I've been practicing optometry for nearly 30 years. It's interesting where the source of useful information regarding my field will come from. I had a bifocal contact lens patient who came into my office. He was wearing a type of bifocal contact lens that I stock. This lens is the type that is usually given to a patient in their early 40s. With a little modification, this patient gave me the idea to start fitting this lens to patients in their 50s and above. I had not thought of this before. I have met with very good success for this population of patients who want to wear bifocal contact lenses.

Even though optometry is generally not a life or death profession, I had a very rewarding experience happen to me in my office. I had a patient whom I saw around August, 2010. She had a headache, uncorrected vision in one of her eyes(about to 20/50) and changes in her peripheral vision. I immediately referred her to an ophthalmologist. They immediately referred her to neurology in which surgery was performed.

The patient came back in December, 2010 and told me what happened. She stated that the emergency room surgeon told her it was a good thing that the referrals occurred. She had an aneurysm the size of which the surgeon said was huge. The surgeon related to her that if she had waited a month, she very well could have died.

The patient was most thankful when she came in (with her sister). This is what helps to make optometry such a rewarding profession.