Saturday, August 12, 2017

The Importance of Contacts

It's important when moving to a new area to make contacts...and also to have them.  Contact lenses that is.

I used to wear them in my youth and found myself wishing I could have them again now for sports (especially indoor) and special occasions when I want to wear make up.  Since this also involves combing my hair and putting on a bra, it wouldn't come up often, but it still would be nice.

Since I needed an annual eye exam anyway I asked my Thursday night group for recommendations (they've never led me astray yet) and got the name of an eye doctor.



An appointment was made and I found that my vision hasn't changed enough to warrant new lenses, I have the beginning of cataracts and was told that the glasses would give me better vision than the contact lenses.

Like a pouty little kid I whined "but I really want them for special occasions" and he relented.  I'm surprised he didn't give me a sucker as well.  He ordered me a trial pair which would only provide distance vision with no depth perception at all.  Heck, I don't have any depth perception anyway as anyone watching me try to park the car will attest.

When they arrived I picked them up and passed on the lesson on how to insert and remove them.  Well, it was a long time ago since I've worn these and I'd obviously forgotten some things.

After repeatedly stabbing myself in the eyes several times, they were finally in for my first four hours of wearing time.  Whoo hoo.  When it was time to remove them I finally had to Goggle "how to remove contact lenses" for some assistance.  After many fumbling attempts they finally were removed.  Certainly the next day it will go like clockwork.  Yeah ...right.

The next day I struggled again and wondered where in the world I got such a stupid idea but they finally went in.  I guess if you shove your finger in your eye firmly enough just about anything will stay in there.  The right eye never did feel good and I noticed at pickleball that the vision in my left eye was much better than the right eye.  Hmmm, I wonder if I had it flipped inside out.  That would explain the lack of vision constant irritation.

Day three I looked at them...put on my glasses and said "hell no".

Day four I plucked up the courage to attempt it again and they went in fairly easily.  Maybe I'm getting the hang of this after all!  Boy, he wasn't kidding about the lack of depth perception!  I kept hitting the pickleball past the back boundary a lot, but since I have played so long I just had to relax and rely on muscle memory for placement and then it was fine.

 I put them in a tad early and I was okay until I decided to run home for a shower and catch a movie.  By the time I left the theater and stopped to pick up groceries it was starting to feel like my eyeballs had been saran wrapped.  It felt really good to get home and take them out for the day.  I had them in for eight hours when it should have been more like 5 or 6.  Well, I guess that caught me up for skipping the one day.

I could have lived without the groceries, but I was out of canned cat food and didn't dare show up without it.  So instead of their usual healthier food they got Fancy Feast and gobbled it right up - what a treat for them.  I may switch back to this from time to time for a little variety, not to mention it's easier to find in grocery stores.

My follow up appointment is next Thursday and I'll ask if this is the best my vision will ever be or there are more advance ones to correct my astigmatism for clearer vision.  Then I'll have to decide if it's worth the money and hassle to have them for just once in a while.

Long Live the Queen of Contacts

1 comment:

  1. Now you know why I don't wear contacts. My glasses are just fine. As for the cataracts, you'll have super vision once they are removed. I had mine out two weeks apart. I went on vacation for the two weeks in-between. Worked out great for me.

    You have a super day my friend, hugs, Edna B.

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