Since I was a little kid, I’ve had glasses. It started out as just needing glasses to read, and quickly progressed to needing glasses all the time. I’ve ALWAYS hated glasses, but came to accept the fact that I was doomed, as both of my parents have had glasses forever (My dad since he was 3!). I put off getting contacts because more than I hated glasses, I hated things in or near my eyes. However, I LOVED to swim. I’d swim all day and night if I were allowed to. The summer before high school I joined the high school swim team, and wearing glasses became a major problem. Either I got contacts, or I spent the next 4+ years cracking my head into the concrete pool wall instead of doing flip turns.
A few dents in my head later, I was at the ophthalmologist asking for contacts. It took me two freaking hours to get the first one in. But once they were in I loved them. I completely ignored the doctor’s instructions to wear them for two weeks and then throw them out and start a new pair. I would wear them for 3 or 4 months (day AND night!) before I switched pairs. I couldn’t see the point in throwing out perfectly good contacts if they weren’t irritating my eyes, so I wore them until they bothered me. I almost forgot I had contacts, except when my goggles would leak, and the water would cause one to flip into my brain. Other than that, I wore them non-stop with no problems.
As much as I loved my contacts, I always hated having to wear them. I wanted to get LASIK since I found out about it. Sadly, my ophthalmologist said it wasn’t even something I could consider until my prescription stayed the same for a minimum of 2 years. Since I was having to get a new prescription every 10-12 months, 2 years seemed like an eternity. Then in 2004, my doctor decided that he wanted to change the type of contacts I was wearing, because they made my eyes red. They were still super comfortable, and I had no problems with them, but he felt I needed something else. I thought that since he only saw me in the evening, after I’d had a full day of work and school, it was more likely that I was tired but I still agreed to try a new brand. After all, he should know best, right?
It’s now 2008 and I’ve had nothing but trouble with contacts for the last 4 years. I went through 6 different brands of contacts with that doctor, and none worked. They’d make my eyes itchy or dry or cause a horrible film to cover my contacts. It got to the point where I could only wear my contacts for 7 to 8 hours, before I wanted to rip them out of my head. Last January I finally gave up and went to an ophthalmologist near where I live now. She’s AMAZING. She immediately gave me trial contacts for 3 different brands, and promised not to charge me for anything until I found some that didn’t make my life miserable. After 5 brands, I found some that I could tolerate for two weeks at a time. I was incredibly upset that I couldn’t wear them for longer, but glad to finally have something that would work at all.
Sadly, last November those same contacts started causing me problems after about 2 days. It was infuriating. But I was too busy to get back in to see the doctor, so I just started wearing my glasses all the time. I HATE them. Not the look of them, since they’re pretty cute, but the need to wear them. You have no peripheral vision. You get dust, dirt, spots, and sweat on them constantly. I can’t see anything without them. Nothing. I wake up in the middle of the night, and have to half pull myself out of bed to read the clock. My vision is clear until about 5 inches from my face. Then it’s all just colored blurs. In summary, my vision sucks. And for almost 5 straight months, I’ve worn nothing but glasses, which has not made me a happy camper.
However!
There is a happy ending to this extremely long, and probably boring-as-hell story! Wearing the glasses after having contact trouble for so long actually gave my eyes a chance to relax. They got so relaxed that they got BETTER! Can you believe that? For the first time in my entire life, my eyes changed prescriptions for the better. Better than that? My doctor says that I’m a candidate for LASIK. NOW. Not in two more years. Not even in two more months. I could do it tomorrow if I had the money. She says that the idea of having two years of steady prescription is outdated, and that one year of improved vision is perfectly acceptable. I have an appointment on Tuesday to meet with the LASIK counselor and ask all my questions. And most importantly, find out how much it is. I’ve heard anywhere from $400 an eye to $2000 an eye. Obviously I’d prefer the former, but I’m going into this with the assumption that the latter is more accurate. Hopefully, they have a kickass payment plan I can take advantage of, or I somehow manage to hit the lottery soon. This time I’m hoping for the latter.