I had my field test today at Specsavers, I just wanted to say how it went to reassure other diabetics going through this. I must say I was very nervous prior to doing the test. To reassure myself, I went and had a field test done privately at a local optician, this meant I could see for myself what visual field I had which after 10x laser and 1x vitrectomy was suprisingly good. It also got me familiar with this test which can take a bit of getting used to if you have not done it before and, in my opinion can only help matters!
I have peripheral vision loss in one eye but luckily as the DVLA test is binocular the other eye compensates completely.
I have to say Specsavers were very reassuring, they explained the test to me and took a very brief medical history of my retinopathy and treatment. I was then asked to read letters off the board both with and without glasses. Then onto the field test. Reassuringly they will let you do it more than once, so if you fluff it the first time, or if you wear glasses you get a second go and I believe they can even give you a third go if necessary.
The test was ok, easier than some I'd done before. The lights were quite bright, possibly as a result of some people failing their field test a few years ago due to the machines being at the wrong setting... so now they are trying to avoid that.
It lasted around 5 minutes and the important thing is to stare at the fixation spot, and CONCENTRATE which can be difficult if your heart is beating a million times a second, as mine was due to nervousness. They tell you when you are half way through...it's a long 5 minutes!
At the end of the test they shared the results with me which was just one tiny spot missed on the very far right of my field... I'm sure this was due to chance as I've not missed that spot when doing the test before. The optician said it was fine, and I didn't need to do a second test. Although they can't officially tell you that you've passed, they more or less said that one tiny spot wouldn't make any difference.
So I expect I will get a three year renewal - woo hoo! Given that I've gone through as much laser as I can and one eye was botched a bit by the vitrectomy I am very relieved that I still have good peripheral vision overall. I really think you need to lose quite a lot of peripheral vision to fail this test which hopefully will reassure other diabetics who've had laser and need to jump through this hoop to keep their licence.
I have peripheral vision loss in one eye but luckily as the DVLA test is binocular the other eye compensates completely.
I have to say Specsavers were very reassuring, they explained the test to me and took a very brief medical history of my retinopathy and treatment. I was then asked to read letters off the board both with and without glasses. Then onto the field test. Reassuringly they will let you do it more than once, so if you fluff it the first time, or if you wear glasses you get a second go and I believe they can even give you a third go if necessary.
The test was ok, easier than some I'd done before. The lights were quite bright, possibly as a result of some people failing their field test a few years ago due to the machines being at the wrong setting... so now they are trying to avoid that.
It lasted around 5 minutes and the important thing is to stare at the fixation spot, and CONCENTRATE which can be difficult if your heart is beating a million times a second, as mine was due to nervousness. They tell you when you are half way through...it's a long 5 minutes!
At the end of the test they shared the results with me which was just one tiny spot missed on the very far right of my field... I'm sure this was due to chance as I've not missed that spot when doing the test before. The optician said it was fine, and I didn't need to do a second test. Although they can't officially tell you that you've passed, they more or less said that one tiny spot wouldn't make any difference.
So I expect I will get a three year renewal - woo hoo! Given that I've gone through as much laser as I can and one eye was botched a bit by the vitrectomy I am very relieved that I still have good peripheral vision overall. I really think you need to lose quite a lot of peripheral vision to fail this test which hopefully will reassure other diabetics who've had laser and need to jump through this hoop to keep their licence.
