The Green Light: 07/13/10

My usual bus driver was on vacation this morning.  I scheduled a 7 a.m. pickup to be at the Dr. office by 8:30.  Yeah it seems crazy,  but I know who and what I'm dealing with, you don't.  My bus drove up at 6:27 honking.  I scurried to get a to-go breakfast thrown together before they would honk again and agitate my neighbors who don't have to be up when the rooster crows.  I made it to the Low Vision Center about 6:40.  I had 2 hours to kill.  This sounds bad, but it's definitely better then being late for something so important.  The area of town the Low Vision Center is in is a bustling part of the city.  There are buses dropping people off every few minutes across the street.  I saw doctors arriving for work, people jogging, delivery trucks unloading medical equipment, bicyclist, people walking to college classes, people leaving the office from surgery, people being rushed to the ER, and janitors putting the last touches on things.  You name it, it happens in a matter of seconds downtown.  

About 30 minutes before my appointment I went upstairs nearing the lobby of my Dr.'s office.  I used this time to brush up on some handy practical tips I found for taking a Visual Field Test.  Click here to read up on the 10 tips yourself if you're taking the test or know someone who is going to.  I walked into the office signed some papers, payed my copay, and at about 8:37 my Dr. appeared.  To my delight, it was the same Dr. who treated me in December at the neighboring Dr. offices.  She didn't remember me at first, but I think it sank in slowly.  We talked about what happened in my last visit.  I did mention to this Dr. the Dr. I saw last week did not tell me I could wear my contacts while testing until after I failed the test.  When questioned she had indicated it "would not matter either way."  At the same time, she did not offer to test again with my contacts, but instead told me to come back today to go through this again with a different doctor.  Even more shocking to me was the very paperwork she was to fill out from the State Department of Public Safety had specific instructions to measure patient's visual fields using their "carrier lens or its equivalent."  Equivalent in my situation means wearing my contacts.  Hopefully she just made a mistake.  We all do.  I never got the feeling last week she was doing anything intentionally wrong.  So with that off my chest today's Dr. began prepping Humphrey for my visual field test.  Who's that?  Check him out below.

                                          Everyone Meet Humphrey.

I thought he would give me a face tan.  Oh well...  While he didn't talk much he was very useful in taking my Visual Field Test.  First you sit down, the lights are lowered, and you put a patch on one eye.  LOL  It sounds like a date I once had.  :)  You position your chin in the middle of that square you see in the photo, stare into a tiny black hole in the center of the dome, and press a hand held buzzer the second you see a small white light enter your field of vision.  It seems straightforward.  One eye is tested at a time.  To me the patch that must stay on your other eye during testing makes this feel abnormal.  The doctor stands behind Humphrey waving the light in and out of your field of vision while making markings on the visual field graph you see below.  She used a large light at first for me to follow; then made it smaller.  You'll notice the top of my visual field seems more straight across.  The Dr. stated this may be caused by the way my brow is very distinctly protruded, limiting my upper visual fields.  

 Above is my actual Visual Field test results on one eye.  The inner line represents the larger light they shine.  The outer line represents the smaller light they shine.

Well before I knew it, the test was over.  The outcome:  I passed.  I got the green light to continue my bioptic driving training!  My doctor mentioned that she thought me failing last week may just be a fluke because my vision problem is not a physical one that deteriorates.  It's not physical at all.  Click here to read more on my diagnosis: Cone Dystrophy.  So basically everything with my vision in general stays stable aside from the normal vision problems everyone faces with vision as they age. 

Thanks for all your prayers, calls, emails and concern.  This was a easy way for God to close the door on all this for me.  He didn't.  For that I thank Him.  Thus the song you're listening to popped on my radar.  Hope you like it.  I've got a lot more new information I can't wait to share with you in the coming weeks.  Hopefully I will have time to write all the stuff floating around in my head.

Dangerous Curve Ahead: 07/08/10

I'm still practicing with Jennifer about once every other week on average.  The progress seems slow, but steady.  She's pretty pleased with my progress overall.  She even speculated I may be ready to get my license by August!  I'm getting more comfortable changing lanes while moving at a high rate of speed.  I've learned how to do a 3 point turn.  I've conquered parking garages.  I've drove with bicyclist weaving around me.  I've driven through construction zones and conquered 4 way stops when the light was malfunctioning.  And while there's still more to learn I got some news today that was very unsettling and thew me for a curve.

My usual routine when I get home is to check the mail shortly after getting in from work.  Well last week I got a letter that raised my interest.  It was from the Alabama Department of Public Safety in Montgomery.  As it turns out, they needed my doctor to fill our a form showing I was still eligible to be a bioptic driver.  Well, I just went to see the doctor right next door to my low vision specialist in December.  So I called hoping they could sign it, but no, that would be too easy and cheap.  Instead, they told me I'd have to see my low vision bioptic specialist.  Ok, I called down there and found out given the short time frame I had to submit this paperwork, I was going to see some new specialist that works with my regular low vision specialist.  I was dismayed, but the important thing was to get this paperwork completed before I started facing problems with the state.  So I made an appointment for today after work.  I took a taxi to ensure I'd be there on time.


I walked in and did the usual nonsense with showing my insurance card to the same office for the millionth time.  After this, I was escorted to the exam room by the a specialist I've not met before.  She began the usual test of reading the eye chart with and without my bioptic lens.  After that we did the part where she shines lights in my eyes and examines my eyes.  She also used a machine to measure what my prescription was.  I had my contact in and she asked I take them out.  After that, she wanted to do a visual field test on me.  I've done it several times before.  Your face is positioned looking into this plastic bowl for the exact moment the laser light jumps in your field of vision.  They give you a hand held buzzer so you can pinpoint this.  It's kind of like a video game.  Well, she told me I failed the test in my right eye but we'd come back and try it once more after testing the left eye.  After I passed the left eye test, we did the visual field test again on the right eye...I failed again.....not good.


End result:  If I don't pass this test I can't drive.  So with that said I was definitely disappointed and aggravated to say the least.  This Dr. seemed very matter-of-fact-ish, but the doctor was young and at the end of her long day, so maybe that was effecting her attitude and my opinions.  I'm sure I'm a little biased about her given the bad news she gave me.  The good news out of all this is she told me I can try again next week with yet another specialist I've never met.  If I don't pass this test next Tuesday (07/13/10) at 8:30 a.m. it's car lights OUT for my bioptic driving dreams.  Please pray God's will be done with all of this.  I've always said to Him if I will end up hurting myself or someone else due to my vision challenges then He needs to close the door on all this.  It may be time, it may not.  Personally, I'd love to continue.  Even if my driving is extremely limited it is 100% better then no driving.  This turn of events will also force me into making some major life changing decisions.  So I'll keep you posted on what happens and thanks ahead of time for your prayers on Tuesday morning for me.  May His will be done.