We have contact
Around 1993, I had radial keratotomy (RK) after years of wearing contact lenses or coke bottle glasses for being legally blind. The surgeons gave me one eye for reading and one for distance (mono–vision). It was a good solution for someone in the 40s. But, as I aged, the difference between the eyes was too significant. It was no longer a good solution for someone in the 60s. Ataxia literally means "loss of coordination", so my eyes joined the party with my feet, hands, and tongue.
At my annual ophthalmology exam, the doctor did detect the beginnings of cataracts but, since they were just starting to grow (or whatever cataracts do), we opted for a conservative approach. Progressive glasses for close, midrange, and distance vision, seemed like the most reasonable solution, but they made my Ataxia worse (like I need that). So, since I had a good experience for more than 30 years with contact lenses, I decided to give them another try. Now, I don't have continuous hand tremors, but I had warned the people at the eye clinic that I had a significant loss of manual dexterity due to the progressing Ataxia. That might have an effect on inserting lenses properly. Contact lenses in 2012 are bigger than they were in the last millenium. Jeez...Karen, the contact lenses specialist, encouragingly: That shouldn't be a problem. But, if the worst happens and you can't get them out, is there someone who could help you?
Tammy, confidently: It'll all come back to me–it's like riding a bicycle. If it doesn't, my husband will help me.
Earl doesn't even like to deal with pierced earrings, but he's the kind of guy who does whatever needs doing. He was willing to be trained as emergency backup contact lens extractor–not happy, but willing. The first set of lenses fit, but had to be redone, tweaking the prescription. The 2nd set came in while Earl was out of town. Heidi was in town, but seven miles away. Jason and Elizabeth were closer and would have been right over, but I just didn't want to call for help if I didn't have to. Skeeter couldn't bail me out of this one. I was on my own.
If you've never worn contact lenses, you may not appreciate the necessary maneuvers. I don't think I ever thought about the hand/eye coordination required until I didn't have it anymore. But, I was a big girl so I took a deep breath, plugged both bathroom sinks, and began. It took me awhile just to open the product box, let alone the lens carrying case, then clean and condition the lenses. Finally, I had to put them in. I dropped the first one, started over and when I went to position the lens on my finger, the hand tremor began–I dropped it again. I finally got the left one in, thought I had put the right lens in, but it felt strange and I couldn't see better. A lot of things about being a lens wearer, then surgery candidate, came back to me in a flash. The primary motivation for RK, of course, was to see better–the clock in the middle of the night, the bridge on an early morning run, the looming wall I was headed for. Then there were the other reasons I wanted to get away from wearing contact lenses in 1993–too much work, a major hassle, and possible effects of normal aging on eyes (I never considered Ataxia).
Finally, that now familiar, but uneasy, feeling meant a contact lens was lost somewhere in the eye. Amazingly, I remembered how to find the lens, move it to the side of the eyeball, and finally, slide it onto the cornea where it belonged. I didn't poke myself in the eye, didn't incur any damage, and was eventually able to stop sweating. "Whew!"
I looked in the mirror, and to my horror, realized I had an small abrasion at the corner of my eye. The area under my eyes was no longer in alignment with the rest of my face–another discovery that didn't come as a huge surprise. Sixty-ish skin doesn't stretch and snap back like forty-ish skin. You wouldn't use the expression "wide-eyed" to describe me, so I needed to pull my upper lid up and my lower lid down to expose more eye for insertion. Easier said than done, given the increased size of the lens.
So, with all that, do I see better? The jury's still out on that. I do see more sharply, but still having some adjustment difficulties with reading, computing, scooting, and TV. I still close one eye when moving through a space between two objects. Contact lenses and mono–vision may not be in the cards for me. I probably just need to "join the club" of those requiring reading glasses. Equal vision while driving or scooting may trump convenience.
The lesson: Contact lenses are designed for much younger fingers.
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