When
I was in 3rd grade, I started asking the teacher to use the white chalk instead
of the yellow chalk because I could see it better. I moved up front to take
notes and was generally irritated at her for making my life hard.
So Mom took me to the optometrist. This was the
second trip that year; the first trip proved my eyes to be just fine. But by
the second trip the E at the top of the chart looked like an 8. In just a few
months I went from fine to blind.
So began my life with glasses. I've worn, stepped on, rolled over on, and continually lost (only because I couldnt see them...someone always found them very close by) more pairs of glasses than I can remember. i've had wire frames, plastic frames, green, red and turquoise frames. I went from glass lenses to plastic fairly quickly because of the weight of them and in High School was introduced to contacts.
Oh, how I loved my contacts! I didn't feel like I was hiding behind a wall anymore...I could wear sunglasses...I could see in the pool...hallelujah!
Then I moved to Gainesville, Florida, where the allergy doctors tell you everyone is allergic. There are, actually, prehistoric plants in some areas down there and suddenly I was itchy, irritable and stuffy all the time. After the 3rd eye infection I had to give up the contacts. The fabulous 5 year run was over. I was back in glasses.
I tried several times over the years to go back to contacts, but my eyes just refuse to adjust to them. I have an astigmatism, so every blink moves the contacts around a bit causing irritation. And, of course, my eye sight was even worse than it had been in High School.
So I gave up all attempts at contacts and watched the Laser Surgeries get better and better. As the rate of success climbed, so did my desire to be free of my problem. I couldn't even see the time on the clock beside my bed...very frustrating.
So, after years of planning and waiting, I had Laser surgery last Friday. Hurrah! Except:
OK...everyone talks about how great Lasik is, but what if you can't have Lasik? What if your cornea is too thin and your eye sight too bad and your astigmatism too severe? What then? Well, they have an answer for that, too. It's called PRK. Very similary to Lasik. Except;
There is more irritation (and pain...truly, at some point it isn't irritation, it's pain...thank God they gave my codeine!) The healing process takes longer, which means the irritation lasts for weeks and vision isn't stable, either. So here I am, no glasses, no contacts and my vision is blurry. NEVERTHELESS! I am happy! I can see the clock and I see improvement in my vision every day. My biggest problem 10 days after surgery is that the computer screen is hard to read.
For the first several days, I could see but not read. I took codeine every 6 hours and sometimes more often. I slept a LOT. I missed a day of work (for healing, in addition to the day I missed for the surgery) and wanted to miss the entire week. I've moaned and buried my head under a blanket to sleep away the aggravation at some point almost every day for the first week. But 10 days in, I'm really seeing improvement. I read every sign out loud...I point out anything that catches my attention...I show off at every opportunity. I'm able to read, for a while, at least...my eyes need a rest every hour or so of detailed work. But every day is better and I'm excited to find out how I will be seeing in another few days!
So began my life with glasses. I've worn, stepped on, rolled over on, and continually lost (only because I couldnt see them...someone always found them very close by) more pairs of glasses than I can remember. i've had wire frames, plastic frames, green, red and turquoise frames. I went from glass lenses to plastic fairly quickly because of the weight of them and in High School was introduced to contacts.
Oh, how I loved my contacts! I didn't feel like I was hiding behind a wall anymore...I could wear sunglasses...I could see in the pool...hallelujah!
Then I moved to Gainesville, Florida, where the allergy doctors tell you everyone is allergic. There are, actually, prehistoric plants in some areas down there and suddenly I was itchy, irritable and stuffy all the time. After the 3rd eye infection I had to give up the contacts. The fabulous 5 year run was over. I was back in glasses.
I tried several times over the years to go back to contacts, but my eyes just refuse to adjust to them. I have an astigmatism, so every blink moves the contacts around a bit causing irritation. And, of course, my eye sight was even worse than it had been in High School.
So I gave up all attempts at contacts and watched the Laser Surgeries get better and better. As the rate of success climbed, so did my desire to be free of my problem. I couldn't even see the time on the clock beside my bed...very frustrating.
So, after years of planning and waiting, I had Laser surgery last Friday. Hurrah! Except:
OK...everyone talks about how great Lasik is, but what if you can't have Lasik? What if your cornea is too thin and your eye sight too bad and your astigmatism too severe? What then? Well, they have an answer for that, too. It's called PRK. Very similary to Lasik. Except;
There is more irritation (and pain...truly, at some point it isn't irritation, it's pain...thank God they gave my codeine!) The healing process takes longer, which means the irritation lasts for weeks and vision isn't stable, either. So here I am, no glasses, no contacts and my vision is blurry. NEVERTHELESS! I am happy! I can see the clock and I see improvement in my vision every day. My biggest problem 10 days after surgery is that the computer screen is hard to read.
For the first several days, I could see but not read. I took codeine every 6 hours and sometimes more often. I slept a LOT. I missed a day of work (for healing, in addition to the day I missed for the surgery) and wanted to miss the entire week. I've moaned and buried my head under a blanket to sleep away the aggravation at some point almost every day for the first week. But 10 days in, I'm really seeing improvement. I read every sign out loud...I point out anything that catches my attention...I show off at every opportunity. I'm able to read, for a while, at least...my eyes need a rest every hour or so of detailed work. But every day is better and I'm excited to find out how I will be seeing in another few days!
list!
