Bioptic Recertification Day: 06/30/11

Today I left work early and went to visit Dr. DeCarlo for my yearly exam for bioptic driving recertification.  The bus was on time and I actually got there early enough to watch two TV shows before my appointment.  It's fun to people watch there because it's in a bustling part of the city.  My doctor's office is in a building that houses a 24 hour seven day a week eye emergency hospital.  Needless to say, the secretaries there have plenty to talk about.  When I walked in my Dr.'s door, she indicated she was delighted to see I was a little early because there was several cancellations that day.  I thought, had I known, I'd been here an hour ago and could have avoided two boring syndicated reruns of Friends.  Too bad they didn't give patients the remote.  


I was glad to get to visit with my Dr. again and yet nervous about the test I must undergo for recertification.  The thing that almost ended my training this time last year was a visual field test I had to take to get re-certified to continue training to drive.  You can read last year's 2 blog posting's about that HERE and HERE.  I'm happy to report I passed today's visual field test with no incidents.  She also did a thorough examination including eye chart testing, dilation, physical eye exam, and color testing.  During my visit, my Dr. and I talked about a few new things based on questions I asked and information she shared with me.


The thing that really shocked me is that she told me that she is basically not 100% happy with my Cone Dystrophy diagnosis.  She told me that I have almost ALL the symptoms of Incomplete Achromatopsia.  Click HERE for more information on what Incomplete Achromatopsia is.  The symptom that I don't have is Nystagmus.  Nystagmus is a small constant small involuntary eye movement.  Basically, your eyes look like they are shaking.  However, some patients diagnosed with Incomplete Achromatopsia don't have nystagmus.  But for now she's sticking with Cone Dystrophy as my diagnosis.  

We also discussed another option I have to help enhance my vision in outdoor activities.  I may have mentioned this before, but red contact lenses are now commonly used to treat Achromatopsia.  My doctor and I agree they could greatly help me perform better at any outdoor activity in bright sunlight.  She mentioned the more economical options of using red filtered sun shades.  I told her, I'd rather invest in contacts, because they would be perscription and in outdoors activites in the South, sweat is a major factor.  I'm sure most of you can agree, in no time your shades will become drenched with humidity and sweat leaving them useless for any decent degree of intense outdoor activity.  She referred to me to another Dr. to get the red contacts made, which I plan to do at a later date.  The photo in this posting shows a photo of what they will look like.  On dark eyes you can't even detect someone is wearing them unless light is shined directly on them.  I'll keep you posted on that.  Maybe work would go smoother if I start wearing red contacts to the job.  This would give a whole new meaning to giving the boss the evil eye!


The final thing that I found interesting was our talk about curing my eye disorder!  Dr. DeCarlo is a avid researcher and indicated we are getting close to one day using gene therapy to cure genetic eye disorders, including mine!  In less than 10 years, with more support of genetic research (yes the kind that they used to clone a sheep)  this could be a reality cure.  That's why you should think twice before voting something like genetic research and gene therapy down. Genetic research can be used for so much good.  Besides, for us believers, we know God is the ONLY one who can create man.  No man will ever be able to create another man.  Click HERE for some exciting news about Gene Therapy and how it's already been used to make blind dogs see again!