Caregivers Who Don't Know Important Information-Anyone Else Experienced This? (doctor, prescription, eyes)

[irootoo]

Okay, so today I went in to see an eye specialist to evaluate elevated intraocular pressure due to a narrow angle. I do not have glaucoma, but I am what they call a glaucoma suspect.

Anyway, I told him that I had had problems in the past when I had my eyes dilated—pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light that lasted 18+ hours. He looked at me and said, “Someone with a narrow angle such as you have should never, ever have their eyes dilated. It could cause an acute glaucoma attack and that is probably what you were experiencing.” I later Googled “acute glaucoma attack” to see how bad this could be, and I found that it is something that if not immediately treated, can cause total blindness in one to two days.

So my question is this: If I now know that people who are narrow angle glaucoma suspects should not have their eyes dilated—WHY DIDN'T MY OTHER EYE DOCTORS KNOW THIS? I've gone to at least four of them since I was diagnosed, and they all dilated my pupils and therefore created a serious risk for me that I would not have otherwise had. Don't they have continuing education classes or magazines or forums or conventions or something to tell them, hey don't do this, your patient who is coming to you to just to get their prescription changed might end up blind?

This is not the first time something like this has happened to me, and it makes me very nervous about getting decent health care when those to whom you go to for their expertise have such gaps in their knowledge. I don't care about the small things, but good grief, ending up blind is not a small thing.