You hear an optometrist talking to a new patient called Aidan Fitzpatrick.
#blurred_vision
@nursingpodcastt

You hear an optometrist talking to a new patient called Aidan Fitzpatrick.

TRACK 5
N: You hear an optometrist talking to a patient called Aidan Fitzpatrick,
who has been experiencing blurred vision.
F: Hi Aidan. I’m Dr Salkeld . . . could you start by telling me about what’s
been going on with your vision?
M: Sure . . . Well, I guess it must’ve started a while ago, but I didn’t really
notice it properly until about 2 weeks ago. I was working in my
garden and I noticed that I was having a hard time reading the
instructions on the gardening products that I’d just bought. I
normally stick to the one I’ve been using for years, but I thought it’d
be nice to try something different. Anyways, it kind of felt like
everything was fuzzy around the edges, and I just couldn’t see the
letters clearly. After talking to my daughter, she mentioned that I’d
been using increasingly more light to read at night and even pulling
things closer to me to read. I hadn’t even noticed! So I went out and
got some of those glasses they sell at the pharmacy and they helped,
but my doctor said that it’d be better if I came to see an eye doctor . .
. Well they made things less blurred, anyway, I guess. My vision’s still
not crystal clear or anything when I use the glasses, but I wasn’t
really expecting that. I still notice that I’m squinting to see things . . .
it’s mostly when I’m trying to read something close-up, like small
writing. I’m better when things are at a distance . . . I don’t know if it’s
related – but I’ve also noticed a pretty persistent headache . . . I guess
It’s kind of at the sides of my head, I suppose. It comes and goes, but
it’s definitely worst when I’m having trouble seeing something. When
it gets really bad, I just take a fast-acting ibuprofen, and that tends to
sort it out.
F: Ever had any vision problems before?
M: When I was little, at some point in elementary school, I think I had
glasses, but I’m sure I broke them and we just never got round to
having them replaced. My brother has glasses that he’s been wearing
for years, I don’t really know a whole lot about what’s wrong with his
eyes . . ..maybe he’s shortsighted? But that reminds me, my brother
thought I should mention that a couple of months or so ago I was
really pretty ill, I was suffering from sinusitis. And, anyway, I left it
pretty late to go and see the doctor about it. Kind of thought that it
would just sort itself out, anyway, it lingered for a while, so when I
told my doctor he gave me some antibiotics and it cleared up pretty
quickly after that. Well, for the most part . . . although I still feel like I
have a cold. Other than that I’ve been in really good health for the
last few years. I take my health really seriously, I’m not sure If the
doctor told you, but I used to be quite overweight, but I lost it all after
a bit of a wakeup call some years back . . . I had what you guys call a
myocardial infraction . . . it was pretty scary, and I was quite
overweight at the time, and really stressed out about my job. Since
then I’ve made a real effort to look after myself properly.
F: I’m glad to hear it. So, in terms of your blurred vision, what do you
think might work for you?
M: Well, I don’t particularly like the idea of wearing glasses all the time,
but touching my eyes freaks me out so contact lenses are definitely
not an option. I guess the best thing might be to just have glasses
that I wear all the time so I don’t keep forgetting to put them on
when I am out somewhere and not at home. I’ve actually never had
an eye test, so I should probably schedule one of those as a next step.
F: I think that sounds reasonable. Let’s do some tests to check out your
eyes and go from there.



#blurred_vision
@nursingpodcastt