23 minutes.

That’s how long my annual appointment with my ophthalmologist lasted this past week. I think we may have set a record in eye doctor appointment efficiency, as it was only such a short visit because there wasn’t a whole lot to talk about other than my “sparkly retinas”.

Yup, that was indeed the exact phrasing my doctor used to describe the state of my eye health upon dilation and examination. She went on to add several other gushing exclamations about my eyes, most of which I can’t recall because I was laughing at her comments.

It might sound like the appointment was rushed or that my doctor was less than thorough, given how short it was, but I was asked more than once if I had any eye concerns that I wanted to discuss with the doctor before I left. And I genuinely couldn’t think of anything worth mentioning, as my eye health has been stable in the last year and I haven’t had any noticeable vision changes. So we didn’t need to prolong my visit by any means. We probably spent a collective 7 or 8 minutes together before I was given a clean bill of eye health and asked to make my appointment for next year before leaving the building. It was that easy-peasy.

And I am extremely grateful for that.

Almost 26 years of living with diabetes and so far, it hasn’t impacted my eye sight. I don’t take that for granted. I know that may not always be the case. But for now, I’m more than happy to give up a measly hour of my day (I would’ve said 30 minutes, but I had to factor in the drive time to and from the doctor, naturally), once a year just to have that reassurance that I’m doing something right when it comes to my overall health. And maybe to hear that I have “sparkly retinas”, because that is quite a unique compliment.