Adventures in Blindness

I suppose not all of you watched the video I posted of Jasper yesterday. =P If you had, I'm sure more of you would have left more comments laughed your butts off! Anyway.

For some reason, I seem to have had what I'm going to deem "bloggers block" lately. I got absolutely nothing, but I feel the need to write anyway. Hope you don't mind. =)

I had the pleasure of going to the eye doctor today. Actually, it wasn't that bad. I'm just not a fan of having my eyes poked and prodded (quite literally), but for this girl who's about as blind as a bat it's pretty necessary. Especially because before today, I hadn't been in 2 years. =/ Not a good thing. I have issues with my eyes that need to be checked up on every year. Nothing serious, but one of those it-runs-in-the-family sort of things and the other is just a my-eyes-get-worse thing. I'm severely nearsighted {but not quite as bad as my SIL!}, and I used to have to get new glasses once or twice a year. So, it was kind of a big deal that I skipped 2 years. Not much you can do when you don't have insurance or the money to pay for new lenses, though.

Anyway, my visit today was actually really good. I have...issues with eye doctors and how thorough they are. I've had my fair share of bad ones in the past. Enough that my mom took me to Arkansas Children's Hospital when I was 13. Where I grew up, there just weren't/aren't very thorough doctors. At Children's, you pretty much get the full battery of tests and GREAT doctors. I absolutely loved my doctors there, even though it was always weird sitting in a room full of toddlers... I think it was worth it for the standard of care though.

I was very impressed with my new doctor. For some reason {sarcasm}, I assumed that my eye doctor would be about the same or worse than my PCM. I expected an old, crumbly building with less-than nice staff, etc. What I got was a hole-in-the-wall office that was clean, yet small, very friendly and helpful staff and a doctor that clearly knows his stuff. I've been to eye doctors since I was 6. I know my doctors and I know what they're supposed to look at/check for. Anyway, he was very thorough and told me everything that he was checking for. He even filled me in on some things that I didn't know before. Plus, it was kind of refreshing to have the doctor talk to me instead of my mom. That may sound bad, but she was always there, holding conversations with the doctors, making sure they did what they were supposed to, etc. Which is totally not a bad thing, but when you're in college and Mom is still asking the questions.... Yeah. =) I am glad that she did those things, though. Now I know all the questions to ask and what to look for in a doctor. She taught me well!

All is clear on the eye situation. My glasses needed a definite tune-up. Apparently, they hadn't been corrected for my astigmatism(s), and that's what has been causing all the blurriness. He gave me props (not his words), for knowing that something was wrong with my prescription. I almost said, "Did you look at my file? I've been in glasses for 18 years and contacts for 13. Pretty sure I know my stuff." But, I didn't. =P I was actually pretty proud that my lenses didn't need to be stronger AND that I see 20/15 with my RGP (hard) contacts. If you didn't know, RGP contacts are the best thing since sliced bread and you see a BAZILLION times better with them. They're a little more difficult to get used to, but once you do, you'll NEVER go back! Ok, there's my PSA for the day. =)

The only bad part about going to the eye doctor is that they dilate your eyes. I have blue eyes. Blue eyes dilate fully very quickly. If you don't have eye problems, you wouldn't know that they put drops in your eyes to make your pupils freakin' huge so they can get a better look at your cornea, retina and optic nerve. This process makes everything blurry and makes the light HURT your eyes in a very serious way.  Proof: I walked outside and was almost instantly blinded, with my sunglasses on. The intense Hawaiian sun does not help that in any way, shape, form or fashion. Then, when Mrs. C dropped me off at my house (she was my ride to and from because I KNEW I wouldn't be able to drive after) I walked into my living room and was blinded. *sigh* I shut all the blinds, turned off all the lights and laid down. Later, when my bestie video-Skyped me, she couldn't even see me!!! Being blind sucks.

I still can't see very well right now. Partially because I'm wearing my glasses that haven't been fixed yet and because the dilation drops haven't worn off yet. *sigh* It's been about 8 hrs... But, that's the way it usually goes. Mrs. C informed me today (she's a fellow blindie) that they used to make reversal drops. Dude, if they marketed those suckers, they would FLY off the shelves!! At least for people like me! I'm sure I'll wake up in the morning and everything will be well again. Now I've just got to find a place where I can get my new lenses. Mom is anti-WalMart, which is kind of understandable. I thought about the lenses place in the PX, but I'm not sure about that. LensCrafters is supposedly having a 50% off sale, but I'm not sure I want to drive to Honolulu. And what if they can't have them done in a day? I really don't like putting my contacts in first thing in the morning. Aaaaand now I'm being picky. =) We can't have it all, now can we?!

Oh, one last thing. I really, really one to get one of these:

Not that one specifically, because that's a Marine. I want a Soldier. =) It's from this place called Pardee Crafts; they make all of their stuff by hand. I have a serious thing for nutcrackers. I'm pretty sure it started when my best friend from high school invited me to see her dance in the Nutcracker. I went to one performance she was in (they had several) every. single. Christmas. I was a very supportive BFF. =P I went to the Nutcracker in '08 in Winston-Salem, NC. They have a school of the arts there (please forgive me, I can't recall the exact name at the moment) and it was just...amazing! Anyway. I love all things nutcracker now. I even bought one on our honeymoon at a Christmas specialty shop at Myrtle Beach.  =D I'm dying to have one made for me of my Soldier!!! It would look perfect under our Christmas tree, don't you think?! Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself.... It's still August. And I may not even be here for Christmas..... Someone, stop me from all this future planning stuff!!!!!!