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Getting' together, stranger than ever
Aug. 22nd, 2020 04:33 pmAs mentioned in my Thursday entry, yesterday was the day for my electroretinography (ERG) test at the General. It went smoothly but was all a bit surreal. At the entrance to the building, I donned my mask and got into a physically distanced line-up with two or three people ahead of me. Then I had to answer a list of questions to assure them I had no covidian symptoms and had not been outside the country in the past two weeks. Then I was directed to the elevators - maximum 4 people in each, and those are big elevators too, meant to accommodate stretchers and hospital beds. When I reached the Eye Institute on the 3rd floor, I was "processed" again, answering the same list of questions before depositing my health card in a sterile tray for the receptionist to take down my particulars. Then I was directed to a waiting room where half the seats were blocked off with yellow tape.
When my name was called, I was directed to a room with various optical machines of one kind and another, and given a series of different types of eye drops. After some basic measurements and tests where I mostly just had to stare at a light and avoid blinking, she brought me to another room where the ERG machine was (apparently the only one in Ottawa). Then she scraped me a bit (it felt like sandpaper) where all the contact points were and I was wired up with little stick-on things - on my forearm, behind my ears and on my eyelashes.
By that point, the pupils of my eyes were sufficiently dilated that she could proceed with the test, which involved staring at an X in the middle of a honeycomb-type pattern for 60 seconds at a time while she made a bunch of flashing lights go off. I think she did perhaps ten of these mini-sessions and she was very good about letting me know when there were 30 seconds left, or 15 or whatever. I can't say it really hurt, although it brought to mind some of the torture tests you see in the movies for getting secrets out of people: "We have ways of making you talk..."
Having arrived early for my 8:30 AM appointment, it went well, everyone was friendly but efficient and I was down in the lobby again shortly after 9 AM. But I must admit I didn't realize until yesterday evening and still today, that it had still taken its toll - I'm feeling quite sluggish and run-down.
As I looked through my e-mails, it struck me how creative folks are being in the whole re-opening process. Today, for example, I got a message about before- and after-hours shopping slots you can reserve at Indigo; also one about the various city museums that are now open a few days a week.
There was no Victorian Tea in the Arboretum this summer but the Billings Estate has a COVID-19 version of tea on the lawn, take-out picnic style. It's something we may consider.
When my name was called, I was directed to a room with various optical machines of one kind and another, and given a series of different types of eye drops. After some basic measurements and tests where I mostly just had to stare at a light and avoid blinking, she brought me to another room where the ERG machine was (apparently the only one in Ottawa). Then she scraped me a bit (it felt like sandpaper) where all the contact points were and I was wired up with little stick-on things - on my forearm, behind my ears and on my eyelashes.
By that point, the pupils of my eyes were sufficiently dilated that she could proceed with the test, which involved staring at an X in the middle of a honeycomb-type pattern for 60 seconds at a time while she made a bunch of flashing lights go off. I think she did perhaps ten of these mini-sessions and she was very good about letting me know when there were 30 seconds left, or 15 or whatever. I can't say it really hurt, although it brought to mind some of the torture tests you see in the movies for getting secrets out of people: "We have ways of making you talk..."
Having arrived early for my 8:30 AM appointment, it went well, everyone was friendly but efficient and I was down in the lobby again shortly after 9 AM. But I must admit I didn't realize until yesterday evening and still today, that it had still taken its toll - I'm feeling quite sluggish and run-down.
As I looked through my e-mails, it struck me how creative folks are being in the whole re-opening process. Today, for example, I got a message about before- and after-hours shopping slots you can reserve at Indigo; also one about the various city museums that are now open a few days a week.
There was no Victorian Tea in the Arboretum this summer but the Billings Estate has a COVID-19 version of tea on the lawn, take-out picnic style. It's something we may consider.
