Dealing with reduced sight without lenses

[Louise Pembroke]

Thanks Lynne I didn't know about them, I will check it out straightaway, anything that might help is worth a try. This is what is so good about this site, all the practical tips we can pick up.

[John Smith]

I got my pinhole specs through an ebay shop - you may well find a 50% saving there - sure, they're not as pretty as the ones on eyetrainers, but I'm sure they're just as good.

[Louise Pembroke]

Just looked at the site John, £10 for a pair [& £4 p&p], £5 each if buying 5 pairs or more. Wish they came in wackier styles though, perhaps that's the next step in KC merchandise?!

[dweezil1968]

i can agree with so much of this- not being able to enjoy shopping anymore as i cant read labels on anything well enough. trying to explain why i can't wear glasses endlessly. missing buses and turn offs in the car because i cant read numbers and signs clearly. Not being able to read or watch TV without at least one lens in. rarely got o the cinema unless i am alone or the person i am with doesnt mind being right at the front with me! not being able to apply makeup as well i used too or notice normal things like when your eyebrows need plucking! perhaps thats just a girl thing!
still i discovered Freeview radio and listen to BBc radio 6 at night, and it is brilliant!

[Lynn White]

No problem Louise..

Actually what is irritating for us optoms is "ordinary" patients who can see if they wear glasses but choose not to. I actually end up arguing with them when they say "But I can see perfectly well " when they can't even get the top line!!!

You'd be surprised how many people wander around not being able to see labels etc either but they do out of choice for vanity not out of necessity.... they won't even wear contacts because that would then make them admit they had an eyesight prob lol...

I often say to them - just think what it would be like if you had no choice but to be like that all the time! Grrrr...

Sorry... stepping off soapbox now!

Glad to have been of help

Lynn

[Louise Pembroke]

I do sympathise about the girly stuff! I like my make-up too. Have you tried using a highly magnified mirror to do your make-up? You can get one from Glazier & Kemp on the Church Road in Brighton. Boots do a small magnified mirror for doing your eyebrows, failing that getting your eyebrows plucked at salons is quite cheap.

[dweezil1968]

hi
I do have a back lit magnifying mirror, I can only use it with both lens in! I used to get eyebrows waxed but its too expensive as a regular thing, so i treat myself before holidays etc!

[Louise Pembroke]

Oh Lynne I am so with you here! I would give ANYTHING to be able to wear glasses. How wonderful it must be to be able to just put glasses on to see post in the morning and not have to carry around half a laboratory for lens. I have no sympathy whatsoever for people who choose to not wear their glasses out of vanity when we have no choice.
It also annoys me when others assume I'm wearing a lens out of vanity or think I'm exaggerating about the pain we can get when anything gets under them or how light can hurt.
Then you see [non KC] people practically spitting on their lens and putting it back in their eye with no concern for hygeine. I point out to them that eye infections are no joke and we only have one pair of eyes.
Sometimes womenhave been snotty with me when I've refused to let them use my eye pencil or mascara or they think I'm obsessive for washing my brushes once a month but I don't care!
I'm on that soap box with you!

[Louise Pembroke]

Dweezil, the lit magnifying mirrors are not the highest magnification

[Per]

Per, as I understand it the survival rate for regrafts are not brilliant which is why I havn't. There are no further prospects for that eye. I'm interested in your Lasik, I didn't realise that could be done on grafted corneas. Presumably it needs to be a good graft. Was that done on the NHS?
I wish you well with your recent graft, I hope that progresses well and gives you a good result.

Louise, I posted this link earlier on the forum. It is a documentary on cornea surgery. Very interresting what the surgeon says about contemporary cornea surgery in the US. It is no longer a matter of cornea survival or rejection / not rejection. But rather a matter of how close to full vision they manage to stich on the graft. Also a lot about cornea donation and -banks.

http://researchchannel.org/program/disp ... p?rid=2331