New Game!

It's called Stump the Doctor!

OK, it isn't new. I seem to play this game every once in awhile. It always very educational; I've come to appreciate doctors who are upfront enough to say, "Uh, dunno; let's try this, but if it doesn't work, call me ASAP and we'll try something else." Guess what: there aren't many doctors who will actually do this. Shocked? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Today's doc is one of the good ones this way. He did every basic diagnostic test he could do in the office. While I never enjoy having a couple of these tests done, he was able to eliminate the following:

• allergies
• obvious infection
• corneal problems
• iris problems
• glaucoma (not that this was likely!)
• retinal detachment
• nerve damage (again, not likely)
• blepharitis
• tear duct problems
• lens problems ("Wow, you really are nearsighted!" Huh.)
• general tracking and vision loss

The upshot: we're trying an oral antibiotic and an antibiotic eyedrop, but I'm only to use that in one eye. I am doing a controlled study on myself! I love science. (not) But that's ok, because at this point, we seem to be in the midst of the Elimination stage of the game. I went back to work feeling slightly less agonized, but unable to see anything clearly because my eyes were dilated, and still are to a degree. Apparently, eye color matters in determining how long your eyes remain dilated. Who knew? Probably everyone but me.

(I was going to link to some photos of what my eyes look like in the morning, but the photos I found on Google when I searched "Conjunctivitis" made me nauseous, so nevermind. Suffice to say that it's not a look most people are going for nowadays!)

My own self-diagnosis says that the situation is exacerbated by the long hours I spend staring at a computer screen every day: between work and home, I'm probably in front of a computer for 10-12 hours a day. So in the interest of testing this theory semi-scientificially (hah), I probably won't be around much for the rest of the week. My apologies if I don't get back to you in Blogland or elsewhere for awhile. It's going to suck.