Eyes

On Saturday, I'll mark one year of exogenous insulin usage.
When I was in the hospital, one year ago, I was told that there were a bunch of things that I, as a diabetic, should have checked annually.
My kidney function. Celiac antibodies. Feet and reflexes.

And eyes.
On the morning of September 1, 2006, when I thought that the doctor visit was going to a waste of time and that all I'd had was a really nasty cold that I was being a baby about, my vision, with glasses on, was 20/20. Without glasses, I coudn't see a foot away. My night vision was terrific, and I generally preferred dim lighting because light bothered my eyes. I had preferred dim lighting for about three years.
I was put on IV insulin that night.
On the morning of September 2, 2006, my blood sugar was down to about 200. My vision, without glasses, was about 20/80. The glasses I had were way way way too strong.
For about three months, my vision was funky. It was nonconstant, changing. I never knew whether I'd see or not in five minutes. I sat as close to the board as possible in all of my classes, went around without glasses, and struggled to see.
Eventually, my vision got slightly worse, to about 20/100 without glasses. I got new lenses that let me see at 20/20. My night vision is screwy and I now prefer the light.

Partly because of my funky vision, and partly because I was very familiar with complicated diabetics, I worried that I had already had damaged eyes.
I went to see an ophthamologist. Whereas usually nurses are cooler than doctors, the nurses in that office were some of the most unkind people I've encountered. I'm not exactly fearless when it comes to eye drops, and I kept closing my eyes. The nurse made fun of me, called me a baby, asked in a very mean way if I wanted to keep my eyes safe or not. The doctor was nicer, but still.... YEARGH. My eyes showed no sign of retinopathy, he said. I had my optometrist check for glaucoma a few months later; no glaucoma.
I know that I'm supposed to see an ophthomalogist every year, but them being mean and nasty, and this being only one year in, I think I'm going to take a pass this year.