Playing Blind Woman’s Bluff
That’s me, in the middle, with my friends heading to Starbucks.
from maniacarts.com
Yep, I’m blind as a bat. I’ve got my first pair of glasses in the eighth grade, prehistoric times, about 1962, then graduated to contact lenses, all iterations of them – hard, in the days when I had to carry a machine that boiled the darn things and when you’d lose them behind the eye even, to soft, to dailies, until my eyes just couldn’t take contacts anymore. The dry eye, the irritation, the nuisance. Done.
So back to glasses I went and still am today – adding the nice old-age problem of bi-focals, needing both distance and reading. What next, a cane and a shawl?
I get an annual eye exam (which was part of the EOS Wellness Week) to make sure there are no signs of glaucoma creeping in or macular degeneration. I’m good to go in both regards, but my prescription did change, both distance and reading.
With TWO pair of glasses, cool looking sunglasses and regular ones, I had to order two sets of lenses.
Then had to sit down when I got the bill. For two sets of lenses, no new frames, and the full eye exam, you guess. I’ll give you a hint. The eye exam was only $120.00.
a. $ 765.42
b. $ 512.17
c. $1220.19
d. $ 997.31
Yes, one of these amounts is the actual price tag of being blind.
So why not go under the knife of an eye surgeon and correct them? My astigmatism seems to be holding up the absolute yes reason for going ahead. My eye doctor said that Lasik doesn’t definitively resolve people with my particular eye problem. Here’s what the American Optometric Association says:
Astigmatism can also be corrected by reshaping the cornea using a highly focused laser beam of light. Two commonly used procedures are photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK).
PRK removes tissue from the superficial and inner layers of the cornea. LASIK does not remove tissue from the surface of the cornea, but only from its inner layer. To do this, a section of outer corneal surface is cut and folded back to expose the inner tissue. Then a laser is used to remove the precise amount of tissue needed and the flap of outer tissue is placed back in position to heal. Both procedures allow light to focus on the retina by altering the shape of the cornea.
The question remains, whether I repair my eyes or stay with glasses, why on earth are lenses so darn expensive? I asked my eye doctor today when I went to pick up both pair. He’s a dear, a doctor I’ve used for 25 years and in whom I have trust and faith (blind faith??).
He said, call Essilor. They are, according to their own website, the leading manufacturer of eyeglass lenses and have 128 labs in the USA. They make progressive lenses, with no line for the bi-focal user like me. They make No Glare lenses. They make them all and it’s the choice my eye doctor says is worth the expense. Quality.
In case you want the answer to the quiz, it’s C, $1220!!!!!!! $510 for one set of lenses. $590 for the other pair. Maybe I should go buy some Essilor stock. As it turns out, not a bad stock pick:
Year over year, Essilor International SA has been able to grow revenues from €3.9B EUR to €4.2B EUR. Most impressively, the company has been able to reduce the percentage of sales devoted to income tax expense from 4.30% to 4.28%. This was a driver that led to a bottom line growth from €462.0M EUR to €505.6M EUR.
Now how do you put your name and number on those glasses, in the event you miss place them. Like the time I left mine in a Mass. hotel room after checking out. Luckily other family members were still at the hotel for a few days and they could get them for me and they don’t live too far away, so I could get them from them. My fancy shmancy titaniam flex this and that glasses were pushing $900. I remember my very first pair came from Pearl Vision Center, probably a $29.99 “special”.
SB: I’m one of those odd people who rarely loses things. I can’t see without my glasses so they aren’t ever far off my head to lose. Mr. EOS taught me long ago to always put things back where they belong, which I am pretty good at, except shoes. I leave shoes all over the house – take a pair off, put on slippers, but don’t put the shoes away, until someone, Mr. EOS, trips on them.
I hate to think what the bill would have been had I needed two new frames to. I might have had to take out a mortgage. Honestly, for a moment, I thought to myself, where’s a Pearl Vision or the nearest Walmart. $29.99 sounds awfully good.
Do you wear glasses full time? I don’t remember seeing you in them.
I’ll take the cane and shawl. I had to buy reading glasses this year. Getting old.
I picked D but I am completely unsurprised by C.
Well then I wish you had been along to pay. I WAS surprised.
I’ve been there, starting in eighth grade, too. Glasses, hard lenses, soft lenses and back to good old glasses. To save a few $, I once had sunglasses made in a single prescription. I looked cool but the glasses were pretty useless.
Did your prescription change enough that new lenses were necessary? Are they less expensive in RI? How many kids is your optician sending to college?
Why did you stop wearing contacts?
I once tried the single prescription shades. Lasted all of a month.
Mr. EOS gets his glasses in RI, his preferred doc there. Answer is no to being any cheaper. He’s also blind with bifocals. Yet only one of our children wears glasses.
Funny, my doc is now a grandpa, both his daughters long since out of college, but I imagine we did help pay for a tuition or two.
I don’t recall exactly when I gave up contacts but I think it was when an eyeglass prescription changed and I didn’t bother going back to be fitted for contacts which I wore on an occasional basis only. Although I had no trouble with wearing contacts, I am more comfortable with glasses.
I am usually more comfortable with glasses but I fall into the Abusive Category in how I care for them. I still find I take them off for prolonged computer work or reading for a long period of time too. Needlepointing as well, no glasses, so they either sit atop my fat head or on a table, where they are subjected to whatever else lands on the table. Fortunately the man at the eye doctor’s office who adjusts frames has a sense of humor.
I was unable to wear contacts after the birth of one of my children. I have no idea what one has to do with the other, except I know other women who have the same problem.
I do exactly the same. The eyeglass frames are stretched from sitting on my head. I can tell they need adjusting when I see I’m not seeing through the right part of the lens. I wondered
why I need graduated lenses when I take my glasses off to read and, why single lenses don’t work. Found the answer on a tennis court. My glasses have to be just right for me to see the ball properly while playing at the net. Doesn’t mean I can hit the ball, only that I can see it.
I wonder whether lenses cost so much because we’re the idiots who just pay whatever they charge us?
Yes, Rosie, that’s a great point. They set the price. We pay. And pay. And pay.
Isn’t it crazy? I just got my daughter glasses from Warby Parker, $95 for the whole deal. Happily I have vision coverage and that pays for my contacts. next time I go in I’m going to ask about Lasik but I’ve been told the same thing about my astigmatism. sigh.
I’ve seen ads for Warby Parker and their frames look awesome. Really cute. I even saw the two founders interviewed about their concept. Guess it’s working well for them. And lucky you to have vision coverage. Win-win. A giant L is in my forehead!!!
Warby Parker is the greatest invention since bifocal contacts.
Agree!