Eye Test

   

The heat wave here (fairly short compared to further south in Europe) can now be declared over. Today I needed to put on a light jacket for my walk into town, and my foldable umbrella came in useful on the way back. 

The photo above is one I borrowed from myself from a few years ago. Today, with a walking stick in one hand, an umbrella in the other and the rest of my "things" in a backpack, I had no hand free to take photos... ;)  

 

My main errand today was an eye exam originally booked for last week, but which I had to call and postpone because it got too hot for me to go into town.

No such problem today; and as it didn't start to rain until later, I arrived at my destination neither too hot nor wet. 

The result of the examination was that some minor adjustments could this time be made for a pair of new glasses; while at the same time my optician also did not see any need to refer me back to the eye doctor just now, as my problems of "that kind" don't seem to have changed. So I decided to go ahead and buy new glasses; after all I've had my old ones for 5 years.  

So before leaving the shop I also tried on some frames. I ended up taking two back home with me over the weekend, and will go back at the beginning of next week to "close the deal". Both those I took home with me were on sale. I do actually know which one of those that I prefer... But I might also want to have one last look around  next week before making the final decision. After all, I'm likely to be living with my choice for a couple of years at least! 

Recently,  I came across the following two "eye tests" of other kind online. At least I can brag about managing those without running into any major problems. Can you? ;) 

 

 

Catching Up

On Saturday (13 June) our King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. There were live TV broadcasts from Stockholm most of the day; but I didn't remember until rather late in the afternoon. In the evening I watched a special one hour concert for them from the Royal Opera House, though (also broadcasted live). 

A royal boat used only on special occasions.

 
They were lucky with the weather in Stockholm that day, and had a beautiful day for the celebration. 

Down here in the south-west it was a rather grey weekend with frequent rain showers; but I managed one or two short walks in the nearby cemetery. The azaleas are past their prime now, but most of the rhododendron are still magnificent:

And new summer flowers had been planted here and there.
 

Today (Tuesday) there seemed to be a chance to get through the day without rain, so I decided to seize the opportunity, and called my hairdresser to ask if she could fit me in for a haircut. She could; so I walked into town for that, and afterwards to the pharmacy for a few items. Before I went back home, I also went by my optician's too book an appointment for an eye exam - as  yesterday I got a text message from them which was not just reminder, but an offer of a free test (for being a long term customer).  

It's been a while, and even if I haven't really felt any deterioration, I had it in mind already last autumn - but then I had that accident with my knee, which left me rather handicapped all winter. (And the optician's examination room is "upstairs"...) And then more recently, I broke a tooth and needed a new crown, so that took priority!

A couple of years ago I was also diagnosed with macular degeneration (but the slow kind, and I haven't felt it getting worse). So I've also been hesitating if best to start a new checkup at the eye doctor's, or with the optician. I had actually just come to the decision that I'd probably better ask about that - when this offer turned up. With a free test at the optician's, nothing to lose by starting there! 

  

Eye Rolling

 

13th Sept 2025 vs 17th Sept 2025

In my previous post I showed the photo to left of the green rabbit sculpture, and mentioned that "one of its pupils moves slowly round and round in a circle (like a clock), making its expression look different from one day to the next". I got some comments and questions on that, so when I passed it again today, I snapped another photo to show you. 

The eye rotates so slowly that you don't see the movement while standing looking at it. But if you walk by the sculpture again after a day or two, you will see that it has changed.

The sculpture's offcial title is Mate Hunting. It was created by artist Marianne Lindberg de Geer and has been standing in the park in our city centre (in Borås, Sweden) since 2008. Originally it was in a different location in the park, but was moved to where it is now in 2024. It has been sabotaged a few times over the years, and the rotating eye was recently repaired once again. 

Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream features the line "The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, doth glance from heaven to Earth, from Earth to heaven" [Google AI]

 

If Not One Thing, It's Another

 

Illustration by AI

 
As some of you may recall, back in mid November I went to see my optician for an eye exam, just thinking that I had noticed a change in optical refraction in one eye. But she detected a cataract, and referred me to an eye doctor. As cataract had so far never entered my mind, I spent the next couple of weeks trying to get used to that idea.

Luckily I did not have to wait very long, as I was referred to a small private eye clinic in our city centre. (They don't do operations but they help with eye exams and certain other treatments, in cooperation with our regional health care system.) I got an appointment there on 1st December. At the end of that, I was again in for a surprise, as the doc's conclusion was that well, yes, you do have a cataract - but the main problem is probably that you also have Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)... (It has another name in Swedish; but both were equally unfamiliar to me.)

... Er, what??... 

... The good news is it's the 'dry' variety (rather than the so-called 'wet' one); the bad news is there's no cure or treatment ...  

 ... Er, what??...

Brief explanation followed - not easy to take in all at once. But it seemed the 'dry' equals slow change (but no cure) whereas the 'wet' is more serious and faster developing (but may be slowed down by treatment).  I was also given a brochure with more info. (And after reading that, I have of course also googled for more.) 

As for the cataract (which I understood to not be very far gone), as that did not seem to be the problem (yet), we agreed to wait and see how things develop. The doc said to contact him again for another checkup in a year or so (which I take to confirm that he does not expect any fast changes). 

Hey ho... It's still a lot to get my head round all at once, when not having suspected any of it myself beforehand. From what I've gathered so far, the AMD diagnosis does seem to make "sense" though (more than the cataract), related to the changes in vision that I'd been noticing in my left eye lately. I also do think it's probably been developing slowly, even if it was only recently that it started bothering me. What happened was that not too long ago I noticed that when looking at the TVscreen with just my left eye, the subtexts on the screen appeared wavy rather than straight, and some letters difficult to see. Watching with both eyes, the right eye "takes over" though, and then I see no distortion. But it's probably still a strain making both eyes tired more quickly.  

For now, the new diagnosis does not really change anything - but it has me in the process of "reinterpreting" symptoms that I've been ascribing to other causes...

Slow Mowtion

Yes that ‘w’ in mowtion is intentional.

If you don’t know what you’re looking at in the picture, it’s a robotic lawn mower.

And if you could see me, you’d still be seeing me in kind of robotic slow motion. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please go back to the post Trying to Focus Tuesday. I’m still really bothered by my eyes. I still get occasional light flashes if I move my head too fast (although less now than a few days/nights ago) and the new ‘cloud’ in my left eye is really irritating. I keep wanting to take the glasses off and polish them about every 15 seconds but of course that does not help.

In fact I feel a lot like that machine in the photo, whereever I go just now I seem to be bumping into my own limitations which don’t let me ignore them; and every now and then I withdraw to my “corner”=bed to lie still, close my eyes and reload my batteries.

Luckily I have an interesting audio book going and two more waiting, which should get me through the weekend I hope.

Watching TV also works if I keep to programs where I don’t need to concentrate too much visually. (I tried watching figure-skating but no, no, no, no… )

Also have to limit my computer time as things are just now. However, I read emails and some blogs on my phone (but might not comment as much as usual).

PS. By the way - if you have your blog settings on “show mobile template on mobile devices” that makes it easier for people to check your blog on their iPhones and Androids etc. Just mentioning it, because before I got my own Android phone last summer I never even noticed there was such an option or had any idea what it meant. You’ll find it under Settings - Email & Mobile.

Trying to Focus Tuesday

“You can't depend on your eyes when
your imagination is out of focus.”
~ Mark Twain ~

As those who read my post yesterday know, on Monday afternoon I had an ‘emergency’ appointment at the eye clinic, due to another vitreous detachment on Saturday. (The link goes to a post I wrote two years ago after my first experience.)

Two years ago when I was first troubled by a floating grey ‘cloud’ in my right eye, I didn’t know what it was; and didn’t contact the eye clinic until after some weeks had passed, but the cloud in my eye still hadn’t (and still hasn’t).

This time it was a more sudden experience but  now I recognized what it was when I suddenly started seeing little black spots and then they gathered into another floating cloud – on my other eye. This was in the daytime but it wasn’t until the evening that I got ‘scared’, when turning off the lights to go to bed I kept getting flashes of light in the outer corners of my eyes, especially the left one. I knew from the info I got last time that this is considered an extra warning sign.

Sunday I took things very calm and wore sunglasses outside (I was wearing those on Saturday too though). During the day no experience of flashes, but again at night.

So Monday morning I phoned the eye clinic and got an appointment the same afternoon. Same procedure as two years ago and same answers. Thankfully no damage to the retina this time either. The ‘clouds’ I’ll just have to live with and hope for the best (i.e. that with time they might settle and appear less disturbing).

I was also told, for the next few weeks in particular, not to do anything physically strenuous. Going for a walk is okay though, the doctor said, and so is reading and watching TV. Computer wasn’t mentioned, but I suppose that’s as with reading and TV: More to do with my experience of it.

I have no intention to quit blogging but I may have to adjust my habits a bit further still - we’ll see.

 

 

 

Under the Sun

“What has been will be again,
   what has been done will be done again;
   there is nothing new under the sun.”
   ~ Ecclesiastes 1:9 ~

Two years ago I blogged about an eye problem, ‘vitreous detachment’ or PVD. Then it was primarily my right eye. This weekend I had a new attack, now primarily the left eye  and also including  “flashes of light” which I can’t recall having had that first time two years ago. Probably still not serious but I got an appointment at the eye clinic this afternoon for a check-up.