the eye experience

A few months ago, the glass on the right side of my specs dropped onto the floor. It broke to pieces. Good thing it happened at home. After that, I had to wear my hard RGP lenses the whole day as I did not have any spare pair of specs. As if that was not enough trouble, on 3 Oct, I carelessly lost my right RGP lens. Now all that I was left with was my left lens. I became "one-eye Jane" overnight. If I were to lose my left lens too, I would be as good as blind (my myopia is a high 750 deg). This was a highly dangerous position to be in, so off to the optometrist I went the next day.

I have heard of orthokeratology from Fen & thought it might be a good idea to give it a try. Ortho-k is supposed to be a safe alternative to lasik. This is how ortho-k works : you put on specialised contact lenses prior to going to sleep at night and wake up the next morning, remove the lens & see clearly all day, free from specs or contact lenses. Sounds great, right?

After the optometrist discussed with me the pros & cons of ortho-k, I agreed to undergo the test. But first I must make a new pair of specs. The optometrist gave me a pair of disposable contact lenses to wear for the time being. I must wait for my specs to be ready before I could start on the ortho-k test.

On 25 Oct, the one-day ortho-k test began. I put on the ortho special lenses in the morning & returned in the late afternoon for the result. The optometrist was pleased with the result. My eyes improved by 100 deg within the first day of testing. It meant that my eyes were suitable for ortho-k. But now came the hard decision --- do I really want to switch to ortho-k? After discussing thoroughly with the optometrist, I decided to stick to my good, old hard RGP lenses. I prefer to have the flexibility to choose what I want to wear - lenses or specs. But with ortho-k, I will not have that flexibility. I die-die must remember to wear the ortho-k lenses every night or else I will not be able to see clearly the next morning. Honestly, I am not that disciplined. What if I forget or what if my eyes feel tired or what if I don't feel like wearing one night? I can't afford to take this risk as it will affect my work the next morning. I am in stockbroking & need to execute orders for my client first thing in the morning. If I can't see, how to work? Also, I don't like the thought of wearing something in my eyes when I sleep.

I'm glad I went for the ortho-k test. It has given me a better idea how ortho-k works. I'm thankful to the optometrist who shared with me her personal experience as she herself is an ortho-k wearer. I'm thankful she so patiently listened to & answered all my questions & guided me to make the decision that best met my needs.

So now my eye problem is solved. I am sticking to the old faithful hard lenses & specs. It gives me a choice of wearing either one depending on my mood & eye condition.

Lord, thank you for taking care of my eyes.

tsk tsk