A Day Spent with an Ophthalmologist in New York

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

New York City

A Day Spent with an Ophthalmologist in New York

Today was a most unusual sort of day and one that left me a bit saddened by its outcome.

I awoke, as usual, rather early, and sent out Thank you notes to my Book Club friends (whom I had met last night) for a lovely and lively evening. There was not too much time left after my breakfast (muesli with yogurt and milk and decaff coffee) to do much. Hence, I got dressed and ready for my appointment in the city with a new physician I would be seeing and with whom I had set up an appointment.

Leslie dropped me off at Westport station for my train, I bought my ticket from the machine and off I went. It was a lovely day, thankfully, but because I knew that my pupils would be dilated after my appointment, I did not make plans to meet anyone else after it ended.

Strolling in Manhattan:

My appointment was on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (perhaps the ritziest part of the city) and as I strolled along from the Hunter College stop on the 6 line from Lexington Avenue toward Park and Madison (my clinic is on 72nd Street), I did a spot of window shopping. I also realized that I was feeling peckish and since my appointment was at 1.45 and would probably go until at least 2.45, I decided to try to find some lunch before I saw the doctor.

Sadly, there are not too many casual places in which one can find a bite in this snazzy part of town. When I spotted Eli Zabar’s Bakery, about two blocks away from the clinic. I went in for quick snack. I ended up buying an almond croissant ($5, if you can believe it!) and enjoyed it outside in the little street-side chairs and tables that he has set up (as there is no place to sit inside). Then, I hurried forth to my appointment.

Seeing the Ophthalmologist:

Llew has been seeing Dr. Rosberger for at least 20 years now at his clinic on Park Avenue called Maculacare. He is recognized as one of the finest retina-specialists in the USA and Llew was keen that I should see him for a second opinion. It turns out that, about two months ago, I had begun to notice a peculiarity in my right eye that causes distortion of the image particularly when I am reading (not so much while watching TV, unless I cover my left eye). I had seen one of the leading ophthalmologists in Bombay, Dr. Borse, who had been treating my Dad for decades, and he had diagnosed my condition as age-related pulling away of the retina from the eye wall which had resulted in a gap or hole. This hole was causing the distortion, he said. He further opined that it would possibly get better with time until I would not notice the condition at all. He even gave me some medication (powder to be dissolved in water) which, he said, might hasten the automatic repair of the condition.

After my eyes were examined by someone called Sonam (Dr. Rosberger’s assistant) and my eyesight found to be 20/20 (or so he said) with my current glasses, I was sat in another room after my pupils were dilated. Along came Dr. Rosberger who remembered Llew well and told me to give him regards. He then began his careful examination of my eyes using the scanners, bright lights, etc. I was then sent into another room for more scans. It was not long before Dr. Rosberger pronounced his verdict and gave me the dreaded diagnosis. Yes, he said, my macula has degenerated just a little bit. I have caught it at the earliest stages and it is restricted, right now, only to one eye. This condition, he said, is age-related and myopia-related (I have been short-sighted or near-sighted and have worn glasses since the age of 13 and contact lenses since the age of 18). There is also an epiretinal membrane that has formed on my retina (which, as the doctor described it, has a crumbled appearance instead of lying down flat on the retina). This crumbling is causing the distortion of vision.

Furthermore, the doctor said, that there is little possibility that this could get better on its own. Could it get worse? Yes, it could. Is there any treatment for it? Apart from surgery, no. And in the case of surgery (particularly at this early stage), risks outweigh benefits and are, therefore, not recommended. He told me that from my now, my eyes will need to be monitored carefully every six months. He set up an appointment for me, six months from now—in the heart of a frigid New York winter (frankly, wild horses will not bring me back to North America in this season!). So I shall see Dr Borse in Bombay. Of course, he cautioned me seriously, if there is any change of any kind, I would need to see him immediately, he said.

Wow! You can just imagine how hard I was hit by this news! I now join the line of folks I know who are living with this condition: my Dad, of course, who is now legally blind, has had it since his 60s; Llew who has battled all sorts of serious eye conditions including two detached retinas (due to acute myopia) 45 years ago, has severe macular degeneration; my friend Jane Dean (whom I shall be seeing next week for breakfast), who is almost 90 and who tells me that she has great difficulty reading my monthly newsletters which she loves; my friend Liz Virkar in Bombay who is currently undergoing some kind of eye treatment that involves periodic shots in her eye for the same condition. Of course, there are severity of stages in this condition and each person’s eyes react differently. But, overall, it is not a diagnosis one would like to receive. Fortunately, I have profoundly inspiring men in my life (my Dad, my husband) who live with this condition daily and have never let it affect their quality of life or their enjoyment of it. So, I propose to soldier on bravely, resorting as always to prayer and leaving myself and my eyesight in the hands of the Lord and His Blessed Mother. May it be done according to their will.

Dr. Rosberger also wanted to take some photographs of my eye—as he explained, it was not an MRI or an X-ray—just pictures. But he also wanted to test the condition of my optic nerve and to find out if there was any bleeding or inflammation in my eye (he rather doubted this, but he wanted to be certain). Hence, I was sent to another room where an assistant named Thairides (yes, that’s her name!) gave me a shot in a vein on my right hand. This put an orange dye into my veins. This dye would spread, through my heart, all over my body and would enter my eyes and the veins in my eye. Pictures were then taken of my right eye and on studying them, Dr. Rosberger confirmed that there was no bleeding or inflammation—all of which are positive signs. All this done, he made his notes and told me to make an appointment to see him after six months (which I did).As he did not tell me to alter my normal lifestyle in any way, I guess I can continue in this vein for as long as possible. Naturally, because I love reading and watching TV so much, I hope this will not affect my enjoyment of these activities (especially now that I am retired and have so much more time to indulge in them).

Journey Home to Westport:

Whew! That done, I left the clinic (which is on the lower level) and emerged out on to the street between Madison and Park Avenues and found my eyesight deeply affected by the pupil dilation. All I could do was think of getting on a bus and riding uptown to 125th Street so that I could take the first train going out to Westport. And that was exactly what I intended to do.

Introduction to a New Parfumerie:

But, before I got there, I found that I passed what was the former showroom of Jo Malone (opposite the Met-Brauer Museum—which is now permanently closed but which houses the collection of the Frick Museum temporarily). I found that Jo Malone closed their showroom too (it is now an optician) but I did pass by a parfumerie called Fueguia 1833 (an Argentinian parfumerie that was founded in 1833 in Patagonia and is based on the concept of botanical extracts). I really loved the showroom which was set up around the concept of dozens of beautiful crystal flacons each of which had a glass globe over it. To experience the scent, the assistant sprayed the inside of the glass globe to allow you to sniff it—what a novel concept. Of course, this offers no indication of how the perfume will react with the warmth of your skin…but you get the idea. I love the fragrance of fig and I was naturally drawn to it. The assistant was kind enough to make me a small sample sized bottle of it and I left the store feeling delighted that I had the essence of Fig in my purse. Jo Malone used to make a Fig fragrance which I used to love but which they discontinued (much to my annoyance). I hate it when cosmetics companies discontinue their products. Anyway, I was delighted with my little treasure.

Reaching Home:

A few steps ahead, I found the bus stop and in a few minutes, along came the M1. I hopped into it all the way up Madison Avenue till 125th Street which I reached with just five minutes to spare before my train arrived. I was grateful for my sunglasses which kept the unpleasantness of the sun out of my dilated eyes as I walked really fast for my train.

Five minutes later, I was in my train and headed to Westport. I got off at Southport station and waited for a few minutes until, right after 6pm, Leslie picked me up (at the conclusion of her work). We reached home and I reached for a cuppa and some cookies as I was really ravenous (having eaten only my croissant for lunch).

I then had an uneventful evening as my eyes were quite badly dilated. Sunil, who was nursing a cold, was upstairs, fast asleep. This left Leslie and me to rustle up some dinner. She chose to make an Israeli couscous dish with chicken stock and spinach and some roasted brocolli, but I had my leftovers from our dinner at Sakura (noodles, vegetables and steak) and since I had eaten a light lunch, I took a healthy helping—but still left some for tomorrow (there was so much!).

Basically, that was my day! Apart from seeing the eye doctor, I did not do too much.

Until tomorrow..cheerio!