This week marks the end of the testing season–feet, heart, liver, kidneys, prostate, skin–you name it!
On Monday it was the annual love fest with Dr Nguyen Ngoc Luong, my opthamologist.
A man of few words, Dr Luong sits on a swivel chair with an alarming revolving table to his right.
At the push of a button this table goes in to action, swinging round to position a new chin rest at eye level between me and the good Doctor. This happens three times in the course of the test.
Then comes the checking of my long sight.
Reading off the numbers or letters projected on the wall opposite, as Dr Luong slips different lenses in and out of the “pince-nez” he fastens onto my nose.
I feel like a schoolboy keen to answer teacher’s questions correctly.
Now it’s time for the most intimate moment of the session.
We both shift nervously on our chairs preparing to stare into one another’s eyes for a few breathless moments.
My freshly shaved chin juts towards his as he points a penetrating light at my pupils–shining it into every corner of my cornea and beyond.
Breaking the spell, he leans back and utters three precious words. To my relief–a few days short of Valentine’s Day–not “I Love You” but…
“Pas de diabétes!”
I uncross my fingers–and feel foolish again for indulging in the Superstition Game.
Another year CLEAR!
Robin Ellis 