vilakins | A mixed bag

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real life

A mixed bag

Bad: My right eye started hurting badly while watching Outrageous Fortune on Thursday night (not the film; the new local series about a criminal family trying to go straight--and not bad either) and got worse yesterday at work to the point where I was imagining all sorts of terrible things that could be wrong with it. I scratched my cornea once when I was living in Israel and that was agony and required cocaine drops and an eyepatch--and obligatory Moshe Dayan jokes (no B7 fans there). So I went to the optometrist today hoping that's all it was.

Good: That's all it was though not as severe this time. It should heal up in a couple of days with lubricating drops. The new optometrist at the practice also said she could fit me with better contact lenses that won't let foreign particles under them (windy days are hell) so I'm going back next week.

Better: I bought the latest Harry Potter and a Hedwig. Come on, those owls were beautifully made--all soft and furry and each one different--and only $20 (our sort). Oh and Hustle is coming on TV here soon. Yay!

GIP: And here's my latest icon, made with one working eye. I wasn't happy with my first effort from the same screenshot so I decided to comic-ise it which simplified the image a lot.

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Ouch!

In my brief time of using contact lenses, I'm glad something like that never happened to me! As it is, on windy days, I'm very glad to have my glasses, because especially in the summer there's a lot of grit blowing around...

I have to use contacts as my eyes have such different focal lengths. :-( I wear sunnies outside all the time in summer; maybe I should wear clear glasses in winter.

Anyway it's already feeling a lot better after several applications of Refresh Plus. I'll have to stay monocular for the whole weekend though (my right eye is incredibly myopic; naked, it can't even see my screen).

naked, it can't even see my screen

What exactly do you mean by "can't even see" in this context? How blurry is the blur? From what distance?
I'm a bit confused because my eyes have different focal lengths (the left is much worse than the right) and I can't see why that would affect whether or not the corrective lens is placed on the eye or in front of the eye.

I can see it's a screen. I can see a dark patch where your icon is. The other eye however is almost OK; it only needs a little correction to make it perfect. The difference in focal lengths is such that glasses give me two different-sized images which move if I look through the lenses at an angle. The contact being as close to mine as possible makes it work.

That's about how bad my eyes are, but at least mine are both roughly the same! I can't wear contacts, though, as I get too freaked out by the idea of anything touching my eye. The idea of a scratched cornea also freaks me out, so I feel for ya. Glad it wasn't anything worse, though.

I remember your eye thing now. Sorry. Yeah, by the time I'd imagined other things it could be, I was really glad it was a scratch. And if I get new lenses fitted which will stop stuff getting under them, it'll be worthwhile.

I know a top surgeon here (he's operated on me twice) who wears glasses because he can't bear the thought of anything on his eyes either. Funny a guy in his line of work could be squicked by that.

I remember your eye thing now. Sorry.

Hey, I'm just glad it's not me having to deal with something like that, 'cause I don't think I'd handle it very well. :)

Funny a guy in his line of work could be squicked by that.

That is kind of amusing. Though I guess squicks are hardly rational...

I can't wear contacts, though, as I get too freaked out by the idea of anything touching my eye.

Yes, I tried a few years ago, and just couldn't do it - I flinched every time I got them near the eyeball, and it was even worse if the optician tried it. They booked me in for a couple of extra sessions so I could keep trying but in the end they told me to forget it.

I think my eyes are shifting again - I've noticed recently that I'm finding it hard to focus on sewing with my glasses on, though I can see it perfectly well with them off. This is awkward, as I tend to sew while watching television, for which I do need glasses. I suppose it's the frequent shifts from focussing on the distance to focussing at close quarters that the eyes are no longer flexible enough to handle.

Ouch! I hope that it heals quickly. At least it was nothing worse than that.

Nice icon.

Thanks to both!

Greg had a detached retina two years ago (due to a previous severe eye injury when he was a teenager) and I was terrified it was something like that which would require an operation. I'm so relieved and it's already feeling much better from the drops. :-)

Eeep, yes. My imagination runs riot, the moment there's something wrong with me that I can't immediately explain.

Oh, yes. Either that or I pretend it's nothing and it'll just go away.

I had a detached retina some 35 years ago. Fortunately laser surgery had recently become available, but the experience wasn't a kloty of fun. I understand that myopic peiople tend to be probe to this, as one reason for myopia is that the eye is elliptical from front to back rather than circular, meaning that the eye can't focus the image as far back as the retina. That shape of eye means that the retina has to cover a greater area and so is slightly stretched and prone to detaching.

Anyway, I'm glad that the news about your own eye is comparatively good. And I like your new icon.

the experience wasn't a kloty of fun

Yeah, Greg didn't have a fun time either. He was in a lot of pain after the operation and off work for two weeks.

Eep. I'm really myopic in that particular eye; something more to worry about. Greg OTOH has perfect vision in one eye and almost none in the one which detached--due to the accident as a kid (experimenting with explosives) it doesn't have a lens. I suppose it was weakened by them operating on it then.

Oh, nasty. Glad to hear the drops are improving things and hope it's over soon.

I'm heaps better now. It was so bad this morning I didn't really believe it would improve that quickly but it has. If you have Refresh Plus over there, it's the goods. I even watched some TV and that was impossible last night.

Ack, your poor eye!

And wow, I am envious of your book AND hedwig. And I think your icons adorable!

Thank you! I've renamed her Athena because Hedwig's Harry's. :-)

My eye's much better and should be fine by tomorrow (I hope) so I can wear two contact lenses to work. It's disconcerting having only one in.

Glad to hear your eye's going to be better. I bet only one contact would feel weird!

Not that strange as my left eye only requires minor correction, so it's not far off how it feels without lenses. But I do need that left one in to make icons etc.

Heh. Maybe you should get a monacle?

Funny you should say that. When I first got one contact lens at 14 (when they found out how bad my eye was) the optician said I'd have had a monocle or lorgnette in the old days. My mother laughed and said her great-uncle wore one. He was an eccentric inventor who was responsible for pressure cookers and those old devices that used to stack vinyl records and drop them one-by-one as each one was played.

He was an eccentric inventor who was responsible for pressure cookers and those old devices that used to stack vinyl records and drop them one-by-one as each one was played.

Oh! We had one of those! I remember thinking when I was a kid that the guy who invented that was a genius!

..it is officially a small, strange universe. :D

[grin] He also invented something to do with motorbikes, but I have no idea what that was.

*grins* It's quite funny, the thought that every odd little device and gizmo was invented by [i]somebody[/i] out there somewhere...

I was a very eccentric child(/teenager/adult)and I actually wore a monocle around my neck on different coloured ribbons for about 5 years. I did have 2, but somehow I've lost one over the years and I've only got one left now.

Hope you eye is ok x

It's still not great but a lot better than it was.

A monocle is such a cool idea. Did you wear it in your eye? Colonel Klink!

Brrr... ((Hugs)) I hate scary things going wrong with the body- especially the eyes. Reminds me, I need to get lenses again- I gave up using the last ones nearly 2 years ago because after I started on bp meds I couldn't focus on the computer monitor *or* the sewing machine when wearing them. I've got the vastly different eyes problem, too, so eyeglasses cause instant headache. Must go back.. don't want to.. must... nooo... must.. (and then I sit down, lean closer and touch-type or play with photoshop, using the right eye that can focus on the monitor -t'other can only focus from 5-20 inches away & the monitor's 27 inches away) (Sorry to hi-jack your LJ, that just popped out.)

I love your new icon.

Thanks! I really wasn't happy with my first effort. The comic effect simplifies a busy screenshot very nicely and allowed me to add a starry sky.

And your icon's very appropriate! :-D

My bad eye (in both senses right now) has to be about 3 inches from the monitor before I can read type with it. Luckily my other eye is almost perfect. The annoying thing is that I'm right-eyed so my stupid brain tries to use the bad eye as the main one. No wonder I was hopeless at sport as a kid; they didn't realise I was half-blind till I was 14 because the other eye could see everything.

You should try lenses. If you don't have a very distorted eyeball (like my right eye) you can wear soft ones and they're meant to be much more comfortable. I have to wear hard ones to force that eye into shape, but the new optometrist said a different type properly fitted should stop my problem with stuff getting under. So I'm going back next week. Eep. More big expenses after buying a new puter and getting my car repaired.

I had the soft lenses for years, but my eyes changed with age & the last time I was at the eye-place, they told me this was the best they could do- and after I started on bp meds the minor change it made to my vision rendered them completely useless. I should go back & try again, maybe if I impress upon them the *necessity* of being able to focus at a particular close distance, they'll sacrifice the long-distance vision (which I haven't got anyway. My better eye focuses from about 18 inches to maybe 20 ft.)

And I happen to be left-eyed (my worst eye)... so there you go- I was *abyssmal* not only at sports, but at such simple things as picking up a glass of milk as a kid. :^) I spent the first 6 years of school sitting in the front row as the only way I could see the blackboard at all.

Then they should have realised that you had a sight problem! I sat at the back of the class and because my left eye was (then) perfect, no one know my right eye was virtually useless. I get the left one corrected now as well because it's changed a little and I might was well have the best vision I can.

I do think you should try again. They're making advances all the time in lenses; I didn't even know there was a different sort of hard one that would be better for me.

Bugger. My eye's sore and light-sensitive again today. I think those pain-killers helped yesterday as well as the drops. I've just taken some more.

The school was always crowded- they never noticed the quiet kids, cuz they were too busy keeping the bouncy ones from wreaking havoc. :^)

Going to the eye-guy is on my to-do list- I've just got to push myself to actually do it & not put it off because I'm busy & don't want to spend the money.

I hope your eye heals quickly & that the new lenses work well for you.

Me too. I woke up with a sore eye again and it took a while for the pain-killers to work. Plus I have to go to work tomorrow as two people are away. :-(

Hope your eye is completely healed by now. No doubt I'll read more on it as I catch up on your journal.

I have glasses *and* contacts (although not for wearing at the same time!), but this is the first year in my life they've been able to fit me with contacts. Previously, because of my type of myopia, if I blinked, the lense would shift slightly, and the world would suddenly go sideways. But I kept going back and trying about every five years, and the advances they had made with lense construction during each interval made me realise that I was going to be able to wear them eventually. I would recommend asking your optometrist, once every few years, if anything has changed in the availability of hard lenses, just to make sure they're not forgetting to let you know.

My new eye guy tells me the technicians are currently working on a way to make silicon hydrogel soft lenses - in other words jelly lenses! They're hoping they'll be able to breathe almost like eyes do, and prevent some of the infections that happen with constant soft contact wear. I just can't figure out how they're going to machine them.

How does the lack of vision in your one eye affect your driving? Do you have hassles with the Transport Authority (or whatever it's calling itself this week?)

You're lucky you can wear glasses. I see two differently-sized images which separate if I look sideways. :-P

My eye's still not right. it doesn't hurt any more but it's still very light-sensitive. Getting up in the morning in the dark and putting on the light blinds me; it takes about 10 minutes to get used it and get them fully open. However I've been measured for a new kind of lens that won't press on my cornea which has slowed the healing process. I hope they arrive soon.

With both lenses in, I can see fine out of both eyes so I have no problems driving or passing vision tests. The vision in my right (very myopic) eye is just not as sharp. Because of the correction I need for that eye and its odd shape (it keratoconus) I have to wear hard lenses, but you're right, they're getting better all the time. My new optometrist says she takes out warranties on ordered lenses and can try as often as we need to get the fit exactly right. I'll be so glad if I no longer get dust and particles under them. :-)

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