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When I got my dry eye this winter, I eventually realized that the public healthcare was useless--apart from the stain, they had no tools. Moreover, they wanted me out of their office or simply did not have the capacity to care.
I went on to research the local docs. A few clinics came up. One had a nice website with common triggers listed on the website along with Lipiflow available on site.
The clinic is in the suburbs, so I had to take about 1h or even 1.15h to get there and then back. The doc seemed kind a but his spiel was pretty scripted. He talked to me about meibomian glands like I was a five year old. Oh well. I did not care. He had the osmolarity test and that's what mattered to me at the time.
He send me on my way with a printout of my results, TBUT, osmolarity, etc. I felt good. Someone was taking me more or less seriously.
A month later, my partner drove me to the location. Even by car it took about 40 minutes. Off I go again to do the osmolarity test and see how things are going. He tells me my osmolarity in one eye is 310 or around that, and the other is 342. "One eye is lagging behind but not too badly", he says. I get worried. This is some heavy stuff, to hear that your osmolarity is 342. The doc then adds: "It's ok, your eye will catch up, the osmolarity will increase once we get you on Xiidra".
Increase? Stumped, I ask him: "Are you sure the higher value is better?". He goes: "Why? Yes, of course. My patients feel better once we get the values up there in the 340's". I stumble out of the office confused and alarmed.
Keep in mind, I am the kind of person who can research things thoroughly and obsessively for hours if I am interested or out of necessity. I remembered the graphs well. Lower values are in the green. Some say 305 is the cutoff, some say 290's are even a safer bet. Either way, the lower the values the better.
I come back to the coffee shop where my partner had been waiting for me. I tell him about my experience. He does not want to believe that this doc is a wrong and neither do I. Not settling for the google image search on dry eye osmolarity, we find the official Tear Lab handout. Of course, I am right. The lower values are in the green.
Frustrated I come back to the office. The doc is out for lunch. The front desk staff looks at me with slight annoyance in her eyes. I wait. The doc comes back. I press him for answers. He repeats that the higher values are the better values. I show him the pdf on my phone. He lets out: "Gee, looks like you are right. I am not sure what happened, pretty sure though they taught us the higher values are better. Um, okay. Bye".
That is it. He made no attempt to make up to me. Retest. Although I later realized his tests were wrong anyway. My values never climbed that high. I would say 316 was the highest.
I have not done anything about it. I am not sure what I could do. I worry about his patients who feel better with 340+ osmolarity.
I went on to research the local docs. A few clinics came up. One had a nice website with common triggers listed on the website along with Lipiflow available on site.
The clinic is in the suburbs, so I had to take about 1h or even 1.15h to get there and then back. The doc seemed kind a but his spiel was pretty scripted. He talked to me about meibomian glands like I was a five year old. Oh well. I did not care. He had the osmolarity test and that's what mattered to me at the time.
He send me on my way with a printout of my results, TBUT, osmolarity, etc. I felt good. Someone was taking me more or less seriously.
A month later, my partner drove me to the location. Even by car it took about 40 minutes. Off I go again to do the osmolarity test and see how things are going. He tells me my osmolarity in one eye is 310 or around that, and the other is 342. "One eye is lagging behind but not too badly", he says. I get worried. This is some heavy stuff, to hear that your osmolarity is 342. The doc then adds: "It's ok, your eye will catch up, the osmolarity will increase once we get you on Xiidra".
Increase? Stumped, I ask him: "Are you sure the higher value is better?". He goes: "Why? Yes, of course. My patients feel better once we get the values up there in the 340's". I stumble out of the office confused and alarmed.
Keep in mind, I am the kind of person who can research things thoroughly and obsessively for hours if I am interested or out of necessity. I remembered the graphs well. Lower values are in the green. Some say 305 is the cutoff, some say 290's are even a safer bet. Either way, the lower the values the better.
I come back to the coffee shop where my partner had been waiting for me. I tell him about my experience. He does not want to believe that this doc is a wrong and neither do I. Not settling for the google image search on dry eye osmolarity, we find the official Tear Lab handout. Of course, I am right. The lower values are in the green.
Frustrated I come back to the office. The doc is out for lunch. The front desk staff looks at me with slight annoyance in her eyes. I wait. The doc comes back. I press him for answers. He repeats that the higher values are the better values. I show him the pdf on my phone. He lets out: "Gee, looks like you are right. I am not sure what happened, pretty sure though they taught us the higher values are better. Um, okay. Bye".
That is it. He made no attempt to make up to me. Retest. Although I later realized his tests were wrong anyway. My values never climbed that high. I would say 316 was the highest.
I have not done anything about it. I am not sure what I could do. I worry about his patients who feel better with 340+ osmolarity.
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