The Eyes Have It

One of the fun things that comes with having diabetes is having eye problems. The eyes are very sensitive when it comes to high blood sugar, which sometimes leads to blindness. This freaks me the fuck out because I already have hearing issues (not from anything diabetes-related; I was born with a slight hearing loss), and I'd hate to lose my vision, as well. Being deaf would suck, especially since I am a musician, but being blind would be even worse, in my opinion.

I was very concerned, then, when my vision recently went blurry. It happened almost suddenly; one minute, I could see fine and the next, the world looked as if I were seeing it through a sheet of plastic. I couldn't understand why it was happening when my blood sugar had DROPPED over 300 points.

I finally got my official answer today: the eye's lens changes shape when your blood sugar is high. Mine had to compensate for my bs being over 400. After my sugar dropped, the lens had to change back ... and that's why my eyes went blurry.

The good news is that it's clearing up and I got a clean bill of eye health. The doctor says that my vision is actually better than 20/20 and that in a weird way, the blurred vision is a good thing since it's a reaction to my sugar going down. I was very relieved to hear this!

But boy are eye exams WEIRD. Honestly, I'd never had one before today so I wasn't sure what to expect. This particular office was extremely modern, so I felt as if I were entering the future. I then had my eyes dilated and they had me look through machines that had all kinds of colored dots and lights, and whatnnot. They played with my lids, had me roll my eyes in every direction until I was going cross-eyed. Finally, they injected a yellow dye into my arm that somehow went to my eyes and made it easier for them to see the retina. That part wasn't so strange, but the dye turned my pee neon yellow.

I don't know if it's because my vision was wonky due to the tests, but this office seriously had the best-looking doctors I've ever seen. I love my husband, but man, the main doctor was sooooo cute. When he asked me to look up at him, I was like, "Yes, please!"

I don't have another appointment for eight months, but knowing that I will get to ogle Dr. Hotness is yet another reason for me to keep my blood sugar at a good level!

Before I sign off, let me leave you with a funny story: before my appointment, I was waiting in the lobby and was sitting opposite a huge plaque that had the names of big donors. At the moment, my right eye is clearer than my left, so I put my hand over my right eye and was trying to get my left one to focus. I finally focused in on a particular name on that plaque of bigwig donors ... Madoff. I was surprised that they even kept it up there and didn't scrape off the letters.

What can I say? Seeing IS believing...