Page 5 - The Freckled Eye - Book

Once we got there, I grabbed a tray of balls, Charlie Max (CM) picked a table
and I began to rack the balls. Of course, I was thinking at the time, this was
the ONLY time I’d be racking that night. With a little inside chuckle, I racked
the balls tight for him to break. I then grabbed a cue off the wall, chalked it up
and waited for him to break. I don’t remember if any balls went in, but nevertheless,
it was my turn.

I chalked my cue again, quickly surveyed the table, picked my shot and got down to
take one last look for the right angle. After closing my left eye... that’s when I noticed
something was off. Things looked a bit blurred, distorted and I had a hard time
focusing.

Now I’m not one to complain, but I was missing easy shots that I’d never miss, even if I
hadn't played in years. Something was wrong. There was a shadow that wasn’t there
when both eyes were open. The rest of the night, I kept closing my left eye, trying to
figure out what I was experiencing. I was concerned.

Up until age 46, I had never had any issues with my eyes, except for when I
was little girl. My mom had told me that my left eye was “lazy” and for a
period of time, I had to wear a patch over the good "right" eye to strengthen
it. My eye seemed to fix itself and that was that. Since my eyes were fine
since then, I never thought I needed to see an Ophthalmologist.

Christmas 2015 was over. The family was heading home. I had previously
decided to stay in Tahoe for the winter with my boyfriend Jay. During the
month of January, Jay noticed me squinting a lot and I'd been complaining that I was
having a hard time reading my books and computer screen. I’d also be sitting on the
couch, from time to time, and I'd close my left eye and look at Jay’s face while he sat on
the other couch. I kept telling him, his head was distorted, but only when I’d closed my
left eye. When both eyes were open, something just seemed off. It was every so slight,
but I could sense something wasn’t right. It’s hard to explain... but when you’ve gone
your whole life seeing fine, there was an uncertainty I was starting to feel.

My sweet Jay, thank goodness for him. He kept telling me that what I was
experiencing wasn’t normal and to go see a doctor. I'd always been afraid to
go to the hospital, so instead, I finally made an appointment in February with a
Costco Optometrist.

At the Costco Optometrist appointment, I tried to explain to the doctor what I was
experiencing. She seemed to have listened, ran her tests and then concluded the first
portion of the exam.

Then she started the second portion of the eye exam called the "eye health exam". It's
supposedly a more in depth look into the inner eye, to see the retina and overall eye