Wow. I thought my eyes were bad. Some of you people apparently put my little gripes to shame.
I’ve worn glasses since I was ten, and my eye continued to get worse for years, well into my mid-twenties. (I’m nearsighted. Something like 20/600 IIRC.) I finally got contacts last February. The reason I waited so long, was mostly that I was so used to wearing glasses that I considered them part of “my look”. I only switched because of concern over peripheral vision.
My eyes have more or less stabilized now, though my optometrist expresses concern about retinal detachment, due to the shape of my eyeballs.
I have to say that I do understand (sorta) Cooper’s frustration. Even though I was already wearing glasses, it still bothered me that my eyes were getting worse so quickly when I was his age. I was even thinking of teaching myself braille before I needed it.
Answering Neil’s questions, the procedure was a bit uncomfortable but did not produce pain. Certainly having babies was worse. I think even having a tooth filled is worse. It’s just the idea of somebody messing with your eyes that tends to make you flip out a bit. They gave me Valium, but I didn’t notice that it did anything (I’ve never had it before).
Getting up from the chair was awesome, because even though the eye is teary or wet from the drops, and feels weird because it has been worked on, you can immediately notice the improvement in vision – or at least, I could. They tape a plastic shield over the eye that you have to wear for the rest of the day, and then at bedtime for ten days.
I went to work the next day, and I drove my car the next day.
Night vision was a small problem for a few months – I had a “halo” effect around lights, stuff like that. It has gotten better, and it certainly does not cause any problems. I do drive at night with no difficulty.
Now, I do know someone who is an old board reg who posts rarely here who had the surgery after I did, prompted, I think, at least in part, by the success of my surgery. She has not had as good a result. She did have some pain, and she has had problems with “dry eye.” She is still going back to the eye doctor, who thinks that her problems can be resolved, but that it may take an additional surgery. She is the ONLY person I know who has had these problems, though, and I have talked to a lot of people who have had it (basically because I wanted to hear, oh, a thousand or so success stories before I risked it!).
Would I do it again? Absolutely! I wish I could have had it done twenty years ago!
Handy I relate to your ears! Exposure to 17 years of jet engines has left me with moderate tinnitus and a hearing deficit in the 5000 - 6000 Hz range; strangely, this is the very range of jet engine intake noise!
I agree; hearing aids just make the fuzzy louder. my worst situations are crowds/parties and running water; I only catch about every third word in those circumstances.
I also have worn glasses/contacts since 4th grade. I go back and forth as I get tired of messing with one or the other. I’m in a contact phase right now, and my vision is corrected to 20/15.
A correction for Homer: in the ‘formula’, the first 20 is a constant; 20/20 just refers to the fact that you can read the third line of print on a standard eye chart at the given (?) distance; past that, my knowledge is limited.
‘A correction for Homer: in the ‘formula’, the first 20 is a constant;
20/20 just refers to the fact that you can read the third line of print
on a standard eye chart at the given (?) distance; past that, my
knowledge is limited.’
Oh, are you sure? I thought it means you can read a 20mm high letter at 20 feet distance.
the first 20 refers to the your vision. the second is the average person’s vison. so 20/15 vision means that you see from 20 feet as clear as the average person sees from 15 feet. i may have reversed these figures but that’s what they mean.