This is a long story of despair and desperation, sinking into a pit of frustration with no hope of recovery. Indulge me in helping some of you to understand the victim's mindset before you can appreciate my discovery that salvation may be at hand. The rest of you can tell me if it really is at hand.
Spouse grew up with terrible vision and coke-bottle classes. My eyes weren't as bad yet since the age of three I wore glasses for 30 years, too. I'd occasionally considered contact lenses but in my early 30s my eyes changed to the point where I could read without glasses. Hallelujah!
Spouse, however, continued with nosemarks and sore ears from the 1970s fashionable big-lensed frames. About 25 years ago she tried wearing soft contacts and she finally discovered orthokeratotomy through the naval aviator's grapevine. Once her eyeballs were reshaped to about 20/50 she continued to wear prescription gas-permeable lenses. She had problems back then with the lenses popping out, trapping dirt/eyelashes, and wandering around under her eyelids. But she said it was worth it to be able to see the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night without fumbling for her glasses. Over the last five years the gas-permeable lenses have become much healthier, need little or no cleaning, and she's had far fewer problems. Hallelujah!
I was glad that I didn't have to wear glasses or contact lenses and she was glad that she didn't have to wear glasses. Life was good enough that neither of us would ever consider paying a laser-wielding [-]quack[/-] doctor to hack on perfectly good eyeballs. And then... a few years ago we were involuntarily converted to presbyopians.
As some long-term board members are aware, I'm not taking this well. One of my childhood memories is of my father's rampages around the house grumbling "Where the #$%^ are my @#$^ing reading glasses?!?" when he'd forgotten that all the while they were pushed up on top of his head. I had decided that I would never be "one of those people" whose eyes would ever get that bad and I couldn't imagine that I'd ever need reading glasses for the rest of my life like my father. This Freudian complex is also one heckuva reminder of impending mortality. Ick.
I think a special corner of hell should be reserved for the opticians who label the strength of reading glasses in tiny two-point font on the frames where (1) the numbers keep wearing off, and (2) you need reading glasses to see how strong your reading glasses are. However for the last few years I've [-]bitched, moaned, and whined[/-] dutifully acquired reading glasses, carrying cases, magnifying glasses, reading lights, and the rest of the [-]crap[/-] presbyopian paraphernalia.
Before it happened to her, spouse snickered behind her contacts for the first few years of my [-]misery[/-] coping-- although at least she had the decency to do it quietly. But then last year the same presbyopian phenomenon blitzed her and in a matter of months she was upgrading from 1.25s to 1.75s. She still had trouble remembering to leave the house with her "visual aids" and she'd get busted publicly putting papers on the floor to read or borrowing other people's glasses. Ick.
I've settled out around 2.00 but I've heard that it's just gonna get worse. I've researched RPK & LASIK but I'm [-]squeamish[/-] concerned about the risks and waiting for the next miracle surgical cure. The problem is that now I can't focus on my dinner plate or the refrigerator shelves, I keep dropping my glasses in the yard or sitting on them, I keep bobbing my head around the frames to look at distant objects, and I'm always scratching the lenses. I occasionally screw up paperwork or labels because I'm too [-]pigheaded[/-] much in a hurry to put my glasses back on to check. And, yes, I've started roaming the house, muttering & looking for the glasses I have stashed in every room, only to find the "wrong" pair on my head.
I'm so deep in denial that I can no longer read the car's numbers on the odometer, and [-]the other drivers are[/-] I'm lucky that I have the speedometer display color-coded & memorized. I hit rock bottom a couple months ago when I was getting a duplicate driver's license and the clerk handed me the form while saying "Verify, read, & sign". I didn't know if I'd still keep a full license if they saw me whip out my reading glasses-- so I asked to use the water fountain, scampered around the corner, and took care of it in the waiting room. I'm pretty sure they thought I was illiterate, but at least they thought I could see! However my luck is about to run out-- I have to get an eye exam with my next license renewal in just eight months.
I've been glumly waiting for surfer's cataracts to appear so that I have an imperative to get artificial lens implants. Spouse, meanwhile, was going through her presbyopian adjustment with less [-]drama[/-] trauma. She quietly decided to investigate bifocals and eventually found Costco's multifocal contacts. She had an exam a couple weeks ago, paid $285, and picked them up this morning. I haven't been paying much attention because I don't wear contact lenses and I didn't see how this could apply to me.
Spouse returned from Costco, burst into the house, did a Flying Springsteen across the room, and shouted "Hallelujah, I can SEE!" She says her eyes immediately adjusted to the multifocal gas-permeable lenses and her entire body relaxed in relief. She's wearing pretty much the same contacts she's worn for the last 20 years only now they're multifocal, her face doesn't squinch up to focus, and she doesn't have to wear reading glasses. She's spent the whole day gathering her glasses for Goodwill while spontaneously breaking out into song & dance and shouting "Hallelujah!!" Her latest affront has been telling me that she actually read the recipe card while making dinner. I can honestly say that it's been decades since I've found her so annoying.
Well, I'm not as stupid as I've been and I'm finally "seeing" my own light. I have an appointment with the Costco optometrist next week, and with their concurrence I'll be learning how to wear gas-permeable multifocals.
Heck, I've spent over $300 on reading glasses in the last five years. And I can wear goggles over contacts when I'm surfing. I'm not ready to confront surgery and I may never be ready, but I think I can handle contacts.
For those of you who've suggested contacts to me before, I apologize-- and this time I'm really gonna do something about it.
Anyone else have any problems or advice with multifocal contacts?
Spouse grew up with terrible vision and coke-bottle classes. My eyes weren't as bad yet since the age of three I wore glasses for 30 years, too. I'd occasionally considered contact lenses but in my early 30s my eyes changed to the point where I could read without glasses. Hallelujah!
Spouse, however, continued with nosemarks and sore ears from the 1970s fashionable big-lensed frames. About 25 years ago she tried wearing soft contacts and she finally discovered orthokeratotomy through the naval aviator's grapevine. Once her eyeballs were reshaped to about 20/50 she continued to wear prescription gas-permeable lenses. She had problems back then with the lenses popping out, trapping dirt/eyelashes, and wandering around under her eyelids. But she said it was worth it to be able to see the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night without fumbling for her glasses. Over the last five years the gas-permeable lenses have become much healthier, need little or no cleaning, and she's had far fewer problems. Hallelujah!
I was glad that I didn't have to wear glasses or contact lenses and she was glad that she didn't have to wear glasses. Life was good enough that neither of us would ever consider paying a laser-wielding [-]quack[/-] doctor to hack on perfectly good eyeballs. And then... a few years ago we were involuntarily converted to presbyopians.
As some long-term board members are aware, I'm not taking this well. One of my childhood memories is of my father's rampages around the house grumbling "Where the #$%^ are my @#$^ing reading glasses?!?" when he'd forgotten that all the while they were pushed up on top of his head. I had decided that I would never be "one of those people" whose eyes would ever get that bad and I couldn't imagine that I'd ever need reading glasses for the rest of my life like my father. This Freudian complex is also one heckuva reminder of impending mortality. Ick.
I think a special corner of hell should be reserved for the opticians who label the strength of reading glasses in tiny two-point font on the frames where (1) the numbers keep wearing off, and (2) you need reading glasses to see how strong your reading glasses are. However for the last few years I've [-]bitched, moaned, and whined[/-] dutifully acquired reading glasses, carrying cases, magnifying glasses, reading lights, and the rest of the [-]crap[/-] presbyopian paraphernalia.
Before it happened to her, spouse snickered behind her contacts for the first few years of my [-]misery[/-] coping-- although at least she had the decency to do it quietly. But then last year the same presbyopian phenomenon blitzed her and in a matter of months she was upgrading from 1.25s to 1.75s. She still had trouble remembering to leave the house with her "visual aids" and she'd get busted publicly putting papers on the floor to read or borrowing other people's glasses. Ick.
I've settled out around 2.00 but I've heard that it's just gonna get worse. I've researched RPK & LASIK but I'm [-]squeamish[/-] concerned about the risks and waiting for the next miracle surgical cure. The problem is that now I can't focus on my dinner plate or the refrigerator shelves, I keep dropping my glasses in the yard or sitting on them, I keep bobbing my head around the frames to look at distant objects, and I'm always scratching the lenses. I occasionally screw up paperwork or labels because I'm too [-]pigheaded[/-] much in a hurry to put my glasses back on to check. And, yes, I've started roaming the house, muttering & looking for the glasses I have stashed in every room, only to find the "wrong" pair on my head.
I'm so deep in denial that I can no longer read the car's numbers on the odometer, and [-]the other drivers are[/-] I'm lucky that I have the speedometer display color-coded & memorized. I hit rock bottom a couple months ago when I was getting a duplicate driver's license and the clerk handed me the form while saying "Verify, read, & sign". I didn't know if I'd still keep a full license if they saw me whip out my reading glasses-- so I asked to use the water fountain, scampered around the corner, and took care of it in the waiting room. I'm pretty sure they thought I was illiterate, but at least they thought I could see! However my luck is about to run out-- I have to get an eye exam with my next license renewal in just eight months.
I've been glumly waiting for surfer's cataracts to appear so that I have an imperative to get artificial lens implants. Spouse, meanwhile, was going through her presbyopian adjustment with less [-]drama[/-] trauma. She quietly decided to investigate bifocals and eventually found Costco's multifocal contacts. She had an exam a couple weeks ago, paid $285, and picked them up this morning. I haven't been paying much attention because I don't wear contact lenses and I didn't see how this could apply to me.
Spouse returned from Costco, burst into the house, did a Flying Springsteen across the room, and shouted "Hallelujah, I can SEE!" She says her eyes immediately adjusted to the multifocal gas-permeable lenses and her entire body relaxed in relief. She's wearing pretty much the same contacts she's worn for the last 20 years only now they're multifocal, her face doesn't squinch up to focus, and she doesn't have to wear reading glasses. She's spent the whole day gathering her glasses for Goodwill while spontaneously breaking out into song & dance and shouting "Hallelujah!!" Her latest affront has been telling me that she actually read the recipe card while making dinner. I can honestly say that it's been decades since I've found her so annoying.
Well, I'm not as stupid as I've been and I'm finally "seeing" my own light. I have an appointment with the Costco optometrist next week, and with their concurrence I'll be learning how to wear gas-permeable multifocals.
Heck, I've spent over $300 on reading glasses in the last five years. And I can wear goggles over contacts when I'm surfing. I'm not ready to confront surgery and I may never be ready, but I think I can handle contacts.
For those of you who've suggested contacts to me before, I apologize-- and this time I'm really gonna do something about it.
Anyone else have any problems or advice with multifocal contacts?