High Myo

I went to see an eye doctor this afternoon. I wasn’t having any particular problems, but it’s been four of five years since my last exam, so I went out of general principle.

I made an appoinment at Canal Vision, a place that is around the corner from where we live. From the outside, it looks like an old yellow house, and from the inside it looks much the same way, except there’s eye exam equipment all over. It seems to be a one-man operation — no receptionist, no clerk, no assistant. The doc was answering the phone himself, doing all the paperwork himself, etc. He said he’s been there for twenty-odd years, but frankly the place looks as if it hasn’t been redecorated for longer than that. I needn’t have made an appointment. He takes walk-ins. The whole vibe was just plain funky, in a good way.

Remarkable. All of this made me realize that I have never had an eye exam that wasn’t in a shopping mall or strip mall.

But what really freaks me out the most is that I am now, at this moment, even as I type this, wearing contact lens.

I tried contact lens back in high school (over twenty years ago) and had a bad experience; I’ve worn glasses ever since. But as the doctor explained to me, the parameters have expanded, and the astigmatism in my left eye is no longer quite the problem it was. That means I can wear soft contacts, which wasn’t a possibility for me in the early 80s.

The pair of lenses I’m wearing now are just what he happened to have on hand. They aren’t a perfect match, and so things aren’t quite as sharp as they should be. But just walking home without glasses on seemed kind of like a minor miracle. I’ve been wearing glasses from the moment I get up until the moment I go to bed for most of my life.

Two things I’ve noticed which are really cool:

1. I now have peripheral vision.
2. Everything’s bigger. One side effect of glasses, especially strong prescriptions like mine, is they make everything look smaller, not to mention distorted. The brain compensates. I’m amazed at how large the keys on my keyboard look.

The doctor said “high myo” patients like myself (extremely near-sighted) have the most to benefit from contact lenses, and he expressed mild surprise that I didn’t have contacts already.

Now to see how long it takes Xy to notice I’m not wearing glasses…