it's a diabetes thing. high blood sugar can damage your retina & potentially eventually lead to blindness. you are meant to be checked every year but i haven't had mine done for about 18 months.
i get terribly terribly stressed about things like this, & had been worrying for a couple of months. anyway, it was fine, the man was lovely & spent ages explaining things to me. they use high tech digital cameras now, rather than a dr with an opthalmoscope which is much more reliable. he said he could see a very small amount of background damage, but i've had that for a few years now with no progression.
downside is evil acid drops in my eyes which will be blurry for the next few hours. but clearly i can still mumsnet.
am a relaxed happy hoxtonchick now .