Rusty's Ramblings

[Rusty Edge]

That's the tough part about diabetes, it works against you all over, all of the time.

Yesterday my right eye tested 20/15, or 5 feet further away than normal. So more like what I used to have in my 50s. The left eye still has the astigmatism, and things tend to be blurred or doubled. They had me reading paragrahs of text. The hardest part was the word "still"  - with all of those vertical lines and their dopplegangers, it was like trying to read a bar code.  Even so, the left eye isn't much worse than 20/20. The lens shaping is a go for June 5th.

[Unorthodox]

I ended up getting glasses last year. 

I failed the eye test for my new license.

Well, sort of.  The dang machine at the DMV is such that my eyes don't line up with the damn holes you're supposed to look though so it's difficult for me to use on the best days to begin with.  I ended up barely scraping by when they send me to the actual eye doctor, so it's still not on my license that they are required, but it was such a marked improvement, I ended up buying some anyway.   

I failed eye tests back when I was 16 or so, but figured out if I didn't stress my eyes by reading books or staring at screens before the test I could pass and had been squeaking by that way since. 

[Buster's Uncle]

It happens to all of us.

You're doing better than me, anyway; I noticed some faint loss just past age 30.

[Geo]

You're all talking like its a disaster having to wear glasses.

[Rusty Edge]

You're all talking like its a disaster having to wear glasses.

I think that we're really talking about a constant reminder of our mortality. And being told not only is it a nuisance, it's no longer safe.

When my great grandmother had cataract surgery she had to be in the hospital for a week to ten days with her head in sandbags.

[Geo]

I stand corrected. 

[Rusty Edge]

Had my first light adjustment treatment yesterday. It involved extra paperwork and measurement data because I'm in this study. Basically it was looking inside my eye, doing an eye test, and trying to figure out a "prescription" to correct for the blurriness and double vision. Then eyedrops for dilation and waiting. Then numbing drops and putting something against my eye that looks like something a stamp collector would use to look at stamps. I stared a laser sort of dot with 6 bigger lights around it for 90 seconds for my good eye, and two minutes for the blury eye. Then they sent me home. Thursday we repeat the process. If my eyes are perfect, they shine a different wavelength to "lock" the lens shape in place.

[Rusty Edge]

Thursday they decided that my left eye was good enough, and any correction would be hair splitting. They did give the right eye another 30 seconds worth of directed UV light. I guess there are actually eight lights, rather than six. I expect we will lock both of my lens shapes in on Monday, if they test well enough.

[Rusty Edge]

The right eye tests well, and they don't think it can be improved upon.
The left eye tests well, but has a little astigmatism, not sure it's worth trying to perfect, the doc said "98 out of 100 is still an A"  I can easily see 20/15 unaided, and if I try I can see a bit better than that. I can see my laptop clearly with the screen at my fingertips at arms length, and pretty much anything I normally need to see clearly I can.

We decided to lock the lenses in their current shape. The lock-in light wave length is more intense.  95 seconds each eye. I have a final lock-in treatment on Thursday.  Eyes are a little sore.

[Rusty Edge]

Today I had my last eye test as part of the study on the new lenses. They were testing various distances and lighting conditions, both eyes together and separately.  I was able to read the chart to the bottom in one of the tests. I haven't done that for many years.

It wasn't my best day, allergy-wise. My eyes were wet and the fluids were thick. So I think I could have done a bit better. More importantly, the testing reminded me to think like somebody whose eyes are starting to go, rather than somebody who has had glasses for 15 years. I need to adjust the distance to bring what I'm looking at into focus, usually an inch will do it. Sometimes two. Not reach for a light or a magnification device or an old pair of glasses. Old habits die hard.

[Geo]

Old habits die hard.

Isn't that true.

[Buster's Uncle]

It is.  Why do you ask?

---

Must be wonderful to get sight back - I could do without the furrows in my head-flesh where the earpieces of my computer glasses go...

[Rusty Edge]

It really is wonderful. That's why I wanted to share the news about the technology. I imagine it will become more affordable or that Medicare will cover more of the costs in a few years.

Another way to express the quality of my vision is that I can get the various USB cords right on the first try . I've been getting those things wrong for as long as I've been using them.