My Journey From Optometrist to Ophthalmologist to Retina Specialist
It was an optometrist who initially diagnosed my age-related macular degeneration (AMD) about 10 years ago. She was aware of my family history: My mother had dry macular degeneration and my father had the wet form. My optometrist always did a dilated eye exam and took some form of picture of the eye. I'm not sure that it was as modern as today's optical coherence tomography (OCT) photos.
When she found the beginnings of dry macular degeneration in one of my eyes, I was upset, but not really surprised. I panicked a bit and felt like rushing away to find the best eye specialist I could. At that time, I thought all eye specialists were the same — I had never heard of a retina specialist.
Treatment and progression of my dry AMD
The optometrist encouraged me to stay with her. I knew from my mother’s situation that there wasn’t any actual treatment for early. stage dry AMD. She advised me of diet and lifestyle changes, and we discussed the AREDS2 supplements.
I stayed with this optometrist for a number of years and saw her once every 12 months. My AMD didn’t progress. At one memorable yearly examination, the optometrist looked at the fundus photo of my eye with the AMD. She said something like, "It’s not changed much." Then she began to look at the fundus photo of my good eye and said, "The worst thing would be if we find it in this eye, too." And she did!
Finding a new eye specialist
I wasn’t impressed by the way she handled this. There are a lot worse things she could have found, and although I wanted honesty, I also needed reassurance. That would be the last time I saw her.
A friend recommended the eye specialist they used, and I booked an appointment there. I just thought eye specialists were eye specialists. If we were being very correct, we would call them "ophthalmologists" — I had never heard them called by any other name, certainly not a "retina specialist."
This doctor confirmed the beginnings of dry AMD in both eyes and went over the diet and lifestyle changes I could make. She also checked that I was taking the AREDS2 supplements and using the Amsler grid. She was caring and compassionate, and I felt I’d be happy with her.
I decided to get a second opinion
A few years went by, and the specialist commented on my cataracts. She said they were ready to be removed, and at my next visit I should ask the technician to "measure me up" before I came in to see her. I have no doubt that she would have discussed this operation further with me at another visit, but I found this comment to be too abrupt.
I knew there were decisions about what type of lens to have inserted, and whether I wanted lenses for long distance or for reading. I was also aware that there were bifocal lenses. I also knew that a person could have 1 type of lens in 1 eye and the other type in the other eye.
The most important aspect of a discussion around the removal of cataracts would have been its potential impact on my AMD. I felt rushed and uncertain, and I decided to consult another specialist for a second opinion.
Finding my retina specialist
Around this time, I watched a webinar presented by the Macular Disease Foundation of Australia on new and emerging treatments for AMD. It was presented by an eminent doctor in my city of Sydney. I thought, "If he is the doctor of choice for this Foundation, he must be highly regarded in his field." When he was introduced on the webinar, his qualifications included extra study and practice in the retina field, both here and in other countries. The idea that he was a retina specialist began to sink in.
He became my doctor and gave me the full range of the most modern diagnostic tests available. He had me coming back every 6 months. I was well-established with him when one of my eyes developed the wet form. He’s been treating this now for most of the year, and my injection schedule has gone from every 4 weeks to every 6 weeks and now every 8 weeks.
My cataracts were deemed to be "small." He said he would wait until he had completely stabilized the macular degeneration before he considered removing the cataracts.
How I arrived here on my journey
That was my journey from optometrist to ophthalmologist to retina specialist. It was a 10-year trip, but I think I arrived at the "most suitable" professional at the "most suitable" point in my journey.
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