Eye doctor visits are a big ordeal for me. One of the medications I take for lupus is called Plaquenil. It's actually an anti-malaria drug. (Somewhere along the way they discovered it helps with lupus. Who would have thought?) Plaquenil makes it possible for me to function on a daily basis. It also has some nasty side-effects. It can actually cause blindness or even color-blindness. So every 6 months, I get my eyes checked to make sure it's still safe for me to take it. And once a year, my eye check-up is actually a three visit process. Today was visit one: they dilated my eyes, looked at them with bright (very bright!) lights, and took pictures of my eyes. Not fun. But at least they give me really cool, roll-y lenses, right? The second visit is the fun one. That's the one where they make me do all sorts of game-like exercises to see if I can still see a full array of colors and twinkling lights. (And of course, more pictures of my eyes.) The third visit is result day. That's the day I find out whether or not I can keep taking Plaquenil. Last year, they did see a small change in my eyes from Plaquenil - not enough to take me off my beloved medication, but enough to make me take these six-month visits seriously.
When you have lupus, it takes a team of doctors to take care of you. Most of my doctors - if all is well - only require a visit every six months. But my rheumatologist sees me a minimum of every three months. On top of that, add the occasional round of physical therapy - many more visits. That's a lot of appointments (and bills)! Sometimes it takes a lot of organization and discipline to keep afloat of all the appointments. But if I want to continue to function day to day, these appointments are mandatory.
It's just one of those things. They don't have to be fun. (Not that my doctors are no fun...They're awesome. Really. But let's be real: Even with awesome doctors, there are still parts of doctor visits that are not fun.) They just have to happen.
But that's life in the real world, isn't it? There are things that just need to be done.
So much truth to that! I feel worn out sometimes after all the running around to appointments but thank God for placing people in our lives with the knowledge to help us manage, right? It's good knowing there is someone else going through all the same crazy tests, routine of doctor visits, and feelings of it all!
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