I Can See Clearly Now?

I picked up my new glasses on Tuesday and they are going to take some getting used to.

I wore glasses from 4th grade right up until I had Lasik surgery about 20 years ago. My eyes were bad. Without them, everything was a blur. The Lasik surgery was more than I could have imagined! Amazing is an understatement.

The doctor who did my surgery had told me that there might be the possibility that I’d need reading glasses in the future. Sure enough, he was right. I guess I have been wearing them for about a year or two. I also found the need to have a pair for distance, mainly while driving. So I had a pair in the car and I carried a pair on me for reading.

In the last few months, I have felt my vision get a little worse, and I was overdue for an exam. This time I went to an eye place (last time I just went to Walmart). The exam was very thorough. I was pretty amazed at the stuff they were able to see. The showed me my optic lens, the back of my eye, and various other things. I was impressed.

When the doc came in we played the “which is clearer” game, where he makes one view blurrier than the other. He tweaked my prescription and gave me my options. The first option I was given was to carry two pairs of glasses again – one for reading and one for distance. I really didn’t want to deal with that again. The other option was to wear progressive lenses.

I’ve heard my share of stories about how difficult progressive lenses are to get used to. A co-worker had literally just taken hers back because she could not get used to them. I really wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to attempt them. The doc told me that I usually takes about a weak and he thought that was the better choice.

Progressive lenses are different from bifocals or trifocals. With progressive lenses, you position your eyes where you need them depending on what you are doing … if that makes sense.

If I am driving, I look through the upper part of the lens. For things at arms length, I look through the middle of the lens. For reading, I look through the bottom of the lens. But as you can see from the above picture, if you look toward the sides, you get a “fishbowl” or “hourglass” effect. That is the hardest part of seeing through them.

There are some things I have to take them off for. When I am doing a set up on a patient, I take them off because I am constantly looking up and down. I’m not quite used to that yet. I am sure it will get better.

It is much easier to see things while driving, which is a bonus! I have yet to sit and try to read a book with them, so we’ll see what happens with that.

I hope the adjustment process gets, if you’ll pardon the pun, progressively better!