I recently had eye surgery, as you know.
I had a massively HUGE floater removed from my left eye.
The surgeon said it was one of the biggest that he had ever seen, and he had seen and removed a lot more of these than most ophthalmic surgeons.
He said that on a scale of one to ten, this one was a nine.
So here’s how it all started….
I had been having trouble with my vision for about a year. I had felt that my two eyes were not working together.
This gave me difficulty seeing things clearly, and I had difficulty with far and near depth perceptions, so much that, I used to often close one eye when reading the computer as well as following live sports, such as golf, or cricket or rugby league.
Putting it bluntly, trying to see things clearly was no fun.
My vision concerned me…. So about a year ago, I visited the local optometrist and had a new prescription done, and new glasses made up to that new prescription.
The result: Minimal improvement.
Both eyes seemed to work fine individually, but together?
Same, same problem. No depth perception.
After a couple of months of toughing things out with these new glasses, I went back to have my vision re-appraised.
Sadly, this dispensary was more concerned with their cost of re-doing my prescription and re-making and re-fitting me with new lenses, than actually trying to diagnose what exactly was causing my vision issues.
End result: New prescription. New lenses.
Same problems.
Still blurry vision in my left eye and no depth perception.
What do I do now, then?
Think. Think. Think…..
I own some very expensive European prescription sunglasses.
I’ve had these sunglasses for some time now. One pair has multifocal lenses, for day to day use, and the other pair is long distance only, for playing golf. Currently, there is only one distributor in NSW, who operates from a ground floor street front retail outlet in Sydney CBD. [Read: EXPENSIVE rent!]
Their retail space is well fitted and the owners are very personable. There is a certain VIBE to the place.
So I made an appointment to see the optometrist there. This requires a long trip into town [two hours drive each way], and I knew that the visit wasn’t going to be cheap.
The optometrist was very thorough. Drops and measurements and tests and more measurements and photos and all sorts of tests…
End result: Referral to a Vitreoretinal Surgeon and Macular Disease Specialist.
But not just any old Vitreoretinal Surgeon and Macular Disease Specialist… I get referred to one who is also an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at a local University!!
Looks as though my condition, and my solution, have been elevated on the urgency scale.
So, to cut a long story short, when I saw the surgeon, I persuaded him to operate sooner rather than later to remove this Titanic sized floater from my left eye.
And five weeks after the surgery, my vision in my left eye is clearer, but still out of focus.
I’m working better on the computer, but for distant sports watching, I’m back to using only my right eye…
I’m thinking:
“What is going on?”
What IS going on?
The surgeon warned me that floater removal surgery hastens lens degeneration and the formation of cataracts, which means, in lay terms, cataract surgery and artificial lens placement will be necessary in about twelve months’ time.
For the left eye.
So where I am now is simple: I need a new prescription, and new lens, for my glasses on my left side. Until I need cataract surgery.
I now have an action plan.
By consulting with the best in the business, I now know exactly what has been wrong with my vision, and I know the timeline I need to operate under to solve my problem, and improve my vision once and for all.
I’ve had my prescriptions updated.
And I’ve ordered new lenses for my glasses.
And I know that sometime in the near future, I’ll need another new prescription and more left eye lenses, until I require lens replacement surgery.
I now have a plan.
I know it has cost me more in terms of dollars, but the result, and the care that I have received by seeking out better providers has been absolutely worth it.
When I consulted with the local optometrist and dispenser, all they wanted to do with me was pigeon-hole me into a treatment process that suits most of their customers, but does not solve problems outside of the box.
And that’s what happened to me.
At the local place, they diagnosed me based on what they “thought” was going to happen, as opposed to listening to me and solving the ACTUAL problem I was telling them that I was having.
Are you guilty of this same thing?
In your own practice, are you guilty of jumping to conclusions too quickly?
Without collecting all of the facts, and pre-diagnosing without looking at every “what if” scenario.
Remember, your patients are there to see you and not your impressive wall of degrees, or your library of textbooks.
Do you listen to all of their comments, and do HEAR everything they are telling you?
Or are you only listening so that you can pigeon hole them where YOU WANT to put them?
Is your action plan what is needed?
Or is your action plan what you think is needed?
Are you acting on what is said?
Or are you acting on what you want to hear?
Or what you are only willing to hear?
The world is full of educated bigots who only hear what they want to believe, as opposed to listening to understand.
When we truly listen to understand, our response is always more valuable.
Listening with intent to understand is undervalued.
And yet, it is so worth it.
It’s the only way to truly be a problem solver.
*****
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