I fired my ophthalmologist today

A week ago I called my ophthalmologist's office to speak with her. I was told she would be out of the office till today. The lady on the phone asked me why I needed to speak with her; I explained that I wanted to buy a tonometer, and that if she was not in the office to have one of the other ophthalmologists call me. I didn't hear back from her the rest of the week; I was simply ignored.

I called back this morning and asked to speak with my ophthalmologist about getting a prescription to buy a tonometer; I explained the reasoning behind my request and asked to speak with her so I could explain further. I didn't hear back all day; finally got a call back from one of her assistants a little after five. I was informed that I could not get a prescription; that it was dangerous for me to take the numbing drops for self tonometry. I explained that I would be buying a Reichert AT-555 or perhaps even the 7CR. I explained that they were the type that use a gentle air puff. She told me that those tonometers were not accurate, that they were used by optometrists; furthermore, they would harm the cornea.

I told her that I'd done a good amount of research and that they were safe and accurate, but she insisted that they were not accurate, could harm the eye, and furthermore, the doctor would not give me a prescription to buy a tonometer. Thirty years ago I would have called her the ignorant bimbo that she was; however, time has mellowed me. I didn't say anything else; simply thanked her for her time.

It was obvious that this ophthalmologist was too busy running a herd of patients through her office to personally return my call; it was equally clear that her assistant knew nothing about self tonometry, and was not well informed on non-contact tonometers. So this is the second ophthalmologist I fire; the first one I let go for his inability to keep even a modicum of timelyness in his appointments.

For a couple of years I wondered how an ophthalmologist could accurately determine a patient's eye pressure with random checks four times per year; common sense told me it couldn't be done. I finally bought a BAUCSH & LOMB PROVIEW EYE PRESSURE MONITOR; what a joke; what a toy. It is a worthless piece of junk. Then I stumbled on FitEyes.com and realized I wasn't the only one with some common sense. Unfortunately, I'll have to spend a little more serious money than the toy I got for a hundred bucks. I want to thank Dave for this great website and his one-on-one information on self tonometry. Now I just have to order the real thing.