I had an eye exam in January. My eyes changed a little bit, which is normal. The “optometrist” put me in new contacts that were supposed to be healthier for my eyes. About four weeks later as I wore my glasses to school, my vision was blurry. I didn’t notice any changes in vision when I wore my contacts, though.
Two weeks later, I wore my glasses again and the blurriness was worse. So I made an eye appointment.
The “optometrist” listened to my symptoms, repeated the eye exam, and arrived at this conclusion, after telling me my prescription had completely changed:
“The only explanation for a change this significant is diabetes. When did you last have your blood sugar checked?”
“Well, in December, and then again in late January I had blood labs done, and urinalysis, and both my family doctor and an internist said everything was normal…”
“But did they check specifically for blood sugar?”
“I can’t imagine they wouldn’t….”
And then he told me since diabetics’ eyes change all the time, he didn’t want to send in a prescription again, just yet and he sent me on my way with a commandment to get tested for diabetes.
This was Saturday afternoon, so I spent the next 36 hours googling all possible fatalist scenarios I would face now that I was a diabetic. I went through the stages of grief.
What, you didn’t know I lean towards the over-dramatic?
And then Monday I called my doctors to get my blood sugars from earlier this winter. “Perfectly normal,” they said.
I made an appointment anyway to have another lab draw. I went this morning. My doctor laughed when I told her why I was there; I have no symptoms of a diabetic other than the “optometrist’s” “diagnosis.”
The lab draw came back. “Perfectly normal,” my doctor said. For the second time in 24 hours. She signed a piece of paper with the scientifically-proven data: “Patient does NOT have diabetes.”
Part Two tomorrow…
