Another Day, another Doctor visit...

On Wednesday, the 23rd of February, we went to Joseph's new ophthalmologist (his last one retired). Same office though, we  LOVE them! The great thing about seeing a new doctor is that they re-diagnose (just like his neurologist did). He performed the same tests they did on his 1st visit in December of 2009. His nerves look about the same- white, damaged and constantly moving. The doctor said the nerve atrophy is consistent with the vision loss that Joseph is experiencing. The nystagmus (or shaking) is a result of MS. But the doctor was confused as to why the nerve atrophy and nystagmus happened at the same time-and so quickly, it's very unusual. He says that the nystagmus and nerve atrophy are not related. This is where I interjected MS as the cause, he agreed but added MS will usually affect one or the other not both.

He apologized that he can't do anything to improve the situation. we thought that he was a very very kind man - who felt like he was breaking bad news to a young couple (he was but it was basically the same news we got a  year ago). He felt so bad, sweet guy. He did give Joseph a new prescription he should be able to see 20/300 (on a good day). An improvement! There really isn't a better time than tax return season to buy new glasses with no insurance.

I felt a little demanding toward the end of Joseph's appointment- we asked the ophthalmologist to give us a letter stating his findings about Joseph's vision etc. (like the one we had from Dr Deitz,that we've used on countless occasions. We felt like we needed an updated letter from his current doctor) And when we went to pay I asked for documentation for the appointment, specifically the cost to us, to prove "spend down" for government insurance (post about that soon is inevitable). But they were great & we showered them with thanks. Seriously an awesome office and staff to work with (Columbia River Eye Center in Richland, if you were wondering) What a blessing.