Eye can see you now...

[susandennis]

The eye doctor/office problem has been solved. I have found the perfect spot with the perfect staff. (Seattle Vision - on Union between 3rd and 4th).

I got there early and they were fine with that. The doctor - Dr. Habib - was wonderful (and pretty easy on the eyes before and after correction, actually). He listened to me and did not give me jargon stuff and did answer all my questions and proposed a solution that turned out not to work so we worked on a Plan B together and I am just delighted.

It turns out I have natural monovision. One eye works best for long vision and one works best for near vision and together they do pretty darned well with no correction at all (which I suspected) except for computer work.

We tried two contacts and a couple of other contact options but when I could see the computer, I couldn't see the phone and my distance vision got wonky. Finally we agreed that no correction was the best and I would just get computer glasses. So that's what I did. He gave me a prescription for computer glasses and one for regular in case I wanted to try just a little bit of correction in the one weaker eye. (He actually suggested that I get 1.25 readers and just pop out the glass of the opposite eye so there was no correction and that would work as well!)

They gave me both prescriptions typed out and easy to read and offered to fill one or both in a manner that would have been quite comfortable to decline had I wanted to skinny out of there and get el cheapos online. I was so impressed that I decided to order my computer glasses from them right there and I did. 2 weeks. And they take Discover!

AND they let me use a corner of their show room to listen in on a conf call I needed to for work.

Total win. Total.

Oh and I have the beginnings of a cataract. He said these days they don't do anything with cataracts when they are young and mine was a toddler.

I remember when my grandmother had her cataract removed. It was done in a hospital and she stayed overnight. She was not allowed to move her head at least for a day and maybe longer and they told her if she sneezed, she'd go blind (probably an exaggeration there).

By the time my mother got hers removed, things had changed... Outpatient. Took an hour and she could read the paper with no correction at all at age 80.

Mainly now, after years of hassle, I have an eye doctor I am happy to go see and who's easy to get to without driving. Sweet!

Comments

[machupicchu.livejournal.com]

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I'm going to pay close attention to how well their customer service plays out through the point of actually having hardware in hand. I may just switch to them myself -- I rather like the location better than the one up on Roosevelt and 70th. And I'd like to use someone who doesn't screw up my orders!

Also, an eye doctor who's easy on the eyes is always nice. I used to have one on 4th who was super cute.
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[susandennis]

You would totally love looking at this guy - he's in your sweet spot looks wize BUT remember I saw him first so I have dibs.

NOTE... he is not equal to your Roosevelt dr. Your Roosevelt dr is an M.D. This guy is an O.D. Opthamology vs. Optomlogy. I just mention cause it might make a diff to you.

[machupicchu.livejournal.com]

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I probably would not have even realized the difference had you not mentioned it, so no, it doesn't make much difference.

And I actually really, really like my eye doctor at Roosevelt. The problem is the rest of the place (and the location -- further away from downtown is never best in my book).
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[theryn.livejournal.com]

When my grandma had her first cataract surgery she had a patch on her eye for a week and had to read large type books for a long time after and they only did one at a time. By the time they did her second ones they did both in an outpatient and she was back to normal immediately after. My step-dad got his done a few years ago and went from a lifetime of (incredibly strong) glasses and contacts to perfect vision because they gave him totally new lenses inside his eyes. I almost want to get cataracts for that reason.

[susandennis]

I *know*! My Mom was really pissed that she had waited so long to get hers fixed.

My neighbor, Ann, said that she had hers done a couple of years ago. She said they dilated her eyes and then flashed some light in and she asked them to tell her when they were starting and they told her they were done. And she drove home. She said she nearly wrecked the car because she was too busy looking at stuff she hadn't been able to see for years.

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

Hah! I just drove past there this morning and wondered about it offhand, since we're going to be in the market for new glasses soon. Maybe I'll suggest it to Carl! Thanks for the recommendation!

[susandennis]

I highly recommend. Really. I'll post when I get my glasses but I cannot imagine they won't be perfect.

excellent timing

[henare.livejournal.com]

i went to the ophthamologist (sp?) last week when i learnt i, too, had the earliest stages of cataracts. the only person i knew who had cataracts was my step-grandfather ... he got his surgery in the 1960's or 1970's and had glasses that were enormous ...

and now i wonder why i shouldn't get mine fixed now since i, too, wear high-powered glasses (-9.00 or so).

something to look forward to in old age, i guess.

Re: excellent timing

[susandennis]

When I was filling out form and answering who in my family had what, I realized that everyone had cataracts if they lived long enough. But, 'long enough' was pretty much my age!

Still, it seems like cataracts is the sign to me that I am now really old. I'm not sure I'm bummed about that, however.

Also, since yesterday, it seems like all the cataract stories I've heard have been 'life is better after' stories.

Very interesting.

[mixter11nm.livejournal.com]

Glad you've got it all figured out.