I'm still feeling kind of exhausted from our holiday travels (over 30 hours in the car -- bah!) so I haven't downloaded the photos I took or anything. But I did want to share this funny/sad piece of (very new) news:
I went to the eye doctor yesterday (yes, on Sunday) and got a prescription for ... (dun dun DUN) bifocals. That's how it works -- turn 40, get your first pair of bifocals!
My distance vision actually improved slightly -- from totally awful to very awful -- but my close range vision had deteriorated without my realizing it. I had the sense that I was feeling more eye strain recently, but I thought it was because of my distance vision getting worse. The doctor explained that my close vision is still good enough that I can read, but that the effort of doing so is fatiguing my eyes and making it difficult to switch between focusing on something close (like reading) and looking at a computer/etc. And since I spend quite a bit of time reading, it makes sense that the effort is taking its toll.
I have ordered a pair of graduated bifocals that are supposed to be ready about January 9. (With my insanely bad vision, they have to order fancy super-compressed lenses so that they can even fit in normal frames.) I cannot find the frames I bought online -- I'm sure it's out there, I just haven't been able to find it. Two different associates at the store independently picked these frames out as their favorites on me, and though I had difficulty narrowing down my last 3 options, I ended up liking them best as well. They are a color that Burberry calls (if I remember correctly) "rose gold" -- and I love it. My last two pairs of glasses were gold (which I liked a lot) and brown/tan (which is OK but I prefer a lighter shade for less contrast with my face and hair). With the frames, fancy lenses, and graduated bifocal thing, even with insurance they are costing $500. Man.
Robert also has some worsening of his close vision, but he's not springing for bifocals just yet. (He only needs correction in one of his eyes at close range.) He's thinking about getting reading glasses for those rare occasions he is reading for more than a couple minutes at a time. Just this morning I read a review of Firmoo on someone's blog -- looks like a good place to order inexpensive eyeglasses.
7 comments:
Be glad you don't need trifocals!
Hah, maybe I'll get that for my 50th birthday!
Oh, fun... :)
Condolences on the worsening and expensive vision. However, yea for modern optometry!
I remember the sad day when I learned I needed glasses (I noticed that a clock was blurry that I knew in the past would not have looked blurry). Then a while ago I also got the news that I could use some reading glasses, but I haven't noticed any eye strain and only rarely have trouble with tiny print, so I haven't bothered yet.
I sort of use my current glasses like they are bifocals by looking below them when I'm trying to read, so I shouldn't mind bifocals--nevertheless I fear them. So I'll probably start out with separate glasses for reading and long-distance vision. Of course, keeping track of one pair of glasses is already annoying--I'm not sure I'll enjoy dealing with two pair.
I use Zenni Optical to buy glasses very inexpensively online. They are so crazy cheap that I even get decorative ones that might not go with every conceivable outfit (metallic blue!). I do have an easy single-vision prescription with no astigmatism.
Debbie, thanks for the Zenni Optical recommendation -- my prescription is complicated (astigmatism? check) but it might still be something to try in the future.
I so rarely get glasses, since I wear contacts, and I had forgotten how expensive the lenses can be when they need to be compressed! But it beats being blind (or having inch-think lenses).
I bought cheap glasses online once, for like $30. They were fine and the prescription seemed spot-on (mine is more complicated than Debbie's, though not bifocals yet), but the frames didn't fit correctly on my nose, so I never ended up wearing them. That's the kind of thing that's really easy to find out in person but not easy online.
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