Eye Eye
After nearly 60 years on the planet, I’ve had to give in and book an eye test.
Despite being a Type 2 Diabetic, my eyesight has been remarkably good for my age. I was diagnosed with this awful condition 13 years ago, and I’ve battled with controlling it over the last few years. After a recent blood test revealed some poor readings, I realised that this was only going one way unless I changed my lifestyle for the better - permanently. Out went the processed carbs, in came a healthy diet full of good fats and protein. I lost 4lbs in a fortnight and felt better immediately by eliminating beer, bread, rice and processed shite. It’s not hard really.
Diabetes has many consequences in terms of health and longevity, and the main one for me is retina damage. Constantly elevated blood glucose causes the tiny blood vessels in the retina to burst - causing permanent eyesight loss over time. I have a scan once a year to assess the damage, and I’ve lived with background diabetic retinopathy for 10 years now. It doesn’t need treatment yet, but eventually, I may require injections into the eyeball (Jesus Christ) to treat the burst blood vessels.
My general eyesight is also assessed during these annual scans, and I do the regular thing of reading from the chart of letters that get smaller as you go down. The clinician always comments that I’m better than 90% of the general public in my age group. (ancient).
Upon changing my diet for the better, I noticed that my near sight had changed slightly. I use off-the-shelf reading glasses for short-range tasks but didn’t need them for looking at things around 18 inches away. This has changed.
My Specsavers appointment is in a week. I’ve opted for the extra OCT service which takes a 3D image of the eyeball or something, and I expect I’ll be given some permanent glasses afterward. I’ll obviously take a selfie once I’ve chosen the appropriate “geggs”.
An update on the aforementioned specs. Sorry about the haughty upturned nose look - it was to get rid of the screen reflection.
