Bioptic Fitting Day: 03/24/09

I couldn't be happier about my new adventure. Before I signed on the dotted line to buy the bioptic, I wanted to see if I could get purchase assistance from the Alabama Rehabilitation for the Blind. I called my counselor, Charles, and then I called him again and again and again. Apparently he was out of the office or at meetings or anywhere else but answering his phone. I started getting frustrated. My customer service job doesn't allow me much free time to make or accept calls. The phone tag was becoming a headache. I finally decided after about 3 failed attempts to reach my counselor, I'd resort to email. Suddenly, I got a response, then a phone call, then messages, then more emails. Apparently I tapped the communication sweet spot. Charles agreed that driving would certainly enhance my work abilities. With that, he sent a few forms over to reactivate my rehabilitation case. The evening I received them I was so elated that I signed everything and rushed to the post office the same evening to drop off the completed forms. What would happen next? How much could they assist me in the middle of a economic slump? All these questions danced in my head. The waiting game began.

One day about a week or two later I was checking my voice mail. I was at work in the lobby waiting for my bus to come. Suddenly I yelled "YES!" Dr De Carlo's assistant left me a voice mail stating the bioptic was ordered. I knew this meant the Rehabilitation office had agreed to help me. What I didn't know was how much. So I began to wonder. I decided there was only one way to find out. Fearing that it was too late in the evening to call the doctors office I wrestled to decide if I should call. Curiosity got the best of me and I called and spoke with the Dr De Carlo's assistant, Lisa. I wanted to know how much financial assistance I was approved for. She then told me Rehabilitation paid for all $1500.00 of it ! This meant the world to me. I could more easily afford to make a down payment on a used car now. Plus, they were already ordered, I didn't have to think about it. This made my day, my week, my year. So Lisa helped me get scheduled for a fitting with Dr De Carlo on 03/24/09. Since the glasses and bioptic are custom ordered, I could add at least 2 more weeks of waiting to my to do list.

March 24 2009 arrived quickly. I came in the Dr's. office ready to see what my new bioptic glasses were going to do for me. I was disappointed that Dr De Carlo did not show them to me. Instead her assistant, pulled them out of the pleather case. They looked like the photos, but the weight of them did shock me. I could tell that my nose would hurt after just 15 minutes of wearing the bioptic glasses. But who cares, there is no price you can put on independence and freedom. With that thought out of my head, I was told the doctor would now come in and take a look at the fit. Dr De Carlo showed me how to adjust the lens using the screwdriver provided. It seemed like making adjustments were a trial and error task. With that done, she showed me a strap that could help bear some of the weight of the glasses. We also talked about the special sun shield she ordered to go over the glasses. It was around $25.00 alone. She said the company can charge what they want for these since they are one of a kind, so I should guard it with my life or pay the price. After that we did a few test with the eye chart. I was amazed at what I could see.

The doctors always do these test but never tell you what they are writing down, unless you ask. It seems like we all should be conditioned to ask questions by now. I have always had people ask me what my vision is. I swear, I just never remember the numbers because it's so rare its discussed in depth. Today I wanted to see what exactly the difference was. I weighed in at 20/150 without the bi-optic glasses and 20/25 with the bioptic. This was only when reading in ideal lighting conditions on stationary high contrast letters. That was a point I didn't think anything about, until I took them for a road trip. Dr De Carlo was feeling much better since getting over the walking pneumonia. I don't understand how she drug herself to work the day she met me in February, but was so glad she was better. She took time to explain to me the next steps. I would go for training using the bioptic. This would consist of self training, training with the occupational therapist and passenger training with my driving instructor. That's a lot of training. I hoped my job would help me get the time off needed to do all this. All this was exciting, but the future came with a few obstacles. Dr De Carlo explained the resident occupational trainer on her staff was leaving the job soon and it would take her several weeks to get a new employee to do my training. Knowing the time it takes to get through this whole process, she remained encouraging and told me she'd try and work something out sooner. Another delima was the state paperwork required to become a licensed bioptic driver was being revamped. Information I dug up online in January warned me I should get this paperwork early. But I was hitting brick walls every time I called the Department of Motor Vehicle Office. Dr De Carlo stated she was involved in some of this process and she was hopeful the newly revised paperwork needed would be approved and sent to me soon. A few weeks later I contacted the D.M.V. office again and still got sympathetic apologies and was told I was on the mass mailing list. This list consisted of many individuals across the state waiting on this paperwork in order to get licensed to drive. It angered me, but i just told myself it was out of my hands. I didn't think it wise to bug these people, but I did feel like a bi-weekly call was healthy encouragement.

With all that information to process, Dr De Carlo then offered a interesting revelation for me. Unlike almost every other optometrist I've ever seen, she said she disagreed that I was born with my eye problems. Most all my eye care professionals have diagnosed me with : trauma at birth. The medical term is Optic Atrophy. She stated she was not so sure. In an effort to get the most information possible she offered a suggestion no one ever had before. She said in order to tell if my eye problems were optical problems or macular problems she could order a Electro-Retinogram. She explained it was painless, and while the answers would not solve any of my eye problems in the near future, it may be helpful in the distant future. I couldn't believe she cared enough to suggest this. Why did no other optometrist tell me about this? I'm no doctor, but it was evident she was doing everything possible to help me and my eye condition. I easily agreed to get the Electro-retinogram. She explained it would be painless and they would take me in a totally dark room and put something similar to contacts on my eyes. I wear contacts, so none of this bothered me in the least. She stated she'd let me know when she got it scheduled. After that I grabbed my new glasses and was ready to explore riding in a car with them. Dr De Carlo told me to use them as much as possible, but don't develop bad habits of looking in them for more than 2 seconds. With that, she locked up the office and called it a day. I wore the glasses on the way home and couldn't believe I could read the Vulcan sign on the Red Mountain Expressway home. This was my first success using the bioptic and my mind rattled with anticipation of all the possibilities. What an amazing day.