I've been waiting since 04/24/09 for this appointment with Dr DeCarlo. If you recall from my last passenger evaluation Jennifer recommended I see my Dr. to get help seeing red lights during daylight hours. I came into the office that day with my bioptics ready to see what she could do. I ended up starting my visit by having her newest apprentice observe my vision with and without bioptic use. She was very pleasant and we easily found common ground to talk about. Too bad though, I think she's married. I should have used my bioptic to scope out a ring. Anyways, after testing and some interesting chatter, Dr DeCarlo waltzed in with her usual calm, well put together demeanor. She and I reviewed what Jennifer told me. But it was not until this point I knew that Jennifer told her she was "scared" to ride with me because I wasn't seeing red lights well in day. This seemed out of character for someone who works with visually impaired people for a living. I think communication there could be misconstrued, so I dismissed it. Of course, the very next thing my Dr tells me is that if this doesn't work, we can't continue. This is something I thought about , but her putting lip service to my thought pierced my soul. Why had I not worried about this more before my visit? I assumed I could at least drive at night. The problem with my assumption is I must still pass the drivers test during the day. Oooops.
Dr DeCarlo explained that she had successfully fitted a patient who had similar color vision problems with these red filters. She then really boosted my spirits when she told me this person is driving with them now. I became elated again. However, my test was yet to come. No one knew if the red filters would work or not. My Dr found a little flashlight type device and asked me what i saw. Then she gave me the red filters to try. This flashlight had several spots, or sources of light. My job was to ID which light sources were in use at a particular time. Dr DeCarlo quickly learned more about what colors I had a problem with. She told me the ironic thing is the red filters block out the green light, yet enhance any red lights. So how would I see traffic lights that are green? Simple. I will look through the unfiltered bioptic for green lights. OK, so it may not be so simple to you, if you are a trained driver, but I'm all new to this, so it's a trivial matter. I really could not gage how well the filters worked inside her office. She said the red filters seemed like the natural next step for me, but there's no better test then the real thing. What is the real thing?
The real thing is the test using the filters outdoors to see red lights and tail lights. This was my absolute last chance. I wanted to do whatever it took to make these things work for me. But ultimately God was going to decide, as He always has, exactly how well this would or would not work. The closer we got to the bottom floor of the Eye Center the more nervous I was. The doctor did not go with me, she sent her apprentice. I know we all must learn at some point, so I followed her every instruction. We joked that she was so new she was not too familiar with the area my Dr. told her to take me to. So about 4:30 that Thursday the bright sun greeted us for the test that had the potential to change my life. So simple, yet so important. I was really facing a lifelong enemy: harsh sunlight.
Dr DeCarlo's assistant asked me to first look for a traffic light. I stepped to the edge of the street that was lined with parked cars to peer up at the light. I only saw part of it. I looked into the distance wondering why it was not changing colors. It looked like it never turned green. She asked what I saw. I told her it the light seemed red but never turned green. Then I realized I was looking at the orange back part of the traffic light not the front of the light. Where was the one she was seeing? I peered back noticing she was not standing at my angle. Then walking closer to her we realized the tree in front of me was hanging over the light. She could see it from her angle but the traffic light was completely obscured by the tree silhouette from my angle! What a RELIEF! I was so scared it wasn't working. Now I had a second chance.
Then it happened. The green light changed to red and I could see the red light so intensely magnified. It was like magic glasses. The red just jumped out at me, no longer blending in during harsh daylight. I was elated. Then the assistant asked me to look the other direction.....no problem, I could see them very easily. We needed more test. So she had me monitor the red tail light on a car that just passed us. She asked me if it was blinking or solid. I could clearly see when it stopped and stared blinking without any hesitation! This is incredible! Then we spotted cars further away and she put me through additional similar testing. She could see how excited I was. Even more awesome, I did not get ONE test wrong. Dr DeCarlo appeared on the street after about 10 minutes to check our progress. Her assistant told her I was batting a million!
The three of us walked back inside, where Dr DeCarlo called my driving instructor Jennifer, who was along everyone else, happy to hear that this last crucial effort worked. Now my big question is how will I wear these AND my bioptics. The answer: Dr DeCarlo says Jennifer and her can arrange to have a hole cut in the red filters large enough to have the bioptic fit though. That way one pair can be worn over the other. Another great advantage for me is the red filters offer much more sun protection then the regular sunlight filter Ocutech provided with my bioptics. The red filters have SIDE sunlight protection too. Now on to the next step: bioptic passenger testing with my new red filters. I can't wait!
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