Monday, July 28, 2014

Broken Eyed Perry


I have been wearing corrective lenses since I was fifteen. Mostly glasses, but I started out wearing those saucer-sized hard contact lenses, then gas perms, then soft ones, fifty years ago. 

Contact lenses in this part of the world in the spring turn yellow from pollen, and working at a computer, they also tend to wear blisters on your eyeballs, so I went back to specs. More trouble than they were worth, contacts.

And no, the Lasix surgery isn't an option, because once presbyopia sets in, you still have to wear glasses for close work anyhow, and what's the point? And there are some side-effects of laying a cutter onto your eye ...

Couple weeks ago, I dropped my current pair of cheaters onto the floor. Onto the carpet, mind you, but even so, the little support bar across the top must have taken the impact and transmitted it to the lenses, and the result you can see if you blow up the image: a pair of tiny cracks radiating from the juncture of frame and support.

For years, I wore eyewear with glass lenses, for fear I would scratch the plastic. First pair of those I tried, I scratched on the way home from collecting them. Seriously.

Eventually, the anti-scratch coatings got better, and I went to the lighter, thinner super-dense plastic, and my nose has been thankful. They weigh about a third as much as glass.

So, cracks, that, like a windshield, were apt to craze and get worse. It was time for my eye exam anyway, and I made an appointment. 

In the good-news-bad-news department, Costco was willing to replace the cracked lenses for free. Thing was, my prescription, which had been stable for five years and essentially the same, had this time, decided to change, so I now needed a stronger one. Which meant that replacing the old glasses was useless. Unless I wanted another back-up pair, of which I already have three.

Swell.

And while the old glasses were covered, a new prescription would not be. Had to start over.

Ah, well. It's a first-world problem, isn't it? I found a new frame I like, got all the bells and whistles in the Transistion™blended/non-reflective/hard-coated/stops UV lenses, and ordered a second pair of spiffy sunglasses for driving. (The Transition™ lenses, which now go Stevie Wonder-dark a few seconds after you walk outside into the sunshine, are pretty good sunglasses; however, the window glass in your car stops UV light, and that's what makes the transition work, so they don't work in the car unless you put the top down, or stick your head out the window. Plus they don't polarize and take out the glare.)

Went with gold wire-rims this time. In keeping with my policy of shaking such things up every ten or twelve years ...



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gold rims. You're so dashing. As my son says "Hooray for life altering decisions (about his first tattoo but hey...)

steve vh

AnnieB said...

I've needed vision correction since high school. Like you, "new" glasses for me mean the same frame (plastic) in a different color. So let's see the new glasses - or do we have to wait for pics from your next public appearance?

Steve Perry said...

New ones are supposed to be in some time this week. I'll see about images once I get 'em.

Dave Huss said...

You know on the lasix thing, I was never able to were contacts for more than about four hours because no matter how thin , my eyes never received enough oxygen. I had the lasix done about ten years ago and other than the expected touch up at six months, I went from 20/400 with astigmatism to 20/15. After ten years my eyes have drifted back to 20/25 and the expected age related near nearsightedness has developed but even getting the readers, I find I don't use them unless grading papers, and mostly handwriting. The new way that they do it involves NO cutting and is all laser.
I am NOT saying this is for you or anyone, everyone's lifestyle is different. Just wanted to mention that as often as my dumb klutzy ass use to break glasses, I am well ahead on the money, and MAN what a difference.
Dave
P.S. For the longest time (and even today) I carried around a pair of sunglasses, even in overcast when I didn't need them, because I would wander around the house looking for something that I knew I was forgetting, and realize it was my glasses.

AnnieB said...

Hi, Dave. Great to hear about your good experience with lasix - I've been nearsighted with astigmatism for (mumble) decades - never could convince myself to let someone get near my eyes with a sharp implement!
From what I remember hearing and/or reading (again, decades ago?), UV radiation can be an issue even on overcast days, and experts agree that it's a factor in cataracts. So, you're doing the right thing with the shades. And as far as the corrective lenses vs. lasix, my problem is the cuss that keeps sneaking up and putting greasy prints on my glasses.

Steve Perry said...

Went to get the new specs today, only they screwed up the prescription -- mistyped a number, so one lens was wonky. Tech caught it, so they have to go back for a new lens.

Never a dull moment ...

bud said...

Maybe you'll get lucky, and wind up with cataracts.

No, seriously.

When they remove the cloudy lens, they have to put something back in there. Most insurance (including Medicare) will pay for the surgery and a plain "filler".

Cough up a few more shekels, and you can have an IOL - intraocular lens. You can't lose your glasses - they're in your eyes.

If you have astigmatism, you will still have to use reading glasses, or have plain lens glasses with the bifocal spot, but if you don't need cylindrical correction, there are IOLs which flex, like your own lenses use to do, before you got old.

The best part? Since they don't have to have correction, I get to wear cool-looking sunglasses now. :-)

Steve Perry said...

Yeah, that's what my eye guy said: Cataracts are better, 'cause they can fix 'em. The macular degeneration? Nope.

And in theory, they can fix the snowstorm of floaters I have in that same eye, too, but that involves lasers or draining the vitreous, neither which sound like fun to me. If they get so bad I can't compensate with the other eye, maybe ...