I have been followed periodically by Dr. Trese, a specialist in ROP who practices in Detroit, since 1998. However, I don't live near Detroit, so I see someone locally to monitor my general condition. One of the more frustrating aspects of my life with ROP has been trying to manage seeing new eye doctors. Since I have a partially detached retina and a good bit of damage from various eye procedures, inflammation, etc, it is difficult for a doctor who is not very familiar with me to determine when I need to be seen by a specialist. I have some cornea damage; and sometimes when I see a new cornea doctor, he is alarmed to see that I have a retinal detachment and thinks I should go off to Detroit ASAP.
The question I have is not whether I have a detachment but whether it has changed. Sometimes Dr. Trese can assess this by looking at a scan--without me going to Detroit. At other times the scan is not clear, and I need to make the trip. If I went to Detroit every time a doctor was alarmed about the condition of my eyes, I might as well move there. The truth is that most doctors do not often get a chance to regularly follow people whose eyes are in the condition that mine are in--the people simply stop going to the doctor.
I have fallen into that category over the last few years. In 2008, my cornea specialist told me that there was nothing else that could be medically done for my eyes. So I stopped going. The rest of the story is for another post.
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