I just had an AHA moment! I tripped and fell four weeks ago and landed on my left shoulder and broke it. I might have hit my head but didn’t think so at the time. But I’ll get back to that.
I have dry AMD and have been testing both eyes with ForeseeHome since April 2016. It gave me peace of mind to have something I could do at home to monitor my eyes. I just kept testing but not frequently, it was hard to be motivated. I never got any calls from my retina doctor, so I figured my eyesight was doing ok. Yes, as the years have gone by, I’ve noticed my vision changing in my day-to-day activities like needing brighter lights to read and knit. I’ve noticed increased difficulty seeing with the glare of lights in my home and in stores. I’ve also been having more distortion in my distant vision.
Over the last year of ForeseeHome testing, I’ve progressively seen more broken lines and unusual curves and bumps, along with the intended bumps to click on. I was not sure what this indicated. I’ve wondered if I’m testing in a consistent manner, do I click on the broken breaks, multiple clicks on the wavy lines?
Once I got My Chart in my patient portal and had some training to help me read the chart and understand what I was looking at, I started to understand a little more about my AMD progression and testing. My testing picture became much clearer, and I feel less in the dark and more in control.
My Chart showed my earlier testing from years ago was very consistent with tests well below the normative line. Although my testing frequency increased to almost every day, my recent testing became less consistent below the normative line, with some days above the normative line. Clicking on all those breaks and waves was probably throwing off my consistency. My testing appears to have improved since I realized that. I’ve had three alerts over the last four months. With My Chart I’m able to see how I’ve been testing to cause the alerts.
Earlier this year, my retina doctor received two alerts for my right eye. After my follow-up visit, the doctor saw no changes, so I wondered why I got the alerts. When looking at My Chart I saw how inconsistent my reliability was. I started slowing down and taking more time to focus back on the center dot before clicking. My Chart showed my consistency improved. Going too fast decreased my consistency of testing.
When my doctor received my second right eye alert, I looked at My Chart and noted it happened right after I had severe back pain. So, I could see being distracted with my pain interfered with my testing consistency.
Then, with my most recent alerts I assumed it was my right eye but, surprisingly, it was my left. This led to my AHA moment.
Remember I fell on July 20th. I checked My Chart to see how I was doing after my July 26th alert. To my surprise it was my left eye. I checked My Chart daily and I saw that I hadn’t been able to establish a baseline even after 12 days of testing following the alert. All my testing data was above the normative line.
AHA! I realized my alert happened a few days after my fall. So, my question was if my fall, or the pain from my broken shoulder, had influenced my usually reliable testing.
With this AHA moment I decided to work hard to test consistently. Slow down, put in eye drops, cleaned my glasses and tested earlier so I wasn’t tired. Being 3 weeks out from my fall, my pain was considerably less. I believe this resulted in the three below the normative line tests I just observed.
I saw my retina doctor yesterday and my testing showed no change in my vision. So, it is clear to me that my pain was a distraction during ForeseeHome testing. I now have four successful tests, and my testing shows that I have once again established a baseline.
In summary what has My Chart done for me?
1. Track my testing and eyesight
2. Feel more in control
3. Slow my testing pace
4. Limit distractions
5. Peace of mind
Pat Bates
ForeseeHome patient and Patient Advisory Council member
