I can see clearly now

I've worn soft contact lenses since 1973. I am blind as a bat without corrective lenses. I had the requisite tortoise shell horn-rimmed glasses throughout high school - though nowadays they are considered cool "emo glasses" - and just hated them. As soon as soft contacts were readily available, I got them. I had no idea the world could look so sharp. I enjoyed the unframed view so much that I've never gone back to glasses, and have always had a hard time understanding why anyone would wear them if soft contacts were an option. I have a slight astigmatism in my right eye. I've gone for decades without correcting it, and it hasn't proven to be a problem. But I'm over 50 now, and presbyopia has set in. Thankfully, because I am so nearsighted, it has taken ten years longer than it takes most people. A blessing in disguise, I guess. Now that I need reading glasses, my astigmatism has become a problem. So, I started wearing a toric lens in my right eye. Toric lenses are designed to correct your astigmatism and are weighted to keep them positioned correctly in your eye. At first, I wore them with great success. But for the past two years, the stupid lens will not stay in place. Rather, it rotates about 5 degrees off center. So, I was constantly fiddling with the lens, trying to rotate it back into position, to no avail. AFter struggling with this problem for over two years, I gave in and got glasses - progessive lenses, no less. I was officially a member of the old fart demographic.

Everything I used to hate about glasses back in high school, I found I still hate about glasses. They get dirty just sitting on your face. They fog up when you open the oven. They fog up when you come inside from chilly outside. They get raindrops on them when it's raining. They make me look old and geeky. I started contemplating Lasik. Two weeks ago I went to the eye doctor for my annual checkup. Due to changes in our insurance provider, I had to see a new optometrist in Spokane. I talked to him about my toric problems. He said I could probably get away with not wearing a toric lens since my astigmatism isn't that bad. Then he went on to suggest something new and different - bifocal contact lenses. He explained that they work for 60% of the people who try them, so they may not work out. I figured I'd give it a shot. He had to order them. They would come in the following week. He and I discussed Lasik. He informed me that, if I had it, I would need reading glasses, period, no exceptions. That didn't discourage me, but the literature I read that said I would need reading glasses even to read the computer screen did. If I'm going to wear glasses pretty much all day long at work, why get Lasik? I was crossing my fingers that this new contact lens option would be the answer to my problems. I left his office with two non-toric temporary lenses and an appointment for the following week, during which I would test out these bifocal lenses.

When I got home, I tested the theory that the bifocal lens would eliminate my need for a toric lens by wearing my distance vision correcting only lens with a pair of reading glasses. Amazingly, I could read the computer screen just fine, could read any printed material, and didn't seem to even notice that I had an astigmatism. I had high hopes.

Saturday dawned dark and rainy. We headed to Spokane to both get my new lenses and see Jonathan. I entered his office with both excitement and trepidation. If these lenses didn't work out, I felt doomed to wearing glasses. I sat in the chair. His wife put the new lenses in front of me, asked me if I've worn contacts before (are you KIDDING? I'm an old hand at this!), and left me to insert them while she went to get the doctor. The minute I put the lenses in, I knew they would work. I could SEE. I could READ! I was free! He told me to wear these for a week, and if they work out for me, to call and order a year's worth. Well, they are working! I don't have razor sharp vision at distance, but I can see at least 20/50. Up close, I can read anything. No more reading glasses! I feel like I did when I first got contacts. I feel ilke a whole new glasses-free world has just opened up for me. I don't know exactly how they work (where the bifocal part is and how it stays where it's supposed to stay) but who cares? I can see!!!