Plonker! :( but Woo-hoo! :)

[Steve Maskery]

I've not spent much time in the workshop recently. I've had, er, other things on my mind. But I've had an idea for a new jig and decided to go and try it out.

So I measured up my MDF, took it over to the tablesaw and promptly lost a contact lens. It just dropped out. Well, it happens. More often than it used to, actually.

I stopped dead in my tracks - but not dead enough actually, as I heard an unwelcome crunch when I put my foot down. It's going to be the end of next week before I get a replacement, probably. It would be my worse eye, too.

I really could do without this right now.


S

 

[matt]

You did not say whether it was your left or right eye so I guessed...

:norm: Let's take a minute to talk about shop safety...

 

[OPJ]

You heard your contact lens go 'crunch'?! How big are they and what are they made of??? :shock:

 

[Steve Maskery]

You guessed RIGHT!

6/6 with CL, 6/360 without...

S

 

[Steve Maskery]

You heard your contact lens go 'crunch'?! How big are they and what are they made of??? :shock:

Well one is slightly bigger than the other, but 9.5mm give or take a nano. And, er, dunno. Plastic? Expensive plastic? Beats me. I just sort of take them for granted. Until something like this happens.
S

 

[Lons]

I know the feeling Steve.

Happened to me occasionally in the past and it's a horrible feeling when you're suddenly half blind.

Not any more though, had my eyes lasered 3 years ago and haven't looked back since. Best thing I ever did.

Eyes were -5.45 and -6.0 before, now 20/20 vision, no problems with dust, no more eye infections and no prescription sunglasses. 8)

As a "bonus" I save about 30 minutes a day not using them - thats a whole week a year just putting bloody contacts in and out :!: :!:

Bob

 

[RussianRouter]

Call me a synic but....evey thought of wearing glasses in the workshop and leaving the opticle illilusions in the house?

If you did that you wouldn't be in the situation you're now.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Call me a cynic but....ever thought of wearing glasses in the workshop and leaving the opticle illusions in the house?

If you did that you wouldn't be in the situation you're now.

I wish I could. I've had two cornea grafts, my present corneas are rough and wrinkled and no spectacles can correct that. It's CLs or nothing.

The laser option is appealing, Lons. I know a couple of people who have had it done. But it is not foolproof and is much more high-risk for someone like me. I don't want to run the risk of destroying my grafts, having them redone would be very traumatic indeed. I've gone since 1993 and 2002 without any period of rejection and I'd like to keep it that way.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Mcluma]

This is a bit of new thing,

so please read the articles

There are now lenses you put in OVERNIGHT, and you do not wear them during the day,

they correct your eye sight duing your sleep - YES ITS TRUE.

My wife has been using them now for about 6 months and she loves them

here are some articles

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... sleep.html
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Vision-C ... 8633.shtml
http://igolenses.com/

my wife uses them from I-go

 

[kasandrich]

Why did you have corneal grafts Steve? that sounds very serious.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I have a condition called keritaconus. The cornea should be hemispherical. Mine were wrinkled and conical, so when light enters it goes all over the place instead of being focused on the retina.

Contact lenses smooth out the wrinkles and provide a nice smooth surface.

There comes a point, however, when the distortion becomes so great that a CL cannot stay in place, it just falls off the pointy bit. In my case I simply lost the ability to tolerate a lens. In some people the cornea actually splits as it gets more pointy and thinner.

By cutting the old cornea out and sewing in a donor patch, the condition is halted. Some people can then see (well, when the dust has settled on the op, usually a year or two) without CLs or specs. Mine are not that good, still rather wrinkled, but with CLs I see perfectly normally, indeed, slightly better than average on a good day.

My main problem now is tolerance. I used to be able to wear them 8am to 11pm without any problems, 7/7 and I did that for 25 years. However, the last couple of years have been rather less, I now struggle to get 8 hours straight out of them and regularly have days when I don't wear them at all. It does restrict me a little.

But I'm just grateful that I was born in a developed country in the latter half of the 20thC. A century earlier or even today in many parts of the world and I'd be totally blind by now. That's why I always bang on about donating one's corneas after death; the generosity of two people has transformed my sight.

S

 

[kasandrich]

......and its hearing stories like that that make people realise the true human value in donating organs.

I really feel for you, I cannot imagine life without sight. How much can you see without your lenses? I have a friend with severe astigmatism, and I was with him one day when he was clearly panicking about losing his glasses, I said you are wearing them, he said no, my spare pair, oh its alright my spare, spare pair are in the car. I enquired how bad his eyes are? I asked if he could drive home without them, he replied that without them, doorways appear wider than they are tall and he could not even find his car without his glasses!

I was just wondering if there maybe any benifits of the pressure technology of the overnight contact lenses for people with your condition, in the future if not now.

 

[ByronBlack]

The overnight lenses are very restrictive in regards to what they can correct (usually around 5 diopters), also they can increase the chances of disease and infection of some people.

Steve, if I'm correct, your lenses would be 'GRP'? Hence the crunch, depending on where you shop, you can sometimes buy insurance to cover loss or damage.

 

[promhandicam]

Hopefully this story will cheer you up a bit Steve.

When I was working in Cameroon, I was with some colleagues taking a stroll along the beach in Limbe at the end of a hard day visiting projects. My eyes were dry and it was quite windy and inevitably I got some dust or a grain of sand in my eye. Without thinking, I rubbed my eye and my contact lens popped out. I immediately stopped and after a couple of moments my colleagues realised that I was no longer with them and they came back to ask what the matter was. I tried to explain what I'd lost but non of them had ever seen a contact lens before. I then had the bright idea of showing them what a contact lens looks like by taking out the other lens. You guessed it, that one disappeared too! Like you I'm very short sighted - my prescription is about -8.00 in one eye and -7.50 in the other. And guess who was the only one who could drive in the group :roll: Thankfully the hotel was only a couple of km's away and there wasn't too much traffic on the road - at least I didn't see much traffic. It was one of those situations that as I took the lens out, I knew what was going to happen but I just couldn't stop myself doing it.

Steve :lol:

 

[Steve Maskery]

=D> =D> =D>
:lol: :lol: :lol:

I'm just starting to get used to being one-eyed. It's amazing how the brain compensates. I'm not saying tat it is "normal" again, it isn't, but U have spent the day in the workshop and coped reasonably well.

New lens ordered, should have it by the end of next week.

S

 

[promhandicam]

My wife also has all sorts of problems with her eyes - ironically caused in part by wearing contact lenses for many years causing corneal warpage. For a while her optician and a former colleague who is an ophthalmologist suggested she try mono vision glasses as she couldn't cope with varifocals. basically one lens was for long distance and the other for reading. It took a little while, but her brain soon adapted and she was able to function normally.

Steve

 

[devonwoody]

I recall when hiring a car and driving in Europe a couple of years ago it was compulsory to have an additional pair of glasses in the motor vehicle in case of need. I suppose that applies to lenses as well. So shouldn't all drivers have spare parts anyway on that basis and for other lifestyles as well.

 

[woodbloke]

I recall when hiring a car and driving in Europe a couple of years ago it was compulsory to have an additional pair of glasses in the motor vehicle in case of need.

I think this is the case in many countries on the Continent DW, but the regs vary dependent on where you are. F'rinstance, all countries (I think) require a hi-viz vest to be carried in case of breakdown but Spain insists that there are two (plus the red triangle)
When we travel in the motor abroad, I always pack a spare pair of gogs in any case - Rob

 

[Steve Maskery]

Well, how is this for service?
Tuesday 5pm Broke contact lens

Wednesday 9.15 Rang Eye Outpatients and spoke to a Very Nice Young Lady, who says she will order a replacement, , should be about a week and a half
Thursday 9.30 Postie arrives with replacement lens!

Woo-hoo!

:Jingle: I can see clearly now the rain has gone... :/jingle:

S

 

[Henning]

Good to hear it's sorted, Steve!

It sounds absolutely horrific not beeing able to see clearly...