It’s that time of year again (past due, actually) … time to sit in the big chair at the eye doctor’s office and go through a tormenting series of “one, or two?” choices that seem to be arbitrary and inexact. I understand that I ought to have a concrete preference on most — if not all — of the choices, and I also understand that eye doctors aren’t out to sabatogue and/or trick me into making a certain series of choices. I nevertheless feel self-conscious if I pick the first choice more than the second one, and am truly certain of my preference less than half of the time. Like opinions rendered by dentists, the whole process just feels far more influenced by whim than exactitude.
Nevertheless, I’ll go on Friday, wrestle with my choices, and the eye doctor will eventually settle on a prescription I’m quite sure is much worse than the one I’ve got now. I’ll order some new contacts, relish in their freshness, get headaches from their increased strength, and feel my world sway about with every movement of my head. Doesn’t that sound like fun to you, too? 🙂
Julie — Daniel's been advocating lasik almost since we met. He was *very* excited to hear you suggested the same.
Sandra — I've tried every trick and technique in the book when it comes to those "one, or two?" questions, including what you suggested. The bottom line is that I psych myself out AND can't tell a difference in them anyhow. It's just my reality that my vision is HORRIFIC (on a scale from one to ten, my last eye doctor told me I was "maybe a three?" … eeks!) and that the nuanced sorts of refinements they do with the vision exam makes little difference in how well I can see.
But thanks for the suggestions, both of you! 🙂
Go get lasik. It's worth every penny. I saw my alarm clock for the first time 2 years ago. Never had seen it properly in the morning. I still hate the alarm clock, but love the fact I can see it each morning!! Worth EVERY penny. One decision I do not regret and would recommend to everyone.
I feel exactly the same way (about the exam anyway, not necessarily the new prescription, since mine has changed minimally in the last few years)!
The best solution I can come up with and feel good about? Choose 1 or 2 letters in the center of the view (especially those typically difficult to tell apart like N/H or S/8) and just compare those parts of the "1 or 2" choices. It's not perfect, but I feel better about my decisions then anyway.
🙂