I just bought sunglasses, my first high-end pair in a long time. My very ’80s mirrored sunglasses, purchased in the ’90s because I have poor timing, have gone missing until the next household goods move. A few other things are missing as well but they inevitably turn up every two to three years.
I explained to the optometrist that I am blind in one eye since birth and that I had a retinal detachment six years ago. Followed by two rounds of surgery that I never want to repeat. Don’t worry — most people get to wait until they are in their sixties for this stuff.
Retina surgery makes lasik look as complex as a band-aid. They numb your eye, then drain it out with a needle, mess around inside, and then refill your eye with either some inert gas or silicon gel. Then you get to spend six weeks eating percocet because they put a medical rubber band (“scleral buckle”) around the outside of your eye to hold everything in place. That sounds bad but just counting down the days until you have the surgery is worse. I could not stop thinking of the rhyme “Swear to God, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.” I have decided against linking to photos.
You remain awake through the procedure so that you can hear the nurse offering yogurt to her colleagues or your doctor playing the Rolling Stones. At one point I told him that it felt like there was sand in my eye: “I was wondering where I left my sand!” During the second surgery I told him it felt like there was an anvil sitting in my eye: “Oh,” he said sadly, “they don’t let us work with those any more.”
Ever since kindergarten my eye has been the medical oddity that breaks up the monotony of the day for opthamologists. I was born with morning-glory syndrome, which just means that the optic nerve did not develop correctly. It is very rare and apparently even more rare to only have it in one eye. So routine eye exams have always included dilated pupils, as well as the doctor calling around all of the students to take a look.
Today’s optometrist took a digital photo free of charge. I did not need it but he filed it away in his ‘retina pics’ folder like a little collectible. Part of me feels that my eye exams ought to be half-price, both because I only have one good eye and also for the entertainment I provide.
In any case, my new glasses arrive in about two weeks and they will be great to have for the next three years.
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we were told my son had Morning glory optic nerve in his left eye when he was 3 months old. we have not been able to find much info on it. and the doctor’s said it will be a learning process for them and us as he grows and can tell us more.
My name is Lt.Cdr.Witcha from Royal Thai Navy. My 2.5 years old son has Morning glory also. In Thailand I can’t find much information about this syndrome. If I have some questions about that can I ask you? Thank you for you help.
Witcha: Feel free to email me at navalgazing@navalgazing.com. There is not a lot of information out there as morningglory syndrome is very rare but you should definitely have your child see a specialist if possible. I don’t think it can be fixed but supposedly they might recommend something like covering the good eye (if he has one) so that the damaged eye or brain works hard to compensate or use what vision there is…
Thank you so much.
I have a grandson who is 9 years old and he was born with Colaboma (Morning Glory Syndrome) it affects both of his eyes but one is much worse. I am looking for any information or any Specialists who may be able to tell us more or perhaps learn more by examining him. He is all boy and does not it affect his life too much. Any information would be appreciated God bless you
Denise: I don’t know of anyone who specializes in it, possibly because it is so rare. For eyes I have found it best to see a retina opthamologist but I’m not sure who to see for any other related conditions. In the United States I used to see an opthamologist named Dr. David Wagner, based in Washington DC and Maryland.