May 27, 2017
Well, it was one year ago today exactly that I had my eye surgery! It is hard to believe that a year has passed. Lots of things have transpired over the last year that is for sure! I thought that I would write an update about my eye since I just had my 6 months visit with the surgeon this week also.
Let me first start by giving the contact lens update. I was given clearance to wear them so I made an appointment (for Sat) with the optometrist in town to get fitted for them and order them. It didn’t go that well. She gave me a pair of multi-focal ones to try for a couple of weeks. Ya know, the same type that I have almost a whole box of in my medicine cabinet that I can no longer wear because they are the wrong prescription. Yep, they are the ones that I received just a month or so before this retina thing happened. Yeah, those. She asked me how I had liked them, but I had to explain that I didn’t really have time to properly assess them since my retina went bonko right after. Anyways, so at my appointment I put them in and the eye chart was totally blurry. Ummm, what? She told me it would take some time to get used to them and reminded me that I will always see better with glasses than contacts. I guess that is actually true with everybody. I had worn contacts for so long, however, that I was used to the blurriness of them, but after a year of seeing better in glasses I just didn’t want to go back. Ugh, it is just a whole thing. In addition to the eye chart being blurry, my left eye was as dry as the Sierra Dessert and way uncomfortable. The doc was not happy about me not being able to see. Nice. So she went to get a different pair, but when I went to take the first pair out to put the new pair in, the left contact was really tough to get out! The eye was dry and it took me about ten tries to retrieve the thing. Mind you this same task took me nearly seconds before. She volunteered to help me get it out, but that just increased my anxiety more. Now I was sweaty with a dry eye. Oh the irony! I managed to get the other pair in, but now my eye, as well as myself, was really irritated and the eye chart was still blurry with the different pair. She assured me it would take some getting used to and asked me to take the two pair home and try them out. The only good thing that came out of this was the confirmation that my glasses script was still accurate and my eyes with correction were 20/30 – same as last time. After tears and conversations with Mike at home I decided to just stick with glasses! I mean, I can still do the things I love to do – run, yoga, etc wearing glasses, so as they say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” My biggest reason to move back to contacts was to be able to wear sun glasses. Okay, well we can fix that, I thought. I’ll just get prescription sunglasses!
Enter Cosco, our savior store, once again! I fought my hesitancy (again) to buy eyeglasses at the same place I purchase meat and lawn chairs and we went to look one night without a cart! We soon learned that we had come to the right place! It wasn’t busy so the woman could spend time with us and explain all the options. She told us that Costco has the best progressive lens in the country and that they were listed in Consumer Reports (side note: I don’t read Consumer Reports, but my Dad does and he verified this afternoon that he had indeed read this in the magazine! I want to be sure I’m not spreading fake news).
I ended up ordering a new pair of regular glasses with progressives and a new pair of frames that will made into prescription sunglasses!! Yes! The sunglasses are polarized so they will take off glare from rain and snow as well as protect from sun. Either that or they will fit right into the rest of our divided country (ha). So, I might actually be able to see distance correctly and actually read a book again. I’ve heard books are good. I will get them in time for our vacation ! And the price was very good! You also get $30 off each additional pair. So, this is your PSA for the day, my four-eyed, friends! Go to Costco for specs!
Now to the retina update. All is well! Pressures and both eyes look great. She said again that she wished all her patients had the same type of recovery that I have had. My eyes will never be back to the way they were before, but they are as close as they could be and pretty darn good at that. I’m still waiting for that invitation to be on the cover of “Retinas R Us” magazine, but maybe it is in the mail. Yes, all kidding aside, I’m so grateful for the recovery I have had and that a year from my surgery my retina is reattached and my vision is great! Now, let’s get out there, peeps!!
