{"id":5352,"date":"2024-08-08T16:53:17","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T16:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/?p=5352"},"modified":"2024-11-18T14:04:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T14:04:46","slug":"blurred-margins-an-account-of-optic-neuritis-in-the-ussr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/volume-2-issue-3\/blurred-margins-an-account-of-optic-neuritis-in-the-ussr\/","title":{"rendered":"Blurred Margins: An Account of Optic Neuritis in the USSR"},"content":{"rendered":"

doi:10.62055\/62682939Mk<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Foreword<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Here, we have a patient\u2019s perspective of optic neuritis\u23bcwhich is unique enough in itself to bear further inspection. But because the narrative is by an American paleontologist\u00a0in Soviet Georgia, it is all the more compelling. Kent\u2019s diary from 1976 Tbilisi\u23bca capital city nestled between Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan\u23bcsheds light not only on the experience of vision loss, but also the isolation of a month-long stay in a hospital ward among Georgian natives. Even by train, he is a 36-hour trip from Moscow.<\/p>\n

Although the Soviet Union was dismantled in 1991, the author still today hesitates to publicly reflect on his experience. We follow him through treatment before intravenous steroid became standard of care.[1]<\/sup><\/a> There is an element of intrigue as he describes the obsolete drugs he was given; the Georgian black market; and the doctor who dares not talk to Americans for fear of retribution. His journal is like opening a fifty-year time capsule. It is a reminder of how medicine continues to evolve; and it is a reminder of how fortunate we are for the health care we have today.<\/p>\n

–Kristen Lamoreau OD<\/p>\n

April 2024<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JOURNAL<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Sunday, 12 December 1976<\/strong><\/p>\n

My right eye is sore and blurred.\u00a0 I think it is caused by the microscope.\u00a0 I must have my eye checked by Ire\u2019s[2]<\/sup><\/a> aunt, an ophthalmologist.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monday, 13 December <\/strong><\/p>\n

My right eye is worse. I looked up Jeff Fisher, the American doctor who is accompanying the photography exhibit, hosted by the United States Information Agency (USIA).[3]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 He looked at the eye with a flashlight, the only equipment he has, and told me it may be infection or early cataracts.\u00a0 He thinks I should go to Moscow to see the embassy doctor.\u00a0 He is going to call that doctor today, and maybe I can make the mail run for the photography group.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the image in the right eye is gray and blurred.<\/p>\n

I think I will try to see a Soviet Academy of Sciences doctor today.\u00a0 Theoretically, my medical problems are to be provided by the Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wednesday, 15 December <\/strong><\/p>\n

On Monday, I went to the Palaeobiology Institute and explained my situation to Ire who thought we should go to see her aunt, professor of ophthalmology at Tbilisi State University with an office in the new hospital of the Republic.\u00a0 Iver borrowed Thomas\u2019s car to drive us there; on the way, we were stopped by the militia for a routine check. Iver apparently told him I was an American and we were going to the hospital. The militia man looked at me, was convinced that I looked foreign enough, and waved us through.<\/p>\n

At the hospital, Ire and I took the tiny 4-passenger elevator to the 8th floor and waited for her aunt.\u00a0 She finally arrived and we got into her office immediately, although 12-15 other people were waiting to see her.\u00a0 She examined the eye, had a student put drops in it, then told me to wait an hour.\u00a0 For the next 1\u00bd-2 hours, she was in the operating room while I sat in the waiting room with the family of the man being operated on and other patients.\u00a0 Periodically another doctor would come through and pull up the flap over one of the patient\u2019s eyes and examine the operation scars.\u00a0 Some were grotesque. So was the family of the patient in question; they wept and talked.\u00a0 Occasionally, they would go to the door to watch the operation.<\/p>\n

As soon as it was over, Dr. Shatilova walked out of the room and was attacked by a dozen people again.\u00a0 But I was admitted to her office where she studied my eye for 15 minutes or so.\u00a0 She told me to come back the next morning.<\/p>\n

Ire called Monday evening and told me she would go to the hospital tomorrow with me.\u00a0 On the way there, she, I think, was preparing me for an operation.\u00a0 But once there, Dr. Shatilova examined the eye once again and surmised it was infected nerves.\u00a0 A second doctor examined the eye and agreed. My vision was tested and my head was examined.\u00a0 Finally, I was given a shot in the area around the eye.\u00a0 And Ire was given the diagnosis.\u00a0 Now I am waiting to be admitted to the hospital.\u00a0 The Academy of Science agreement clearly states that the Academy pays for my medical care.\u00a0 But the necessary papers are taking forever to get (so what else is new?).\u00a0 I was told to expect 2-4 weeks in the hospital!<\/p>\n

We have considered the alternatives, but there seem to be none.\u00a0 It would take nearly a week to get clearance to get out of the country, and my eye needs treatment now.\u00a0 The hospital gives me and Nancy[4]<\/sup><\/a> the willies, but it is the best available.\u00a0 I have confidence in the doctor.<\/p>\n

Nancy talked to Jeff Fisher who seems to think the diagnosis is reasonable and the expected stay in the hospital appropriate.\u00a0 I talked to him Sunday night and every day since then, but he does not have an ophthalmoscope so could not examine my eye very thoroughly.\u00a0 He thinks there may be some permanent eye damage but that the eye will improve.<\/p>\n

So meanwhile, we wait for the beginning of treatment.\u00a0 We have called all of the appropriate people and are waiting for actions (I\u2019m glad it isn\u2019t appendicitis!).<\/p>\n

This morning, we have no hot water or heat.\u00a0 It has turned cold and windy.\u00a0 We are in the room trying to keep warm.<\/p>\n

The Aunt and Uncle (also a doctor), it turns out, raised Ire after her father died.\u00a0 They legally adopted her so her name is the same as theirs.\u00a0 It makes me wonder even more why her father died in Siberia in 1937. (Later Ire told me that her \u201cfather made a political mistake.\u201d Perhaps Stalin\u2019s purge.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sunday, 19 December\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Wednesday afternoon, Ire came to the hotel room and we went together to the Republic Hospital where I was admitted, issued pajamas, and ushered to a room.\u00a0 My room is a single located between the operating room and the waiting room.\u00a0 I have a metal cot, a wardrobe whose door doesn\u2019t close, and a table.\u00a0 There is a sink which runs (not drips) constantly.\u00a0 No one seems to notice or think it odd, but then later, I noticed that most faucets on this floor run or drip.\u00a0 There is a toilet in the little entryway which is clearly meant to be used only by the patient in this room.\u00a0 But everyone uses it because it sort of works whereas most on this floor do not.\u00a0 The window doesn\u2019t close, the linoleum is bound up around the base of the wardrobe, and the toilet above leaks down the wall, apparently.\u00a0 The hospital is about 3 years old.<\/p>\n

The other patients are from throughout Georgia.\u00a0 Most don\u2019t speak Russian. They are housed in rooms of 4-8 patients except for the additional patient who must use the couch in the waiting room.\u00a0 Most of them have huge gashes around one eye, left from surgery.\u00a0 They apparently have been told not to come into my room for they stand around the door and peer in when it is open but no longer walk into the room.\u00a0 When I go to the nurses\u2019 room for shots, some of them will say \u201cAmerican, yes?\u201d to me or otherwise try to learn something about me.<\/p>\n

I have a single room not because I am contagious, but because I am to be isolated from the natives.\u00a0 I don\u2019t really mind \u2013 the conditions are primitive enough for my taste!<\/p>\n

But I have confidence in the doctors.\u00a0 I have seen a half dozen or so and have had as good treatment and attention, I think, that I could have gained at home.\u00a0 Dr. Shatilova tries to explain things to me in English and examines the eye nerves daily.\u00a0 She calls in other doctors to substantiate her diagnosis.\u00a0 Another doctor, Davy, who is our age, served us supper last night in his office. He knows a little English and is curious about our situation.<\/p>\n

There is some improvement in the eyesight around the right edge.\u00a0 I am hopeful that recovery will speed up.\u00a0 Each day I have a shot of strepo[5]<\/sup><\/a> in the eye socket, gauze soaked in adrenaline[6]<\/sup><\/a> stuffed up my nose, a half dozen shots in the rump and 3-6 pills.\u00a0 Now I feel good, just waiting for more eyesight.\u00a0 Dr. Shatilova says that, \u201cIn most cases, the eyesight returns.\u201d\u00a0 Mine is, but very slowly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monday, 20 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s just me and the running water in the sink.\u00a0 I feel like I\u2019m camping next to a babbling brook.\u00a0 I tried to calculate the discharge and concluded it is about 1-2 gallons\/hour.\u00a0 I cannot imagine such waste at home.<\/p>\n

I killed two more cockroaches this morning \u2013 none in the bed this time.<\/p>\n

I see a little light around the edges of my eye now.\u00a0 If there is motion, I can detect it.\u00a0 I think the sight is better but clearly not as good as last weekend.\u00a0 They gave me another shot at midnight.\u00a0 My medication now is one shot of trintal[7]<\/sup><\/a> in the eye each day; a decreasing number of gantomitsan[8]<\/sup><\/a> shots each day \u2013 yesterday 2, one of which was in the eye; a shot of vitamins and tseporine[9]<\/sup><\/a> in the rump; adrenalin gauze up my nose for 30 minutes; and until yesterday, 3 pills once or twice a day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tuesday, 21 December <\/strong><\/p>\n

I see more improvement in my eye again this morning.\u00a0 I can now delineate objects in the room, such as the bed, the table, etc., but I cannot see buildings out the window yet nor can I see the letter chart in the hallway.<\/p>\n

The heat in the room and in the building is stifling; it\u2019s maybe 85-90\u2109 in here.\u00a0 I could not sleep most of the night because of it.\u00a0 The vent regulator doesn\u2019t work, of course, and the window, which is always open, is blocked by a storm window.\u00a0 There is about a 2-day time lag between a change in the weather and turning the furnace up or down.<\/p>\n

Yesterday\u2019s medication included \u00bd a white pill, the powder, the adrenalin, two shots (trintal and gandonitsan) in the eye socket, and two shots in the rump.<\/p>\n

I saw a car drive by 8 floors below.<\/p>\n

Perhaps I should say something about the food here.\u00a0 About 9:30 we have breakfast consisting of hot cereal (until today it has always been a cream of wheat, but today was oatmeal) with butter on the top, curds with sugar, tea, and bread.\u00a0 Lunch at about 12:30 consists of a warm cup of milk, a boiled egg, and bread.\u00a0 Dinner, 2:30 \u2013 4:00 is shchi, the cabbage soup of all the USSR, pieces of meat (always beef!) with noodles or potatoes in a bowl, compote, and bread.\u00a0 The beef is truly amazing since we rarely see it in stores, and it is very expensive.\u00a0 And at about 6:30, tea and leftovers are served.\u00a0 I get all of my meals in my room.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wednesday, 22 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is my eighth day in the hospital.\u00a0 Clearly there is an improvement since the time I arrived.\u00a0 Each day I notice a little better vision.\u00a0 Yesterday when Dr. Shatilova examined me, she confirmed the diagnosis had been accurate, although not as evident then as now.<\/p>\n

It is still before 7:00 but already I have had one of my shots.\u00a0 I had one at midnight also.<\/p>\n

Nancy came early again yesterday.\u00a0 They had closed the library for a second day because of no heat. In the evening, Ire came by.\u00a0 I gave her the first draft of the Nature<\/em> paper.\u00a0 She had apparently spoken to Dr. Davitashvili about it and received his approval.\u00a0 Now she is on leave while I am in the hospital. I hope her aunt doesn\u2019t decide to keep me here longer so that Ire can have a longer vacation. It is a conflict of interest!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thursday, 23 December <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m up early again this morning.\u00a0 My eye seems about the same, but maybe there is a little improvement.\u00a0 It is too hard to tell.\u00a0 Since Monday, progress has been slow.<\/p>\n

Nancy was here yesterday, and Iver stopped by in the late afternoon with a bag of dried persimmons and a letter including an article from the Des Moines Register<\/em> about my\u00a0research at Okoboji.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I wrote 4 letters, 2 lectures, and finished a book.\u00a0 Now I am out of reading and writing materials.\u00a0 I also worked on crosswords and solitaire.\u00a0 The grind of the hospital is becoming real.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Friday, 24 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m up before seven again, but unlike other days, I had a good night\u2019s sleep.\u00a0 They came in to give me my midnight and 6:00 a.m. shots and after the latter, I got up.\u00a0 I\u2019ve killed the usual number of cockroaches this morning (one might assume there wouldn\u2019t be cockroaches with this much cleaning, but one must observe the cleaning in progress first!).<\/p>\n

I was not encouraged by my progress yesterday, but they gave me the eye test where you observe the moving light.\u00a0 I did well except when it was directly in front of me.\u00a0 So there is progress.\u00a0 It is too early to tell this morning, but I will test myself on the buildings across the way when the sun rises.<\/p>\n

Yesterday morning there was snow in the front yard here and on rooftops.\u00a0 It is the first snow we have had in the city.\u00a0 The sun was out, however, and melted it back several hundred feet up the mountain.<\/p>\n

Nancy came in the afternoon and brought some books from the library.\u00a0 I started Faulkner\u2019s Intruder in the Dust.<\/em>\u00a0 Interestingly, all of the books have racism as a theme \u2013 2 by Faulkner, Forrester\u2019s A Passage to India<\/em>, and Gide\u2019s Travels in the Congo<\/em>.\u00a0 No wonder they think western society is racist and Soviet society is pure.\u00a0 Modern writers, such as Vonnegut are being translated and no doubt add to the common suspicion that western society uses drugs.\u00a0 In both cases\u2013racism and alcohol\u2013we have never seen it so blatantly as we have here.\u00a0 Hard drugs are probably not as common as in the U.S., but it would never be reported, so who knows.<\/p>\n

I wrote another lecture yesterday.\u00a0 Dr. Shatilova told me I was working too hard and must rest more.\u00a0 She has no idea what I do, so I suppose she heard from Ire that I had written the article.\u00a0 At any rate, I went to bed and laid there without anything to do.<\/p>\n

The USIA guides have been nice to Nancy. They, for the most part, have become fed up with life in this country after 6 months and will be glad to leave at the end of January.\u00a0 Because they are State Department employees, they get more harassment than we do.\u00a0 But by the same token, they have more conveniences which the U.S. government has shipped in for them.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure we have more contacts with Georgians.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saturday, 25 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m up early again this morning after a fairly sleepless night.\u00a0 I do not feel fatigued, however, since I\u2019ve been in bed for 10 hours.\u00a0 There seems to be a little more improvement in my eye, although it is difficult to distinguish progress from day to day.<\/p>\n

This is Christmas, at least according to the calendar.\u00a0 Nancy said she would come out in the morning today for a full day of bedroom sitting.\u00a0 The other Americans invited her to parties last night and today.\u00a0 She went back to the hotel to one last night.<\/p>\n

Yesterday Jeff and Patti Fisher came out with a bottle of wine.\u00a0 I enjoyed their visit.\u00a0 I found Davy, the English-speaking doctor who is my age and who said he would like to meet an American doctor, but halfway to the room he decided it was not a good idea.\u00a0 No doubt he is under surveillance because he speaks English, and he did not want to be caught in the room without first getting permission.\u00a0 He suggested meeting Sunday.\u00a0 Jeff has already asked the USIA Soviet hosts if he could visit a hospital here so maybe he will pursue it from that angle, and I will apologize to Davy.<\/p>\n

In the evening, Zili stopped by with food and a toy Christmas tree.\u00a0 She wanted to wish us Merry Christmas.\u00a0 Her family is nominally Catholic since her grandmother is from Germany.<\/p>\n

People at the library sent more food and coffee.\u00a0 It\u2019s strange that coffee is not available in the stores, but people can get it on the black market or maybe in the hard currency store for local residents, not the Tsitsinatela[10]<\/sup><\/a> we know.\u00a0 (Hard currency buys everything!).<\/p>\n

Jeff suggested I go immediately to the emergency room of the University of Wisconsin hospital when I return so an ophthalmologist there will look at my eye. He did not think it was necessary to leave immediately for the states, however.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sunday, 26 December <\/strong><\/p>\n

Early mornings are the only sane times around this hospital.\u00a0 Other patients don\u2019t get up until 8:00 or so.\u00a0 Nurses and doctors are fairly quiet until then too.\u00a0 My 6:00 a.m. shot usually arrives about 6:45 by which time I am up and reading.<\/p>\n

Nancy ordered bourbon from the embassy in Moscow on the weekly shipment for the photographers.\u00a0 We had a little glass of bourbon\u2013our first since the U.S. It is cheaper and better than the watered scotch we can buy at Tsitsinatela.\u00a0 Also, we can pay dollars at the embassy and not circulate the hard currency through this country\u2019s system.<\/p>\n

My eye is better today.\u00a0 I can almost see writing on the page, which is a first.\u00a0 I can see through the worst haze, in the center of the eye, and can make out objects at a not great distance away.\u00a0 I wonder if I can see the mountains across the valley when the sun rises.\u00a0 There is even a little color.\u00a0 I am off gantomitsin now and instead get 4 shots of tseporine a day.<\/p>\n

Last night, after I had gone to bed and Nancy had left, the nurses brought pastries to the room for us.\u00a0 I think it was a recognition that it was Christmas.\u00a0 It was a nice gesture, particularly from the nurses who aren\u2019t very warm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monday, 27 December <\/strong><\/p>\n

My eyesight may be a little better this morning, but only just barely.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t sleep well and that limits improvement.\u00a0 Dr. Shatilova examined me this morning and said she could see improvement.\u00a0 But my sight is only slightly better.\u00a0 She changed my medication for this week.\u00a0 Apparently, she and Ire talk considerably because she asks the same questions that Ire does (about leaving, etc.).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tuesday, 28 December <\/strong><\/p>\n

There seems to be a little improvement in my eye each day.\u00a0 But it goes very slowly and is discouraging.\u00a0 Today I can make out lights in the apartment building across the way.\u00a0 Yesterday when the sun was up, I saw the little trees in the hospital\u2019s front yard, and I could distinguish the horizon.\u00a0 I can make out the large items in the room and some smaller ones at close range.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I talked to Dr. Shatilova again. For example, yesterday afternoon a new nurse put electrodes wrapped in cotton and soaked in something, hydrocortisone, I think, up my nose.[11]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 With a metal plate on my back, I was hooked up to a machine for 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

Nancy came about 3:00 and stayed until about 7:00.\u00a0 She is exasperated by this whole business\u2013my slow progress, the trolleys, and the mud. I finished Intruder in the Dust<\/em> and am now reading Forrester\u2019s A Passage to India<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wednesday, 29 December <\/strong><\/p>\n

No eye shot yesterday.\u00a0 I am on an every-other-day schedule now for these injections.\u00a0 I am still getting tseporine in the rump.\u00a0 They took much blood yesterday\u2013from both arms.\u00a0 The electrode machine is for getting hydrocortisone and adrenal into my eye blood vessels quickly.\u00a0 They expand those vessels which allow more blood to pass through the infected area.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thursday, 30 December <\/strong><\/p>\n

The sun did not shine yesterday or today.\u00a0 But I think there is some improvement in my eye.\u00a0 It is too cloudy to adequately see the buildings across the way, but I think they are there.\u00a0 It is easier to see improvement if I compare to one week ago rather than to one day ago.<\/p>\n

Still no mail.\u00a0 It must be the New Year\u2019s card rush at the post office which has slowed the mail or maybe it was our letter to Jimmy Carter.\u00a0 At any rate, maybe today.<\/p>\n

They are giving me something each morning which makes me drowsy.\u00a0 I cannot really sleep because of the interruptions, but I cannot sit up either.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Friday, 31 December <\/strong><\/p>\n

I have not received any injections since yesterday now.\u00a0 At midnight, I went to find the nurse who said it was not necessary for me last night.\u00a0 So, either I am off tseporine or there is poor communication among the nurses.\u00a0 I suspect the latter.<\/p>\n

I tested myself for a long time yesterday.\u00a0 It is clear that there has been progress.\u00a0 The center of the eye is still foggy, but the fog is penetrable and its area is smaller.\u00a0 I have no idea how long it will take for the vision to be completely restored, but I am setting my goal as a week from Wednesday, the 28th day here.<\/p>\n

There is still no mail.\u00a0 Nancy went to Intourist[12]<\/sup><\/a> to complain yesterday.\u00a0 They reportedly are checking.\u00a0 If none comes today, we will have none tomorrow either, tomorrow being the holiday.<\/p>\n

Nancy came to the hospital early.\u00a0 We had a long day of talking.\u00a0 She left about 7:00 to get back before the mail desk closed at 8:00.\u00a0 On her way out, she met Ire and Ia who were coming to visit.\u00a0 Ia brought food, some of which I will eat, the rest of which I have discarded.\u00a0 Ire brought some cake from a bakery which she cut a piece out of to see if it was good (ha ha!).\u00a0 They were both surprised to find me reading And Quiet Flows the Don[13]<\/strong><\/sup><\/a><\/em> and could not believe that it was published in the U.S.A. Now, I suppose, I must finish Don<\/em> so that we can discuss it.\u00a0 I was only reading it because that is all I have left, besides Andrew Gide, on my reading shelf.<\/p>\n

I finished another paleontology lecture yesterday.\u00a0 That makes 7 done now.<\/p>\n

I did not receive my sleepy medicine yesterday for which I am grateful.\u00a0 I accomplished a few things.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saturday, 1 January 1977<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wait for gamolone[14]<\/sup><\/a>. There was much intrigue about how it would arrive: from the Academy, the Institute, individuals or medical people. It was obviously in short supply and coming from who-knows-where, but Jeff Fisher thinks it is a steroid which will not \u201ccure\u201d the problem, but perhaps mask its progress.<\/p>\n

I talked to Davy and the Director who say I will be here for 10 days then become an outpatient.\u00a0 At that time, they hope to re-assess my eye. Davy also said my blood has not nor does not show any sign of the infection.<\/p>\n

Gide\u2019s Travels In the Congo<\/em> forced him politically to the left \u2013 hence that is why the book is here. I wonder what his reaction would be if he had instead spent his time in the USSR?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saturday, 8 January <\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday I left the hospital but must go back every other day for shots and medication.\u00a0 Nancy came about 11:00; I was able to leave about 2:00.\u00a0 We came back to the room on a bus which was like sardines.\u00a0 A gentle snow was falling which has continued to the present. There is no snow removal from sidewalks or streets.\u00a0 It\u2019s very picturesque but an awful mess.<\/p>\n

When we got to the room yesterday, there was a little heat, but no hot water.\u00a0 The same has held to the present.\u00a0 The temperature in the room is approximately 60-64\u2109, which is tolerable.<\/p>\n

The hospital never did produce any gamalone!\u00a0 We are still waiting.\u00a0 Meanwhile, they were going to give me tablets to take in the room, but they couldn\u2019t be found either.\u00a0 Also, I was to get 2 shots in the eye \u2013 trintal, and gintomytsia[15]<\/sup><\/a> and dexalzone[16]<\/sup><\/a> \u2013 but the latter couldn\u2019t be found, so I only got trintal.\u00a0 Any improvement I have made is due to my own initiative, I think.<\/p>\n

The director of the eye clinic, Dr. Machavariani, asked me to sign the guest register.\u00a0 He showed me what the other American, from Wisconsin, had written.\u00a0 He was in the military and suffered a detached retina, probably while in the Black Sea.\u00a0 He was in the hospital for only one night, February, 1974.\u00a0 In my 3 paragraphs, I spoke highly of the hospital \u2013 what else could one do?<\/p>\n

I finished Travels in the Congo<\/em> this afternoon after some debate about whether it was worth finishing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter this experience, I think no country will ever seem monotonous again, nor any journey tedious.\u201d[17]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> The Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial was first published in 1992<\/p>\n

[2]<\/sup><\/a> A fellow scientist researching pollen dating in the fossil record<\/p>\n

[3]<\/sup><\/a> A government diplomatic agency that was created to improve public opinion of the US in communist countries (1953-1999)<\/p>\n

[4]<\/sup><\/a> The author\u2019s wife<\/p>\n

[5]<\/sup><\/a> Streptomycin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic<\/p>\n

[6]<\/sup><\/a> Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which, like a corticosteroid, acts on the adrenal cortex to release cortisol<\/p>\n

[7]<\/sup><\/a>pentoxifylline, an agent that affects blood viscosity, used to improve blood flow<\/p>\n

[8]<\/sup><\/a> Gentamicin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic<\/p>\n

[9]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cSporin,\u201d short for cephalosporin, a beta-lactam antimicrobial<\/p>\n

[10]<\/sup><\/a> Hard currency store<\/p>\n

[11]<\/sup><\/a> Used in some countries as a treatment for inflammation<\/p>\n

[12]<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0a Russian travel agency, founded in 1929<\/p>\n

[13]<\/sup><\/a> A Novel by Russian author Mikhail Sholokhov<\/p>\n

[14]<\/sup><\/a> Gaba-aminoacid, a Russian homeopathic medication that is believed to increase blood flow in the brain<\/p>\n

[15]<\/sup><\/a> Gentamicin<\/p>\n

[16]<\/sup><\/a> Dexamethasone<\/p>\n

[17]<\/sup><\/a> Gide, p. 339<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here, we have a patient\u2019s perspective of optic neuritis\u23bcwhich is unique enough in itself to bear further inspection. But because the narrative is by an American paleontologist\u00a0in Soviet Georgia,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":5366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"93","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Here, we have a patient\u2019s perspective of optic neuritis\u23bcwhich is unique enough in itself to bear further inspection. But because the narrative is by an American paleontologist\u00a0in Soviet Georgia,","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[84,61,94,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-article","category-neuro","category-optic-nerve","category-volume-2-issue-3","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5352"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5439,"href":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5352\/revisions\/5439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalofmedicaloptometry.com\/vol4issue2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}