Contacts!

I went to the eye doctor yesterday to get my glasses prescription updated and get measured for contact lenses. I left wearing a pair of contact lenses and feeling utterly euphoric.

I used to wear contacts, years ago when I still worked for AT&T – I had to stop after getting laid off because they would have been too expensive. The reason for that was because I’d developed an astigmatism, and I’d begun to get some blood vessel growth into my corneas; the way the optometrist at the time talked about it, you’d think I would be on the brink of death if I didn’t switch to gas permeable lenses.

It’s kind of crazy how technology has advanced in the last eight years. First off, my eyes are fine for normal lenses, which now routinely are made so you can sleep with them in (holy shit what). And the optometrist said he thought they’d correct enough for the little astigmatism I have without having to go fancy. So far, he seems to be right.

Oh yeah. And I wore the pair he gave me for something like twelve hours on the first day, and almost forgot they were in. Technology indeed. I can’t begin to say how excited I am.

Even cooler, my glasses prescription has not changed at all, even though it’s been three years since I last got a new pair of glasses. (I actually only went in because my lenses were getting scratched up enough to annoy me. And what I considered “scratched up” is nothing compared or other people, so I got some well-deserved teasing for being insanely anal retentive.) So – and this is the most exciting thing of all – the optometrist said I should be good to go for Lasik when I can afford it. 

I just. I am so full of happiness I can’t begin to describe it. I’ve had glasses since I was in grade school, and my uncorrected vision is somewhere down in the 20/500 range. The idea of being able to just… wake up and see is mind-blowing. 

Not yet, of course. I haven’t even started my real job, and I still have student loans to pay. But as soon as the loans are paid off, I’m going to start saving. And until then, I’m going to love the shit out of my contacts. (Which are also cheaper now than when I used to wear them. I live in the future.)

So, so very happy.