Well, Tom's been having a problem with a sporadic blurry patch in his left eye. He checked with his primary care doctor who referred him to an ophthalmologist whom he saw today. Despite leaving there with a Post-it with "Central retinal artery occlusion left eye" written on it, and appointments for blood work and a more specific echo cardiogram, and an appointment with another ophthalmologist next week (yes, at the same time he's supposed to be getting the rest of the vocal cord cancer removed, but not to change that date yet), I'm left wondering if they actually think that's what the problem is.

Everything I read about retinal artery occlusion indicates it's an emergency situation -- something needs to be done RIGHT NOW or the vision loss is permanent.

Maybe I can get some answers tomorrow (Wed), my day off, from one or several of his doctors, but right now I'm just confused.

Tom is, I think, both worried and frustrated because he has no real information either about a) what it is, b) what treatment there is, and (very importantly) c) how this will affect his ongoing cancer treatment (not to mention his general health -- one online source cites percentage increase in other potentially fatal problems because of retinal artery occlusion).

We would probably worry a lot less with a few actual facts.

Linn