New Glasses and MORE!

All I wanted was a new pair of glasses. New prescription…New glasses. Modern little rectangle ones. Cute and up to date! Simple, HUH? Well, that’s what I had planned. That’s not what happened!

Husband and I both needed new glasses, so Sat. morn off we went. I was examined first. Optometrist started saying, “Hmmm, well, we’ll come back to that one.” “Hmmm, having any headaches? Any flashing lights? Any eye pain?” No, No, and No. “Hmmm, let me take a look at this one again. Hmmm.” Well, the upshot of it all is that I have been diagnosed with corneal endothelial dystrophy. Apparently, it is an inherited chronic condition. Yippee! Don’t we just love those less than perfect genes?!! The articles, that I can find online, confirm what the Dr. said. Watch it closely and come back immediately if there are any changes. Then we’ll go from there. It could go from minor blurring to severe pain and blindness. From what I can read, there are new surgeries involving lasers and corneal transplants and contact lenses, etc. Hopefully, by the time I need something done, there will be a lot of new options available.

Where are those nutrigenomics when you need them? Only found one article about nutrition. Thankfully, I changed my diet a few years back, so all I need to do is “tweak” it a bit. An anti-inflamatory diet is good for both of us. We’ll continue with all natural supplements and striving toward optimal cellular nutrition. And I’ll keep looking for any bio-active foods or supplements that could target corneal cells. This gene mutation occurs in chromosome #5. Is it too late to give it back?

The hereditary part is fairly interesting. The mutant gene is called autosomal dominant. When it is passed, the offspring has a 50% chance of inheriting the mutation. There’s quite a lot of info on how the different genes are passed on and the statistics of it all. I don’t need to understand all of it. The bit that I did understand was interesting.

So, then it was time to order my new glasses. I had picked out some new cute ones. I sat down with the technician and he started in with the hemming and hawing and making faces. Is tisk, tisking at me all these guys do? It seems as though there is not enough space for bifocals in this new narrow shape. Well, there is, but for people with balance and depth perception problems, it would probably be too dangerous. He really didn’t want that situation on his shoulders and I didn’t want any assistance in the falling department. So he spent some time finding some frames for me that are sort of rectangular. They just aren’t as cute. Oh Well….They will be just fine.

So, apparently I have new challenges in my life. With my faith, family and friends, all will be well. Mom taught me to smile. I can do that!!

Healthy Days to you, Your Smiling Maven

P.S. Even this Dr. asked if I'd had my Vitamin D level checked. He had been deficient on his test and his Dr. had put him on 10,000 IU per day. Now that he is within theraputic range, he's on 5,000 IU per day maintenance. Hmmm? Maybe I will have to re-evaluate my dosage.