Floaters and Flashing

Friday afternoon while I was running around doing errands in preparation for my flight to New York that evening I suddenly noticed that I had a "floater" in my right eye. Actually, more than one. In fact, a couple of times I thought there were little black flies flying around and then realized that it was IN my eye.

Later as I was driving to the airport I kept seeing "flashes" of light in the peripheral vision of my right eye. I didn't really think much of it, just annoying.

Saturday evening at Laura's house I googled eye "floaters and flashing." I was a little distressed to read:

floaters + flashing + middle-age = see a doctor right away, danger of retinal tearing/detachment

So after sacrament meeting in the Westchester 1st Ward and getting Primary started, Laura dropped me off at the Westchester Medical Center ER. Surprisingly, they got me right in and I saw an opthamologist who dilated my eyes and shined very bright lights (not comfortable!) into my eyes and determined that my retina is just where it's supposed to be. The floater does mean there's a tear in the vitreous (the jelly-stuff inside your eye) which can be a precursor to a retinal tear, but there's no prevention or treatment.

I am grateful for the current healthcare system which allowed me to have a potentially scary situation ruled out for my ER co-pay of $100.

Rich says I should have claimed to be an illegal alien and saved the $100

And now on to this week with three cute children for five days