This week I've learned the hard way that you should always have a back-up pair of glasses in case something happens to your contacts.I'm HORRIBLE about overusing my contacts and have managed to stretch out 2 boxes of contacts for almost an entire year! (I feel like in some weird way I'm helping save our family money by making my contacts last forever) When I got down to my last pair this week, I didn't think much of it. I told myself, "Add 'order new contacts' to your to-do list" but by the time I got downstairs the thought had flown out of my pregnant-absent-mind. Like I said, I usually use one pair of contacts for several weeks so I didn't really think I was in any vision danger. Until . . .
My left contact ripped on Thursday morning! I was frantically getting ready because Thursday mornings we all leave the house together at 7 a.m. I slapped on the right contact and away we went.
Let me assure you that life with only one prescription contact is very strange. I probably shouldn't have done any driving but I did. Mostly with my left eye closed. When I got home Thursday, I immediately got online to order more contacts. Come to find out there's a new law that makes your contact prescription only valid for one year! Grrrrrr.
I finally got in for an eye-exam today and my whole self rejoiced when I got to slip the trial pair of contacts in and see clearly out of both eyes simultaneously. YAY! And guess what, after 2 years my prescription is still the same. Stupid law.
Has anyone else ever been in my irresponsible vision predicament?
12 comments:
sounds awful alicia. i did have a contact predicament about 4-5 years ago. i can't remember if i lost or broke a contact one morning before work. (i wear hard/ gas permeable lenses.) well, i just threw on my glasses and went to work... i NEVER wore my glasses, even in the evening around the house, NEVER, i felt like everything i saw through my glasses seemed distorted so i never used them... well i had no choice, so i wore them to work. i had GREAT difficulty getting to work and once i got there, i couldn't even read my computer screen, and i developed a headache and was very dizzy and frustrated. - i called an eye doctor that morning and went in for a new dr appointment and they ordered new contacts for me... and they said my prescription had not changed... but for some STRANGE reason i still couldn't see out of my glasses. - after a few days of suffering with my glasses at work, i was in the restroom one day staring hopelessly in the mirror. for some silly reason, i decided to put on my glasses upside down... and i could see perfectly... my dr. had put the wrong prescription in the wrong eye... what a mess.
(sorry, that was a LONG boring story.)
Fortunately, I have never had vision troubles so I have no clue about contacts. I am so like you, though, in that if I did, I would think I was contributing to the family by stretching out how long I wore them. :-) I laughed when I read that.
I do the same thing, Alicia.
I once had to drive from NBBC to my house, wearing only one contact. It's a 2.5 hour drive. My vision without lenses is 20/800. Wow. I'll never do that again!
Welcome Back to the blogging world Alicia. .. glad things are okay with your grandma!
Missed you, Alicia! Glad all is well with your Grandma! Who is the handsome man with Chloe and Gramma? Did I miss something?
Janelle: That sounds so awful! Did you try wearing your glasses upside down from then on? :) Hope the dr. fixed those crazy glasses for you free of charge!
Karis: Glad I'm not the only one who tries to stretch the family dollar in crazy ways! :)
Karen: OH MY, praise the Lord for His protection during that long trip with only one contact!
Nicki: Thanks! It's good to be back. Though I have LOADS of computer work to catch up on so my blog posts will be a bit infrequent for awhile longer. And I'm way behind on reading everyone else's blogs!
Sara: That handsome man in the photo with Chloe is my mom's boyfriend, Luis. You would NEVER guess how old he is. He works out and stays young at heart. :)
Two things:
1. It is VERY bad for your eyes to overuse contacts for too long.
2. Consider getting lasik surgery. It really is an investment. I got mine done a few years ago. I went to Canada and paid less than $1,000 for it. When you consider how much you spend on contacts, glasses, and eye exams, it really is worth it.
Ok - I will admit I am horrible at going to eye drs, dentist, whatever... so I ordered contacts off the internet for several years till they woudn't any longer and I needed a new pair of glasses so I tried to find the cheapest place for an eye exam to get a new perscription - I used to never take my contacts out(like at nights) for weeks but after my dr warned me I may never be able to wear contacts again I changed my ways - now I take them out every day but I still try to stretch them to about 2 mo instead of the month (to make the money stretch)they are supposed to be for. I one time waited to reorder and the last contact I pulled out was missing a big chunk - glad they can mail things fast these days!
That kinda sounds like what happen to kevin last year. he used to make his 2 boxes last FOREVER! I thought "cool, not nearly as expensive then". last year though his eyes were red for months and we just kept thinking that he was tired. I remembered thinking that it was close to year so I better reorder some more so he didn't have to go back to the doctors again. i kept forgetting and forgetting...until one day. he could hardly see out of his one eye. here he had a cyst on his eye and never even knew it. the doctor told him he was lucky and that too much longer and he could have ruined his vision forever! I couldn't believe it. he couldn't wear contacts for almost a month and so for the first time in YEARS he wore glasses. now he is pretty good at changing his contacts every 2 weeks and in the evenings he always puts his glasses on.
I am so glad that you were able to get into the doctors quickly! i agree though it is a stupid law...just one more way to get money out of us. :)
Alicia - I'm in the middle of a contact lens dilemma right even now! I have to switch eye doctors b/c the one I was going to was too expensive (even with insurance). I have stretched my 2 boxes of contacts over a year and a half now. I always take them out at night & wear them until they bother me. So how long each pair lasts varies.
Don't be too hard on those Rx laws. All scripts expire one year from the date written.
Oh boy!! Bad memories - I forgot to bring an extra pair of contacts on our trip out to PA for my sister's wedding this summer - no problem, I thought, this one should last me the whole time. The second morning we were there, I went to put my contacts in and found that one had somehow gotten caught on the edge of the case and had been ripped to shreds when I secured the lid the night before - maid of honor in glasses??? So I spent the morning calling around and trying to get an eye exam around there (my prescription, too, was over 1 year old) and then spent an afternoon of our time out there in an eye exam - frustrating!! But the doctor was very kind and gave me 2 trial pairs so I would be sure to have a pair for my sister's wedding.
you all should try gas permeable contacts... they last forever! literally, you don't have to buy new ones until your prescription changes... i have had mine for over 4 years... however i do dream of having laser surgery... hopefully some day. although they recommend having it done after child bearing years b/c your vision often changes with pregnancy...
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