dilated

November 18, 2004

i can’t see what i’m typing right now, because my eyes are all dilated from the most thorough eye exam i’ve had in quite a while. i was hesitant to go to a new eye doctor, because my eyes are, for a 24-year old, pretty remarkably bad. but the old-school southern optometrist i just visited was very nice. his office wasn’t fancy and his instruments weren’t new, but i could tell he did a good job.

a lot of times when i go to the doctor or dentist i don’t want to say that i’m a medical student, because then they tell me more than i feel like hearing. while examining my eyes today, the very well-meaning gentleman commented, “now i’m checking to see what your optic nerve looks like. i’m sure you know that when it’s bulging out, it’s a sign of elevated intracranial pressure, associated with things like a subdural hematoma or a brain tumor.”

of course, my optics nerves were not bulging out, but still, i didn’t necessarily want to be thinking about that with my eye open wide, blinded by a bright light. i’m not saying that it was a wrong thing to say, and i think some medical students would appreciate little ‘lessons’ given during their appointments, but i don’t like it. i want to zone out, dissociate from the entire examination experience, whether it be in my mouth, in my eye, or elsewhere. for example, i once had an ob/gyn pa tell me, while exploring some delicate territory, ‘wow, you have a really retroverted uterus.’ great.

i’m sure everyone wanted to read about that.

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i get to do my first mstp applicant INTERVIEW tomorrow. i wonder if i really have any power at all in the decision-making process. well, if nothing else, the student will think i have that power. which is mind-boggling to me. i feel old.

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one more thing: anyone have any experiences with lasik (laser vision correction surgery)? i’m sort of thinking about it now. after all, if jessica simpson went for it . . .

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