Since I work in healthcare, the myth of physicians being all-knowing and infallible is lost on me. For many years, even working in healthcare, I would pretty much defer to physicians on many things just because of what they were. However, as I got older and smarter, I started to realize that many of these people can be as dumb as rocks overall, but found something they could excel in, which just happened to be medicine.

It's with that kind of demeanor that I went to my ophthalmologist today. When you're diabetic, you don't go to the optometrist, who only checks to see if your prescription has changed. And, though it hurts less than going to the dentist, some of the things they do are irritating and uncomfortable.

The interaction I had with the assistant was kind of fun. In my own irreverence, I would comment on some of the things she was doing to me, and she was laughing and having a nice time; I assume some people do nothing but complain about some of the treatment. I also got to ask her a couple of serious questions, because my diabetes was diagnosed because I was having problems with my vision just about 10 years ago,... heck, I think it's just about a month or so before 10 years at this point.

Of course, she drops 3 different solutions in my eyes, which I hate and have always hated, but I don't feel the sting anymore. They now do something different, though, in taking you to what they call the dilation room, which is actually just a waiting room so they can move some other people into the areas where the equipment is; how efficient in their revenue generation they've become! When another assistant comes to get me to take me into the room where the doctor is going to see me, she tells me my eyes are fully dilated, and for the first time I decided to look at myself in the mirror to see what they see. Man, have you ever seen your eyes when your pupils are maxed to the limit? Freaky!

The doc finally comes in and goes through his routine, and in the middle of it all I asked him if they bring people like him to the Middle East to torture terrorists; that got a little chuckle out of him.

In the end, my prescription has changed a little, but overall my eyes are fine. That's a good thing, because my glucose has been running a little high lately. Course, I didn't help my cause any once I got home, after stopping at the store and buying a cake; better have that totally gone before my wife gets home. :-)