I Suck At Eye Appointments

today, i had an eye appointment. now, i suck at eye appointments. according to my records, i have not had an eye appointment since 2006. (i believe the recommended time frame for eye appointments is every two years according to my optometrist.) it being 2009, i was due for an eye appointment. plus, karen has been nudging me to get an eye exam. awhile ago, the lenses in my glasses started to crack. (it must be the heat from my piercing eyes... or possibly the multiple hits to my head from working on the house.) concerned, karen wanted me to get an eye exam so that i could get a prescription for new lenses.

because it has been awhile since my last eye appointment, the only thing i vaguely remember about an eye exam is sitting with my face in a contraption that blew a puff of air into my eyes. for anyone curious, that was a glaucoma test and the machine used is called a tonometer. the tonometer calculates the intraocular pressure based on the eye's resistance to the puff of air.

anyway, i always thought the tonometer was an odd machine. lucky for me, i didn't have air blown into my eyes this time around. the glaucoma test this time around involved the application of a yellow eye drop and a blue glowing instrument in front of each eye to measure the pressure. it was neat.

probably, the only thing that i did not like about the eye exam today was the slit-lamp examination, which involves the shining of a bright light into your eye while you sit with your face in the contraption. the slit-lamp is basically a microscope that allows the doctor to see a highly magnified image of your eye. the light is so blinding. i actually started to tear. lucky for me, both my eyes have working tear ducts... unlike my friend (hot amy).

all in all, i'm happy with the eye exam. the doctor (dr. hopkins) told me that all i needed was a slight tweak to my prescription, which is not bad. i was fearing that my vision had gotten worse. among the other things dr. hopkins mentioned was that lasik is not a good option for me because my vision is not that bad yet. (i believe she used the term "borderline"... so maybe in a few more years...) so i guess that is good news.

dr. hopkins also suggested that i avoid contacts too... in part because i told her that i have trouble sticking things into my eyes. i have trouble putting eye drops into my eyes. i can only imagine how hard it would be to put contacts into my eyes. but give me a video of an eye surgery, and i'll be there watching it... with popcorn. i sure would love to see the video of my favorite sister-in-law's (janine) eye surgery again. that would be good entertainment.