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My Lifestyle and Lenses Don't Mix - Any Ideas?

Posted: Tue 02 Oct 2007 6:32 pm
by Marc Pritchard
Although I have only had my lenses for the past week I find it extremley difficult to even put aside the small amount of time I need to wear them for. Usually finishing work around 8pm and then needing the time to cook, eat, and do anything I normally do I find I forget to use my lenses until it's far too late. My work are very supportive and have offered me all the help I need, but working in a sales environment I have to put in the extra hours or I just don't make enough money for the company to keep my job.

Kudos to all those that manage to organise their life around Lenses, but with my job and being quite impulsive they are never going to work for me. So the question is what would be good possible routes for me to explore privately as my vision and tolerance to lenses mean that I don't qualify for any help.

I understand that all information given is not from medics but I just want some paths laid out before me so that I can explore them and see which fits me and my lifestyle best.

Re: My Lifestyle and Lenses Don't Mix - Any Ideas?

Posted: Tue 02 Oct 2007 6:49 pm
by Anne B
Marc, i know what you are talking about, when i got my first lenses i had 3 children qne at school one at part time nursery and one at home all day, there was never a good time to try out lenses. I remember one day i was 45 mins late to pick up daughter from nursery because i had a lens lost in my eye somewhere!
And by the time i got the kids in bed i was so tired i coundn't put the lens in .
I have no solution for you i have since had a graft and i am having a second graft end of october.
I just wanted to let you know i know how you feel.

Sorry no help at all but good luck

Re: My Lifestyle and Lenses Don't Mix - Any Ideas?

Posted: Tue 02 Oct 2007 8:45 pm
by GarethB
Marc,

Are you self employed in sales?

If not, your employers are legally obliged to make make resonable adjustments to allow you to try and get used to lenses.

My employers were keen for me to get back to work, but not at the risk to my health, therefore we decided I should take the appropriate time off to get used to lenses and as a result they have profitted far more as I am at work and am more productive than I was before.

Sales can also acomodate this. I was a key account manager and when I had a sereous liver/kidney problem it was impossible to drive the long distances needed. Instead of visiting my customers, I did it all over the phone and via e-mail which resulted in maintaining my sales and getting the supply contract renewed. Managed to get the biggest single contract the UK had seen which 6 years on has yet to be beaten!

I think really you need to sit down with your employers HR department and dicuss further.

Other options such as intacs, C3R or graft all have long recovery periods and in my experience have a longer recovery period compared to two to four weeks to get used to lenses if you have a good set already.

Once used to lenses and having good lens wear it only takes a few minutes to get them in in the morning and the same to remove, clean and put away at the end of the day.

I never thought my lifestyle of working, spending time with familly, feeding myself, maintaining my classic car, preparing friends cars for competion would make getting used to lenses hard. A short term minor change sorted this and now my lifestyle is pretty much back where it was with the addition of doing work for the KC group.

To be succesful in sales you need to be good at planning and priotitising, apply those skills to getting used to the lenses and you have it cracked :twisted:

Re: My Lifestyle and Lenses Don't Mix - Any Ideas?

Posted: Tue 02 Oct 2007 10:05 pm
by mike scott
Marc

As i understand it, there are many options in terms of types of lenses and there are a couple of options in terms of surgery. But what that boils down to is just 2 options really , lenses and surgery.
Surgery of any sort is a one way street with no return, and with a long recovery period and potentially a new set of problems to over come, so should be viewed as a last resort. so which ever way you cook it , you will have to find a way forward to give yourself the chance to accept lenses.
A couple of weeks to get used to them in a relaxed way seriously should be a walk in the park compared to the option of any type of surgery if you dont need to have it. and you may lose some income for a little while but after you have succeeded in improving your vision i'm sure that you will more than compensate for after and you will have peace of mind too knowing that you can see better and more comfortably.

I hope this helps in some way

Mike

Re: My Lifestyle and Lenses Don't Mix - Any Ideas?

Posted: Wed 03 Oct 2007 7:13 am
by GarethB
One thing I neglected to mention is that the aim of surgery is to provide a cornea surface where by vision is easier to correct.

So no guarentees that you will be contact lens free.

Most surgery for us results in either contact lenses or glasses.

Re: My Lifestyle and Lenses Don't Mix - Any Ideas?

Posted: Wed 03 Oct 2007 3:25 pm
by Andrew MacLean
Mark

This is the hardest part of adjusting to contact lenses: first you have to find the time each day to wear them, building up to the daily maximum, then you have to adjust to being without them when you take them out!

I don't know that there is any glib answer that I can give that would come close to satisfying your dilemma. All I can do is offer you my sincerest best wishes as you grapple with a problem that never really went away for me.

Andrew