Dear Dr. Ross,
I have noticed I am not sensitive to light but need more light to see clearly. I need to hold things that are hard to see under a light and then even though the print is small I am able to read it without my reading glasses. Otherwise I can't see the print.

It seems I need sunglasses less and less out of doors too.

I sat on the plane next to a guy who'd had eyelid cancer. He'd worked outdoors for 35 years (fixing backhoes, in Indiana yet, even in winter) and though he wore sunglasses, they didn't have UV protection. He had basal cells in his eyelid and had 3 operations and eventually a bit of a facelift on that side. But his eye tears constantly. At least he's alive though!

I got an email that Ross had several questions. I'm printing this and will have him do his homework shortly. I'll respond on his behalf in the morning.

Good night... who is that snoring?

It's Lola, I swear...I heard her. Uh huh. Sure nuff.

Yep. Woke me up, too.

lol...you gals crack me up.
I wonder, does snoring stimulate the blood flow around the eyes?

I know that my hubby's snoring stimulates the blood flow around MY eyes...grrr...but I'd rather be kept awake by his snoring than, well...let's just say I'm so glad he's alive and healthy that it's almost (ALMOST) a joy to hear that snoring man lying beside me.

Now where did all that sentimentality come from. Sniff.

My eyes have been ultra-sensitive to light for most of my life, ever since I had a bout of snow-blindness when I was nine years old. Walking to the post office on a brilliant beautiful sunny winter day. All of a sudden, I went blind. Couldn't see anything. My eyes were in such terrible pain. I literally felt my way along the snowbanks for awhile, until I got in a shady part of the block. Gradually the pain went away and my eyesight came back. I never told my parents about it (I forgot all about it by the time I got home). Never thought about it again until my mid-twenties when I was admitted to hospital for meningitis and they noticed that my retinas were "burnt around the edges". We still don't know if it was from the snow-blindness or the meningitis.

Since my laser surgery, my eyes have been so sensitive to light I often have to close the curtains in the afternoon because the glare is intolerable. I have to wear sunglasses even on cloudy days, and especially on sunny winter days.

I printed this last night and Ross hasn't done his homework yet. He's tied up with a car that won't start, a phone consultation for his dad, and a big meeting about the rebuild of his office. I promise we'll get to this tonight.

For heavens sake, allow the poor man to breathe, its not like we're paying patients or something. When he gets around to it, so be it. We are lucky to have his expertise available to us. Bless his heart...

Okay, here's the scoop. Iprinted everything and he scratched his answers on the paper. I can barely read them so I'm going to respond tonight when he sitting right next to me so I make sure I get all this right.

Chatty, he said you can call him tonight about your not being sensitive to light, but needing more light. He said he'd like to talk to you about that. Email me if you've lost our number.