So far, anyway.

The story of my visual health is very long. I’m not sure anyone is interested. If you are, I’d happily post about it 🙂 Either way, here’s the most recent history, up to today.

I quit wearing glasses and contacts late is 2007. I had a completely unrelated surgery (appendix) and had to remove my contacts before going under. I just never put them back in. And I did fine! No, I don’t have any restriction on my drivers licence or anything, as I’m far sighted, meaning I apparently can’t see things as well close up. I’ve never felt that way, to be honest, but hey. Thats what they tell me.

I’ve noticed my vision has been slipping a little since I’ve had my kids. Its really not a joke that everything changes when you give birth! So I decided to call about an appointment. I called the Costco optometric centre and they actually gave me an appointment slot for today. We decided an outing for everyone would be enjoyable, so we all piled into the van and headed to Costco.

My appointment was short. The doctor was nice, and very professional. It took a while to get her loosened up, but she did eventually, and it helped me. It has been about 6.5 years since I’ve had my eyes checked, so while I was confident in my decision to stop wearing glasses, I was a touch nervous.

I learned a lot today.

I learned that the first test measured my eyes completely differently than how they tested later. To me, that proves that we need to work our eyes a bit harder so that they strengthen. My original measurements were almost twice what I came out with at the end!

I learned that I have a slight astigmatism as well. I was surprised to hear that, as its never once been mentioned to me before. I have normal contacts and everything. She says its because its so just barely there that getting the specially shaped ones would likely have felt more uncomfortable. Weird, right? I asked about passing all of this garbage onto my kids and she said everything is incredibly variable. I could or couldn’t. Our astigmatisms could get better or worse. We can’t know.

My biggest surprise is yet to come, guys! I learn that I have (ready?) congenital torsional nystagmus. Impressed? I’m not. Torsional Nystagmus is a weirdo condition where you eyes do this funky thing:

Its clearer around 6-7 seconds. Mine are not even close to those obvious, but I guess my eyes rotate like that! Just little flicks. “Congenital” means that I’ve always had it and always will. However, its not like I see the world in front of me rotating. That can mean all kinds of things. Basically, the doctor said that if I have to have one of these weird rotaty problems, mine is the one to have. So. Thats news.

Lastly, what makes me a bit sad, is that she says my eyes seem strong now, but they won’t be forever. While I can work my eyes a bit and easily get by, she said my vision will suffer into my forties. I know thats perfectly normal, but its kind of sad to hear. My prescription is already so high. Her first look at my eyes measured then at a prescription of 4.75. Going through the tests brought them down to more like 3:5, and the astigmatism brought them down to between 2.75 and 3. Its not horrendous, but enough that I would have buggy eyes in my glasses without a special (and expensive) treatment. Its sad that it will only get worse. Maybe down the road I’ll look into surgery. However, fun fact, no surgery will correct that rotaty thing. That’ll stick with me no matter what.

So as I said, I learned a lot, but I’m a grown up. I ordered some wicked awesome glasses before we left. I’ll probably get them in a week or two.

Three of out of the four of us will now have four eyes, and Laela’s first eye appointment is in June. Let’s hope her eyes are completely healthy! Fourteen eyes between the four of us is plenty!

 

I feel a bit bummed after posted this :/ Sorry if I bummed anyone else out. Hopefully its just me. Let’s end with one cute tidbit, ok?

Dekker calls dinosaurs “dineys.” Probably the cutest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. That makes it all feel a little better 🙂