Sorry I didn't come back on yesterday, but I was shell shocked , I think (in a good way, before you panic).
When I got there, Specsavers were very good. They wore the shields. I did have all 3 of my deaf/need to lipread badges on my frontage.
I had an extra test, for eye health, which the lady said would cost me £10. I had read about it the night before and I decided to say yes. But when it came to paying the bill at the end they didn't charge me for the test It was deducted from my bill.
My eyes are better than they were last year. There is absolutely no diabetic retinopathy there anymore. And I've had that for the past few years, since 2017. And also nearly all the macular degeneration has gone that was there last year on the optician's computer, and I saw it on his screen last year and it was several black spots that were getting bigger and bigger each year, and he showed me (in 2019) the black spots from the previous years, and he had said, last year, that it was getting worse. So I was very surprised to see only one tiny shadow yesterday.
Consequently, I have been worried about my eyes all year and was worried about losing my eyesight, and I was even more worried when we did not have the retinopathy scan, the diabetic retinopathy scan by the NHS this year because of covid 19. There are there no plans to reintroduce it anytime soon by the NHS, in my area in Wales. So that is why I agreed to pay for that extra test which was only £10 and it was an intensive investigation by a computer into my eyes, and the health of my eyes, and apparently it can predict problems several years in advance before they actually become a big problem.
My eyes are both in absolute perfect health. The optician showed me his screens. No Diabetic retinopathy at all. Nothing. Also the previously increasing (over the years) several black areas of macular degeneration have completely gone, apart from that one small spot. The optician did say he could tell I had kept my diabetes very much in control because it was reflected in my eye health.
And my eyesight has improved. I can now drive without my glasses. The next section down in the test was 100% too. The last section I had trouble with the second letter (which turned out to be an 'r'), and so he told me that I wouldn't be able to get my pilot's licence...
Because I have not yet been recalled by St Paul's (because of Covid-19) the optometrist checked that too. He explained with the equipment he now has, he can do pretty much the checks the NHS do.
And they (Specsavers some of them) are taking on NHS work.
I need a new prescription (not so strong)! So new glasses. Money to pay out! Varifocals again because they help with tired eyesight, eyes do lose elasticity with age, and the varifocals help with the comfort of that.
I don't know if some of you remember, but I mentioned (probably just before Christmas) that I was taking an eye supplement. I had researched, and bought some around July 2019, and I had been taking them for 6 months in December 2019. And that December I had noticed that:
1) my dry eyes with Sjogrens Syndrome, had improved a lot.
2) I wasn't blinded by that low in the sky bright winter sun when driving anymore.
3) Night time vision had improved and I wasn't blinded by headlights coming at me any more.
4) I could see better driving through tunnels, they didn't seem so dim any more.
And I might have said I was hoping that my eyes would be no worse at my next optometrist visit in 6 months time.
I was very anxious about yesterday's appointment. I have been anxious all year because last year he was telling me macular degeneration was progressive. I wasn't expecting this kind of improvement. I had felt my eyesight was better.
I am assuming that this eye supplement played some big part in all this. But obviously I cannot prove anything. Except I am shell shocked at this improvement in one whole year.
When I got back home the cat was upset, I had been gone awhile because I got to the optician's early so I could park outside. And I had done a bit of shopping while I was there in that town, and I found a shop toilet I could use! The first public toilet I have found open since lockdown began in March!
Poor Popeye, he was very vocal with me, not happy at all, quite disturbed I had left him. So the both of us went to bed. He calmed down immediately. And I fell asleep. So I didn't look in yesterday. I will play catch up this morning after I have done a ZenBrush2 painting....
haven't had a coldsore for ages.
