Visit to prof Baudouin- what to expect?

[sunshinelover]

Hi all,
I have now booked a new appointment with prof Baudouin in Paris, it will be the end of June. I am curious4 about how a visit goes, so those of you who have been there please let me know what I can expect, what tests Will they do, how long time does he spend etc.

By the way, thi s neverendig dry air winter is killing me... and at work it doesnt go well...

[nicolasdu92130]

Hi, i don't know if it will help you but i have been two times to the Quinze Vingt Hospital with Dr Baudouin's assistant and it happened like that:
the assistant look my eyes quickly, and under my lids, he didn't talk a lot, then did a TBUT, then Dr Baudouin came, asked me some classic questions, look my eyes, didn't talk a lot too. Then i made some pictures of my eye surface's cell and then the assistant came back, said that i had dry eyes, the pictures confirmed it and told me too comeback 6 months later(it was very very long). And then it was over.
Not the slightest explanation, the slightest diagnosis, and no treatment (just said to continue with my drops even i said to him there were not efficients...) I was VERY disappointed and confused.
Then 6 month later, i told them that i was in much more pain, my eyes were much more dry, so the assistant just did TBUT and looked quickly under my lids. He decided to put me on Ciclosporin.That's ALL. No explanation, nobody looks my meibomian glands even if they are visibly clogged, no accurate diagnosis, nobody told me about omega 3 ect...
But i don't want to scare you, because since you have an appoitment with the doctor in person, it will obvisouly be better than how it went for me...

[Toril]

Sunshinelover:

I think maybe I told you about my experience at Prof. Baudouin's office in a private mail some time back? Or I might mix it up with someone else as I've been asked by many members about my visits there. I will check my sent e-mails later on today and see what information I sent you, and if I can't find any specific information I will write you a mail.

I can relate to what nicolasdu92130 is mentioning, though my experience in general is more positive. I've always been to the professor himself, and not to an assistant. I found out it's important to write down questions you want to ask during the appointment, as the doctors there (or in France in general?) are not very communicative. It's also possible to send a mail later on with questions you might have. I did all the same tests as mentioned above, but Prof. Baudouin also checked the condition of my meibomian glands. Prof. Baudouin has a lot of experience and can quickly give a give a diagnosis by looking at the patient's eyes.

As a patient there you only get about 20 min. in the office (which I think it's too little), but but it's better than not getting to talk to a specialist at all (which was the case with me back in 2007 when I had to go all the way from Norway to Paris to get a proper diagnosis and to get hold prescriptions of Restasis and Doxycycline).
At the clinic in Oslo they use a lot of fancy equipment to check the eyes and give a diagnosis, but when all comes down to it I got the same diagnosis on both in Oslo and in Paris. A very positive thing with Torreøyneklinikken is that they use much time talk with the patient about the results of the tests and the treatment options that are available.

[sunshinelover]

Nicolas,
Thanks for sharing your experience. Although discouraging it is good to know and be prepared. I guess experiences can be very different.

Toril,
Yes, I have good info in your pm and if it s ok I will send you some more questions soon. I want to be prepared as time may be short. I also have a follow up in Oslo soon, which is good. I have in particular questions regarding allergies, seb dermatitis and ocular rosacea that II would like to adress in order to rule out those conditions if possible.