Fractured Views

By: Red Centeno

 

Page 1 (5 Panels):

 

Panel 1: 

 

A pair of broken glasses are laid on a messy desk cluttered with art supplies and the like. It’s poorly lit by only an overhead lamp, the stem of the glasses snapped off. The highlight of the glasses streak aggressively, streaking and obscuring the scene. 

 

CAPTION: I was never the most careful person, often breaking my glasses in some type of accident or another, but these just fell apart when I placed them on my face that early December morning. 

 

Panel 2: 

 

RED enters your average optometrist’s office, whose walls are lined with frames for glasses and sunglasses of different shapes and sizes. Red looks insecure, unsure of who to speak to as this is their first time at any sort of appointment on their own. It is also caused by their difficulty to discern who works there, as the people’s faces are distorted and blurred. They wear warmer clothing, wrapped in a scarf and a beanie that covers their short hair as they escape the early chill of Chicago’s winter. 

 

CAPTION: I decided to take advantage of this opportunity since I was overdue for an eye exam. I could tell that my previous prescription was no longer helping much anyways. 

 

Panel 3: 

 

RED sits in the examination room, the dimly lit room coated in instruments and computers meant to record the quality of one’s eyesight. Sitting stiffly they examine their surroundings. 

 

CAPTION: It was my first time taking myself to any sort of appointment. I was nervous, but proud of being able to handle things on my own.

 

Panel 4: 

 

RED’s face, now with a Phoropter in front of them, frowns as they try to read the letters on the screen (not seen on this panel). 

 

Panel 5: 

 

We see what RED sees in the vision test. All the letters are very blurred to the point where it is impossible to discern what they could possibly be. On top of this, the letters are surrounded by a halo of grey-the result of very blurry double vision. 

 

CAPTION (stretches across both panels 4 and 5, jumping the gutter): The doctor told me that my left eye was asking for such a strong prescription that she had to cut the prescription in half. She told me to go see a specialist… 

 

CAPTION: This greatly troubled me. What could possibly be wrong? I hadn’t noticed anything until this point. 

 

Page 2 (6 Panels): 

 

Panel 1: 

 

RED, now wearing glasses, shyly enters an ophthalmologist’s office. All of the patients are much older, and the office itself appears more to be that of a doctor’s office, with no frames for sale, rather posters depicting different eye conditions and brands of contacts or surgeries. RED wears a loose blouse and jeans as they escape the intense Florida sun, their sunglasses resting on the top of their head, their short curls wrapping around its lenses. 

 

CAPTION: The following summer I finally had the opportunity to see an ophthalmologist.

 

Panels 2-5: 

 

In a montage, we see RED in front of many machines and charts, being observed and tested in a variety of ways. Some of the ways you can see RED being tested is getting their eye’s blood pressure, ultrasound, and placing their eyes in front of large pieces of equipment. RED looks winded and tired, as the strain of being tested in so many ways took a toll on their energy levels.  

 

CAPTION: In to appointments I believe they had done more than 12 different tests trying to figure out what was wrong. The amount of tests were dizzying, and I began getting worried that it was more serious than I had imagined. 

 

Panel 6: 

 

RED sits nervously in one of the rooms with the doctor, who is sitting by a large computer screen. The screen displays a chart with eye topographies, which is distinctly uneven. The doctor is a younger woman, with a kind and soft expression. 

 

CAPTION: They finally diagnosed me with keratoconus. 

 

Page 3 (4 Panels): 

 

Panel 1: 

 

In pantomime, the doctor begins gesturing to RED what is being displayed on the screen. She is being very calm and delicate, noticing that RED was so young. RED stares numbly at the screen, pale. 

 

CAPTION: Keratoconus is an eye disease with no cure and no recorded cause. 

 

Panel 2: 

 

Continuing their lesson, the doctor holds up a pamphlet, gesturing at a diagram of two human eyes, one of which is normal, while the other has keratoconus which has a distinct shape at the front of the eye. 

 

CAPTION: For someone with Keratoconus, the outermost layer of the eye, the cornea, is softer than normal, making it easier to deform.

 

Panel 3:

 

The diagram, now taking up the entirety of the panel, depicts how light (in the form of lines) is supposed to be normally distributed in the eye when receiving information, versus what occurs to those with keratoconus. 

 

CAPTION: One of the largest issues with this is how light travels through the eye. Since eyes have an even surface, light is able to pass cleanly through and send a perfect image to the eye. With Keratoconus, light is bent differently due to its uneven surface, resulting in distortions.

 

 

Panel 4:

 

With that, the doctor leans over and hands RED a handful of different pamphlets and brochures with information about Keratoconus. The doctor’s demeanor is a little sad, as they see RED obviously shocked and still processing through all the information given to them. 

 

DOCTOR: Here’s my number… Please call if you have any questions about this.

 

RED: T-thanks…

 

CAPTION: After the diagnosis, I was recommended to a cornea specialist and sent home.

 

Page 4 (7 Panels): 

 

Panel 1:

 

In a high point of view, we see RED exit the ophthalmologist’s office and enter a car waiting to pick them up. 

 

Panel 2: 

 

In the car, RED starts sharing the news with their older cousin, SEBI. RED is obviously disturbed, while their cousin calmly listens. Sebi, dressed in nurse scrubs, is in his mid 20s. His calm face is relaxed as he focuses his attention on the road. 

 

RED: I have never been diagnosed with something so… permanent. This is going to be something I am going to have to deal with for the rest of my life. I feel... Broken? Afraid? What if this affects my ability to draw?

 

Panel 3:

 

SEBI looks ahead while driving, calm. 

 

SEBI: That’s just a part of life. We all have our challenges. You have your eyes, and I have my problems. We’ll both continue to live on, nothing else will change just because we have these issues. You’ll overcome it and continue to make amazing things. 

 

Panel 4: 

 

Calmer, RED looks out the window, staring at the rolling landscape on their way home. 

 

CAPTION: I was still hesitant about what the future may hold, but I knew giving up wasn’t an option anymore. 

 

RED: Thanks Sebi...

 

CAPTION: Between sharing the news with the rest of my family, I spent most of my time thinking about moments in my past that made a lot more sense now. 

 

Panel 5: 

 

A younger RED holding their head in pain as they walk across their highschool campus wearing sunglasses. 

 

CAPTION: Like how I would get splitting headaches daily if I didn’t wear sunglasses when I was outside. 

 

Panel 6: 

 

A younger RED laughing with friends, pointing at a fast food menu at a restaurant, squinting.

 

CAPTION: Making jokes about how my glasses barely did anything and how I was as blind as a bat.

 

Panel 7:  

 

A younger RED sitting in the dark of their room, mortified as they sat with one eye closed staring at their pointer finger. The finger has an aura of double vision surrounding it- causing it to blur. 

 

CAPTION: And especially how even when I had one eye closed, I was still getting double vision, something which I knew shouldn't happen with one eye closed. 

 

Page 5 (5 Panels): 

 

Panel 1: 

 

RED now enters a hospital-sized building exclusively for eye doctors. The large lobby features frames for sale, while the rest of the building is dedicated to officices for a variety of eye specialists. Once again, most of the patients are much older than RED, and they walk in feeling intimidated by such a large space, shrinking in on themselves.

 

CAPTION: A few weeks later, I would begin the many appointments on the road to treatment. 

 

Panel 2: 

 

Sitting in yet another room, RED’s new doctor sits down with them and gives them a breakdown of everything the next steps. This doctor is serious and bears salt and pepper hair and a short beard to match. Although it’s obvious that he takes his work very seriously, there’s a charming twinkle in his eye. 

 

CAPTION: I met with my doctor that I would spend the next few years with during my treatment. He began discussing forms of treatment.

 

Panel 3: 

 

The scene changes that to a dark surgery room, the only thing seen is a doctor and a nurse silhouetted in the light of a lamp close to them, leaning over someone’s face. 

 

CAPTION: Both would involve surgery. The first of these would be cross linking surgery, where after agitating (scratching) the surface of the eye, doctors will place a medication on the eye and UV light to encourage hardening of the cornea. This is a fairly new surgery with much success and little recovery time. 

 

Panel 4: 

 

(No blurry vision effect) We see a closeup of someone’s eye who has gone through a cornea transplant. Everything looks normal besides small black lines indicating stitches on the surface of the person’s eye, zig zagging and forming a circle around the iris. 

 

CAPTION: If the eye continues to worsen to the point where the person can no longer see, they are recommended to receive a corneal transplant, where part of your cornea is replaced by tissue from a donor, which is applied with stitches. Although also successful, it can be considered more dangerous and intense, as the new corneal tissue can be rejected and there is a heightened chance of infection.

 

Panel 5: 

 

RED stands up and shakes the doctor’s hand, serious yet grateful for meeting with him. It’s obvious once again that they’re shaken up by the thought of surgery, but they put on a brave face. 

 

CAPTION: And with the initial screenings out of the way, it was decided to go through with cross linking. I clearly remember him warning me about the pain and saying:

 

DOCTOR: You’re going to hate me after this, but I promise it will be worth it.

 

Page 6 (4 Panels): 

 

Panel 1: 

 

Early in the morning, RED is driven by their mom to the surgery. RED is wearing soft loose fitting clothing and looks very sleepy and calm. The sun had barely rizen. 

 

CAPTION: That October, almost 10 months after that fateful eye exam, I had my first of two surgeries, as it was one for each eye. I braced myself for the worst, unsure what to expect from the procedure itself. 

 

Panel 2: 

 

In the operation room, RED is being treated while their mom sits in a nearby chair. Music plays in the surprisingly lively room. RED’S face is hidden from view due to the nurse’s body (trust me, no one wants to see what they did to my eye) and their mom smiles calmly. Lyrics of a Paramore song drift above the surgery scene, surrounded by musical notes. 

 

CAPTION: To my surprise, the surgery itself was a very nice experience. I was able to pick music that I wanted and for the first half of the procedure was able to chat with the nurse and my mom. The second surgery was done in January after the first was deemed a success. 

 

MOM: Hahah!

 

SFX: “Hoping someday maybe I’ll just float away~” 

Panel 3: 

 

RED now in bed, and is asleep. Their face relaxed with no hint of any sort of procedure being done besides tears weeping out of their left eye. 

 

CAPTION: I was sent home immediately to sleep off the worst part of the recovery. I slept for over 20 hours and when I woke up, the majority of the pain had gone. 

 

Panel 4: 

 

In the same position as the previous panel, the asleep RED is frowning, tears weeping out their right eye intensely as they grip their pillow.  The world around them is heavily blurred and swirling, and is darker than the previous panel.

 

CAPTION: My doctor had said that every eye was different, which I discovered to be true after my second surgery. Even with heavy pain killers, the very act of breathing caused ridiculous amounts of intense pain in my eye, but thankfully it subsided after the second day and I was finally on the road to recovery. It was the worst physical pain I had ever experienced in my life.

 

Page 7 (6 Panels): 

 

Panel 1:

 

RED now sits and waits in yet another office, now confident in their posture and relaxed, as by this point they had been to over 15 doctors visits, and they had survived the worst of their treatment. 

 

CAPTION: After multiple post surgery visits, the doctor deemed the surgery a success and permitted me to enter the final stage of my treatment: contacts.

 

Panel 2: 

 

Meeting with another doctor in yet another office, RED sits as the doctor explains the two different types of contacts. She is holding a diagram showing a specialty contact resting on the eye’s surface, providing the smooth surface needed to provide light to pass through without distortion. Bright and cheery, this doctor was straightforward and efficient. 

 

CAPTION: Of course I couldn’t get normal contacts, that would just be too easy wouldn’t it? There were two options, both serving the same purpose of creating a smooth surface in which light passes through without distortion and providing an accurate eye prescription.

 

Panel 3: 

 

In a room filled with contact lenses, RED is with a nurse that is teaching them how to put on their lenses. A diagram of hybrid contact lenses is displayed on a table in the foreground, making it easier to see for readers.

 

CAPTION: The first I tried on were hybrid contact lenses. These have a hard center which is surrounded by a soft edge, and are filled with a solution prior to insertion.

 

Panel 4:

 

RED is outside in the parking lot of the large eye building with their mom. Both of them are doubled over, crying. In the foreground is a tree, it’s leaves bright and distinct. 

 

RED: I-I can see the leaves…!

 

SFX: sob

 

CAPTION: Although I was able to see clearly for the first time in years, the contacts caused a lot of pain while wearing them and during removal. We returned to try the other option.

 

 Panel 5: 

 

RED, in the same office as panel 3, is bent over, preparing to insert a scleral contact. Red holds a small stick which balances the contact, filled with liquid. 

 

CAPTION: My second option was scleral contacts. Completely hard, these contacts are also filled with a solution. I was nervous, because if these weren't comfortable, that was it. These were my only two options. 

 

Panel 6: 

 

Eyes wide, RED stares into a mirror, smiling, taking a look at the contacts. The mirror provides a better look at RED compared to the beginning. They have soft bags under their eyes, and their hair is much longer now, being able to be put into a ponytail. They look much calmer and content. 

 

CAPTION: Fortunately, that wouldn’t be the case, as these I could wear a majority of the time without feeling them. Although removing them was a hassle, they were thousands of times better than the hybrids.

 

Page 8 (4 Panels): 

 

Panel 1: 

 

RED’s parents wait impatiently in the waiting room. 

 

CAPTION: After another six months of monitoring by both the cornea specialist and the contact specialist, I was finally deemed a success.

 

Panel 2: 

 

RED’s parents look over to see RED grinning, the doctor trailing behind them as they enter the waiting room. Their hair is even longer now, and they’re wearing a light cardigan to combat the morning chill of early Florida spring. 

 

CAPTION: After over two years and dozens of eye appointments I would now only have to visit once a year. One appointment to monitor my condition in case I would need to undergo cross linking surgery again, and another to see if there is a need to update my contact prescription.

 

Panel 3: 

 

The doctor speaks to RED and their parents, who look very happy at the news they’re receiving.

 

CAPTION: Something that had caused me so much stress and strife was finally overcome, and thanks to the kind doctors and technicians that comforted and helped me through the entire process, I was able to continue my career in art. 

 

Panel 4: As the doctor turns around to return to her office, RED is embraced by their parents, rejoicing in the good news.

 

CAPTION: If any of the symptoms seemed relatable or if there is something abnormal about your vision, please consult an eye doctor. For more information about keratoconus, or would like to support those with keratoconus, please visit NKCF.org.