Going Blind

Over last couple of years my eyesight has deteriorated badly. Ok for distance but reading, especially in poor light, is very difficult. I gave in a while since as my arms just weren't long enough for me to focus on owt! Like you I have multiple pairs of specs and never leave home without a pair. All part of the aging process I'm afraid!

 

Mine are all over the house. I got fed up of having to hunt around to find my one pair, which according to sod's law was in a drawer in the room furthest away from where I was. I now have a pair in every room in the house, and a pair in the car.

At first when I went out I'd sometimes forget my glasses. I would then go into a blind (chuckle) panic in case I got a text about a new signing that I couldn't read. Eventually however I realised that most other people had a pair I could borrow.

 

I'm "lucky" in that I'm quite short-sighted so my varifocals allow me to see distance and intermediate but for close work I just take them off. The problem then being that I can't find them again.....

 

I wear contact lenses and have needed them or specs since I was a kid. I'm long sighted and my prescription is +6.50, which is as high as most contact lenses go.

I've noticed over recent years that I'm struggling with smallprint and have to have bright light to read property, but that's probably just down to age now.

My oldest mate is now almost totally blind. It's a condition that has been steadily worsening for the the last 20 years or so.

He still has a season ticket at Oakwell and regularly travels up from Walton on Thames, and before that he was at Worthing. He'll be at Villa park with me today with his headpiece for the commentary.

I've heard some stupid remarks like "what does he want to go to football for? He can't see", he can't see his food but he still has to eat!

John's made the most of his disability. Played blind cricket for England, winning an ashes series in Australia and playing against Pakistan in Dubai, played and coached Yorkshire and is secretary of the disabled football supporters association.

 

I've worn glasses since my 20s. I finally admitted there was something wrong when I couldn't figure out who was scoring for us. More recently - I'm now in my late 50s - I've had to take up reading glasses too (I just didn't fancy bi-focals).

I read an article once by some expert or other who was convinced that the move to energy saving light bulbs would result in us all having problems with our eyesight. Different kind of light from the old style bulbs, he said, though I can't remember the exact details. Basically he'd stocked up in enough old style bulbs to last him for the next few decades, cos he was so convinced about it. I have to admit, the rooms in my house that have ESBs have a different, yellower kind of light than the garage, which still has an old bulb and looks brighter and whiter.

 

Interesting about the bulbs. I have LED all through the house now, and made the mistake of buying the cool white for a few rooms and they were very bright so changed them over to the warm white.

 

I've never needed glasses or contacts but in the last year I've noticed that I prefer text to be smaller and not too close to my face. I keep getting letters for free eye tests, I should probably take them up on it soon.

 

No need for expensive laser treatment. Get yourself down to Specsavers (sorry Dirk) and try some of their all day and night contact lenses - £15 a month, stick 'em in and forget for a month . I've got one for distance and one for closeup - they work a treat and if my eyes continue to deteriorate I just change lenses, no need for further surgery or specs.

 

If I've understood you correctly, you have a reading lens in one eye and a distance lens in the other? That must have taken some getting used to!

On a related note, my wife tried contact lenses. After about an hour it turned out she was allergic to them. She ended up in 3 different hospitals in 2 different countries. Never, ever again. After seeing that I don't think I could ever put a lens in my eye.

 

There's nobody softer than me when it comes to putting fingers in eyes, hence the monthly continuous wear lenses I chose. I had absolutely no problem adjusting to one reading lens (for tying knots, more important than reading for me) and one distance lens (for seeing my float) and can see all things in between without any conscious adjustment. The brain's an amazing organ. They are definitely worth a try. And you can get a month's free trial at Specsavers.