Page 8 August 28, 2014 TORRANCE TRIBUNE By TerriAnn Ferren “Of all the senses, sight must be the most delightful” -- Helen Keller. Our eyes are one of the most fascinating organs of our bodies as they allow us to see, and we rarely think about them unless they get sore, tired, or sick. I remember from biology class that the eye is composed of nerves, cornea, retina, and other parts that captures light into the magnificent sphere and sends messages by nerve fibers to the brain allowing us to see and comprehend what we are looking at. Actually, even if I could explain perfectly how the eye works, I still don’t understand exactly how we see. Every year we are told by our eye doctor that we should get an examination for the health and welfare of our eyes. Most of the time I seem to get in for an exam, but it had been three years since I succumbed to the dark rooms and strange machines used by the eye doctor. Three weeks ago, I made an appointment for an eye exam at my local eye care center in town. It wasn’t completely out of responsible eye care that I made the appointment. It was honestly because I was down to my last pair of disposable lenses and needed an exam for a prescription to order more. But I did feel better just making the appointment. Arriving at the office, I had to wait a bit. Why is it that most doctors’ offices usually are running behind? Waiting for the eye exam, I began to check my own eyes by closing one eye and then the other to test how well I could read the brochures on the table in front of me as I sat in the black chair. Finally, a pleasant assistant, Darielle Crawford, called my name and I followed her into the first cave, I mean room. It was a nice enough room and I sat down in front of a contraption that sort of looked like a microscope. This device was to check my peripheral vision. It was a test. I know it is a test that checks health and not a ‘grade’ check for subject matter, like at school, but I sat up straight in the chair, held the clicker in my hand and was ready to get 100%. That part of the test went fine and I did well. After the peripheral vision test, there was a color-blind test. I remember taking those tests when I was young and they seemed so easy. I mean, color? Then I was told the importance Eye See You of the test. My father in law is color-blind. He wasn’t aware of it until he went to take his physical when he wanted to join the Air Force in WWII. They informed him that he was color-blind so he immediately left the office and joined the Marines. Being colorblind hasn’t hindered him in any way. Well, maybe a bit. Once my father-in-law painted the kitchen wood trim in their mountain cabin red, as a surprise for my mother-in-law. She was shocked, returning home, to find out he had painted the trim bright pink. My motherin law always picked out the paint after that. Darielle told me, “Before a patient sees the doctor, I pretty much do the pre-assessment. It assesses your vision before she [the doctor] sees you, so she can see what is going on, which is pretty awesome.” We finished up with the first tests and then Darielle escorted me into the next room, which had more machines. One of the machines took a photograph of my eye. Darielle instructed me how to press my face against the machine, to reveal only my eye into the machine for the photograph. As I looked into the dark space I saw red, green and yellow pop up as I varied the pressure of my face on the machine. Red meant I pressed too hard, yellow meant I was close to green and green meant I had applied the perfect pressure for distance so the photograph could be taken and read clearly. My goal was to press my face against the rim and hold it still when I saw green. It was when the green light was on that a light flashed and took the photo. I did that for each eye. It was sort of like balancing your face to hit a green light. “We’ve brought in [this] new technology which is really great, - [it is called] the ‘Optos’ machine, which takes a photo of the retina of the back of the eye. You can tell anything that is going on with the retina. For instance if someone comes in – and there is a retina tear they wouldn’t have known if [we] didn’t take the photos. So it really is a lifesaver for people. You can also tell what is going on with the body, which is awesome too,” said Darielle. That machine was amazing and I had no idea the photographs could show so much. In addition, the machine detects problems such as diabetes, cataracts, or elevated pressure in the eye. “You can definitely look at someone’s eye and see that something is going on. That’s what our Retina Optos machine does,” said Darielle. I then asked Darielle how she got involved in eye care and she told me she is a recent college graduate and has been working in the eye field for a little over a year. I asked her if she enjoyed her work and she told me, “It is really fun. I love meeting people from all over. I have met people from the U.K., Russia, Guam, and just meeting people in the area. They are so nice. I love working with my team here, they’re pretty awesome as well. Especially Dr. P., she is so great.” After taking all the eye tests and having my eyeballs photographed, I awaited the presence of the eye doctor, Dr. P. Looking around at the room where I was waiting I noticed how eye doctor’s offices have changed. Nowhere to be found was the big white poster with an ‘E’ on top and letters and numbers in graduated reduced sizes underneath tacked on the wall. What has replaced the poster is a camera which projects the test letters and numbers on the wall when the doctor flips off the lights. Dr. P. opened the door, checked my chart, and asked a few questions before dimming the lights and moving the eye equipment in front of my eyes to take a look. She turned on a beam of light toward one eye and then the other, scanning for who knows what. She explained everything she was doing which made me feel relaxed and comfortable. After a few other tests I was told to look through the ‘contraption’ toward the ‘chart’ and read. In the end, I was pleased to find out my eye prescription hadn’t changed, which made me happy. I ordered what I needed and preceded to the last room – that made four rooms I visited – to put on my new contact lenses. They fit perfectly and I felt wonderful. New contacts or glasses make everything brighter and clearer. Eyesight is something most of us don’t think much about on a daily basis but if there is a problem with our eyes, it becomes everything to us. Our sight is precious. If you, like me, haven’t been to the eye doctor in a year or so, it might be time to make an appointment. Go ahead, it is painless; and frankly, the machines are amazing, take my word for it. • TerriAnn in Torrance Choosing glasses. Photos by TerriAnn Ferren. Darielle Crawford, eye professional.
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