Thanks, Wikipedia

So my optometrist tells me that despite my young age, I am 1 point away from having glaucoma. All I know about this is it means he puffs that air thingy into my eyeballs several times, convinced he's not getting an "accurate reading." Because apparently only 70 year old women need that much air puffed into their eyes.

So he didn't tell me anything about glaucoma, stating it's not time to worry yet and he'll check me again at next year's annual exam. Gee, that's comforting.

So I decided to Wikipedia glaucoma and find out what exactly glaucoma is, and this is what I get:

Glaucoma is a group of diseases of the optic nerve involving loss of retinal ganglion cells in a characteristic pattern of optic neuropathy. Although raised intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma, there is no set threshold for intraocular pressure that causes glaucoma. One person may develop nerve damage at a relatively low pressure, while another person may have high eye pressure for years and yet never develop damage. Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage of the optic nerve and resultant visual field loss, which can progress to blindness.

Huh??? The only part of that passage that makes sense to me is "blindness." Too bad I read this before the blindness actually sets in, because at least then I wouldn't be worrying.

So I guess when my mother calls to find out how my exam went, I can just say, "Them eyes of mine ain't seein' as well as they used to."

Means about the same thing, right?