attributing it to the darkness and overcast skies of a British winter, or to too much staring at a computer screen, it was not getting any better. It was time to address the problem and I did what I would have recommended any other London Vision Clinic patient to do, I picked up the phone.

The lead optometrist was able to see me almost immediately. After a consultation she conducted some eye tests – including assessing my vision with the Snellen eye chart, by my reading of various print sizes and an examination of the front of my eyes. (We scheduled a future appointment for a more in depth eye examination).

The eye examination showed that I have a condition known as “Meibomian Gland Dysfunction” which could be affecting my sight. She explained that the surface of my eye showed some “rough” patches caused by dryness which is probably the result of my tears not being the right consistency.

I learned that ideally tears are a combination of fluid produced by the Lacrimal gland, above the eye, and the oil produced by the Meibomian glands which are found in the upper and lower eye lids… and it appears that some of my Meibomian glands have gone on strike!

Read how I am coaxing them back to work in Thursday´s blog.