On a recent bike ride with my wife, I suddenly lost vision on my right side in both eyes. There was no pain, no warning, I just lost vision. Unable to continue riding, we brought our bikes back home. We were confused as to what was going on and made an emergency appointment Columbo Eye Care. We drove to the office, signed in and waited. While waiting, we became more and more nervous about what was going on. We decided to go to Troy Beaumont Emergency and were starting to leave when a female came out and asked us where we were going. We told her emergency and she said it would be a waste of time because they would just end up calling Dr. Columbo. This was extremely bad advice. I spent the next 1 1/2 hours running through various tests only to have Dr. Columbo tell me at the end there was nothing wrong with my eyes.
We then went to emergency and were told very quickly that I most likely had a stroke. They did a CT scan and blood tests to confirm and within an hour administered TPA, a clot busting drug to limit the damage done by the stroke. TPA is most effective only if administered within 3 hours of symptoms onset. Unfortunately, the over 1 1/2 hours wasted at Columbo Eye Care put me at 4 hours when I received TPA, limiting it's effectiveness. Now, a month later, both eyes still have a loss of peripheral vision on the right side, and it's most likely permanent.
I didn't know it at the time, but sudden loss of vision is a warning sign of stroke and time is critical. I didn't know it, but medical professionals should have. As a result, my family and I will be finding a new ophthalmologist and will not recommend Columbo Eye Care to anyone.