What an odd experience...

[susandennis]

I went to the eye doctor today - one that I had not been to before and it was a really odd experience all the way around.

The receptionist was great.  She was easy to understand, fun to talk to.  She looked me in the eye when she spoke and was careful to make sure I understood everything she was saying. 

I filled out all her stuff and then waited.  Then a guy came out - Greg, I think - who was also very nice and did all the preliminary testing.  He explained every test and was efficient and comfortable.  When he was done he said the doctor wasn't ready so I would wait.

Then the doctor came and got me.  He was an odd duck from the get go.  He would not look at me.  In the first 3 minutes. he made it clear that he did not approve of my wearing my contact lens although he was not clear why.  He did a bunch of tests and he was efficient.  And then he hit on the two things that the past few eye doctors I have seen have mentioned.... dry eyes and blepharitis.

Only all the others acted as if both were problems only in comfort and looks.  Since neither ever bothered me, I never paid a bit of attention.

But he got my attention.  He explained the problems that dry eyes could cause with abrasions on the eyes and said I clearly had had untreated dry eyes for a long time and he noted the blepharitis, if not treated, could really fuck me up. 

He told me to take simple over the counter artificial tears and put them in the fridge.  Then three times a day, drop some in my eyes and blink a bunch to flush.  Then three times a week take a soft cotton cloth and run it under hot water and then hold it to my eyes for 20 seconds and then wipe the lids inside and out once each and then switch to cold water and hold that on for 20 seconds and do this no more than 3 times a week until it was all cleared up and it would take a while.

Then, he was clearly through with me.  He said he wrote me four prescriptions.  He wants me to wear special computer glasses when I am at the computer but I cannot drive or read with them.  So he prescribed reading glasses and some others that I don't even remember what they were for and contacts.  He rushed through all of this so quickly and curtly that I couldn't follow very well.  He ended with 'but I'm guessing you are going to ignore all of this advice and wear your contact, so here's a prescription for that.' 

And then he put his hand on the door knob and said "Do you have any questions?"  with a tone that said "We're done, get out of my office."

I tried to ask a few questions and got nowhere so I gave up.  WTF?

Back to my receptionist who, apparently, understood exactly what he had been saying and had looked up my insurance.   She had a piece of paper typed out with stuff on it and was pointing and talking and I could not see shit.  I told her I could not see shit and she said 'well, see, here it says...'  I CAN'T SEEEE!!!!!

I finally got her away from the paper and was able to ascertain from her that my insurance covered enough to pay for one pair of glasses.  (or contacts, but the contacts prescription is the same and I still have about 9 months worth.)   So I said ok, let's get the computer glasses.  She took me over to the glasses room to Troy.

I told Troy that I had never had glasses before so I did not know anything but I was only interested in comfort and staying within the price that the insurance would pay - and... that I currently could not see shit.

He showed me two pair and when I asked what the difference was he said they were just not the same.  Oh, so helpful.  Then I said fine, I'd take them and the starts showing me on paper what I owed. 

You would think that people who work in the vision industry would be sensitive about and understanding of people who have vision issues.  But, turns out, they are not - not one single bit.

I explained once again that I could not see.  And he said 'ok, well, you owe $175.00'  WTF??  What happened to the insurance paying?????

Turns out that he meant $75 and it included the co-pay and a special test that I had authorized.  But, it was not easy to get that information out of him.  I gave him my credit card  and signed the receipt.  And then he stared at me. 

So finally I said... 'could you tell me what happens next?'  And then, acting as if it was a huge imposition, he allowed as how they would call me in a week and a half and I could come back and pick up my glasses.

And I busted out of that joint.  Holy fuck.  I am not cut out for human interaction.  Give me a computer any day.  I left home at 10:45 and was back here at 1:30.  It's now 3 and my eyes are still not back to where they were this morning when I left.  Note to self:  the next appointment with an eye doctor will be only when absolutely necessary!

Comments

[kyrielle]

Susan, I go to an eye doctor every year. You should as well - and it shouldn't be that one. He was condescending, arrogant, and made assumptions. That's not only rude, it is also at best not helpful and at worse risky. In his assumptions about you, he could miss giving you info you needed. Also, for that matter, he DID miss giving you info you needed by trying to noodle stuff out on paper and by speaking rapid-fire.

That's not acceptable care. And I'd suggest getting a second opinion / more info about the eyes and blepharitis, from someone who can slow down and give you the reasons, if you're at all concerned about that bit of it (not clear if you are). Ditto the "multiple prescriptions" thing.

[susandennis]

You are right - I know you are. I'll come to my senses before next year, I'm sure.

[seattlejo.livejournal.com]

Did they dialate your eyes by chance? or could you just not see because you took the contacts out? They dialated my eyes at my appt last week and I ended up taking the day off sick

[susandennis]

That was another weird thing. At the beginning of the exam, he took out a little strip and dabbed my eyelids and said it was dye. He did not ask or explain that he was dilating them. When I was all done, he handed me a pair of those temporary sun glasses and told me my eyes had been dilated. (And, since there was no mirror when he told me to put my contact back in, I didn't get it in right.)

AND... that strip thing was way stronger than drops. It's now after 4 and I'm still seeing the effects although they are wearing off. I was totally not safe to drive myself home. My potential victims got way lucky today. Geesh. Roosevelt Vision Center, fyi.

[seattlejo.livejournal.com]

He didnt warn you that you might not be safe to drive?
Thats dangerous. When they dilated me it too about 3 hours before I could see clearly again.

Wow what a horrible horrible place.

[susandennis]

The receptions and the testing guy were both really nice.

But, yeah, someone should have questioned my ability to drive and possibly suggested (when I made the appointment) that I make other arrangements to get home...

Seems like some place I went - they gave me drops to undilate my eyes and they were back to normal before I got to my car. I need to find that place again and give them another try!

[kyrielle]

That is weird. The eye doctor I have gone to lately has a retinal scanner, and have had for several years. It does not require dilation at all. It does, mind you, require fitting one eye at a time to it and holding still while this stupid light scans your eyes, but it doesn't require dilation, so no side effects after. They used to do dilation and replaced it with this thing instead - sooo much nicer!

[machupicchu.livejournal.com]

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Wow. Was this at Roosevelt Vision Source? If so, I'm officially thoroughly shocked.

I got the strip-dab too, but I was told it was not as severe as actually dilating my eyes like they used to -- and it wasn't. I was sent home in a sample pair of a new brand of contact lenses, and even after the strip-dab, I could see fine as soon as I left the building.

If you did go to Roosevelt Vision Source, and if there's any chance you'll go back there again, I strongly suggest asking for Dr. Jamieson by name. He was awesome.
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[susandennis]

Actually, your report on the place had me going there expecting the best. So probably it's all your fault!

I'm going to find out the name of that nice receptionist when I go back and call her next time and ask about changing doctors to your Dr. Jamieson.

Dr. Mean (actually, I think his name is Samek) did give me contact lens solution and some eye drops. I told him I had a plentiful supply of contacts so that's probably why he didn't give me those.

[pisceandreamer.livejournal.com]

Life is too short and your eyes are too important to go to crappy eye docs who make you not want to go back.

If you weren't on the other side of the country, I'd drag you over to my docs - everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in the place is fantastic. I've been going there for 20+ years and seen every doc in the practice and never had a problem. It confounds the poor receptionists when I tell them "Oh, whoever has an opening is fine!" :)

[roadskoller.livejournal.com]

You just had an experience with a bunch of dickwads. I'm not so sure about that eye doctor.

[phoenixscribe.livejournal.com]

Oh, my.

(Laura sent me your way after this post.)

First, let me say that you do need an exam every year if you're wearing contacts. Stupid federal law regarding contact lens prescriptions.

I am not posting this to lecture you, only to provide objective outside information on what I'm hearing. I've been in ophthalmology for 10 years, so this truly is objective.

Let's start with the care you received. This is unforgivable. Assuming that you were dilated (and since it wasn't explained beforehand, it's likely that they dillate every patient regardless), the staff should absolutely be functioning with the idea that you can't see. I've even instructed some of my front desk staff in various offices to offer to write out checks for patients who have been dilated. And, clearly, you got a doc who was never taught a decent chairside manner.

Now, as to the strips. In 10 years and 41 docs (yay, institutions!), I have never even heard of strips with dilation drops on them. There are only 2 strip types I have ever used: one has a dye on it used to check corneal tissue and intraocular pressure, and the other is designed to check tear production. Neither of them should create blurred vision. Either there was a lot of the dye on the strip, or he's moistening it with dilation drops instead of artificial tears or numbing drops.

Next. The dry eye and blepharitis can indeed aggravate each other. And someone with dry eye is more likely to have problems if they're wearing contact lenses. If this doc was honestly concerned about the dry eye, he would have recommended artificial tears (AT's) that were safe for contact lenses. (Blink N Clean is a great one, if you need it. If the dry eye is bad enough to create corneal abrasions (yes, it can get that bad), he should have been 1) using the strip to test for tear production, 2) recommending and AT gel to use at bedtime (Genteal gel rocks!), 3) requesting that you make a follow-up appointment to see how the AT's are doing, and 4) either suggesting the insertion of punctum plugs or prescribing Restasis. Since he did none of these 4 things, either the dry eye isn't that bad and a drop or 2 a day will alleviate your symptoms (refrigeration of the drop is unnecessaery), or he's lax in his treatment. Just in case you haven't had it explained, blepharitis is a chronic low-grade infection of the oil glands of the eyelids. A warm soak will often help if it's a mild case; however, the cold cloth he's recommending negates the purpose of the warm soak. (side note: washing the eyelids with baby shampoo once or twice a week will help, too)

Glasses. Why on earth he's writing multiple prescriptions instead of one that the optical shop modifies as necessary for your purposes I don't know, except that his optical staff is clearly untrained and/or inept. What you need for your glasses should absolutely be a discussion between you and either your doc or your optician and something you decide on TOGETHER.

I cannot express how sorry I am that ANYONE in my field treated you so horribly. Every patient deserves better than that.

I'm on a hunt for a good doc for Laura. I'll look for you, too, if you like.

[susandennis]

Thank you. After having slept on the whole thing, I'm feeling better about the experience. Probably they are not as inept as I made them out to be. But, just as probably they should possibly done a bit more to ensure I did not feel inept myself which I certainly did!!

He did give me a sample (full size, actually) of Blink and it sure does feel good in my eyes which means I am very motivated to keep using it! :)

Thanks for the info and, sure, if you stumble over a good doc in Seattle, I'd be very interested.

[phoenixscribe.livejournal.com]

Oh, and before I forget -- everyone out there should have reversal drops for dilation. Some places will only give them to you if you request it, but everyone should have some.