Funny How Attached We Are

I just learned that my optometrist that I've been seeing since I got contacts back in '03 is leaving the place where he practices back in my hometown. All I know is that he's going to start up a private practice of his own somewhere...I'm guessing 40 miles from my hometown...so it would take 40 more miles to get there to see him.

It's funny how attached to him I am.

I see the guy maybe once a year (oh, wait, except for the year I saw him EVERY WEEK and he even drove all the way over--80 mile round trip--on a Sunday when the practice is closed because my eye was so infected he has to reevaluate it compared to the previous day. After that I had to see him weekly to check on the progress of the eye for about 2 months. And, instead of the hard contacts I had worn off-and-on since '96, he told me I could only wear soft contacts with the scratch) and I don't really know him that well.

BUT...he was the one who found the scratch in my eye. He treated my scratch. He refused to let me go back to my old eye doctor (who runs the practice) because the other one missed it and my eye became infected. My other eye doctor said that hard contacts were the only way to go for a person who has as bad of astigmastism as I do. My eye doctor is allowing me to wear soft contact lenses. Although, I shoudn't wear any contacts at all after I scratched my eye with the hard contacts, but he told me that as long as I go back in for regular visits so they can check on my corneas and where the scratch was I would be fine. He also needs to check the pre-glaucoma tests each year (my eye-pressure was down last year!!) and did I mention that he lets me wear soft lenses?!

I guess since I am living so far from home I should find an eye doctor down here, but there's something comforting knowing that I'm getting cared for by home hometown doctors...it's funny how attached to them I am. My dentist has been my dentist all my life and even though he's fairly old and only open 2-3 days a week, I still wait to go back and see him if I have any problems.

How pathetic, right?