Monday, November 1, 2010

Contact Disaster.

Halloween went well. Kendall knocked on some doors and received a bunch of candy that she can't eat. Before we went trick-or-treating, Daddy decided Kendall needed to learn how to be a witch. He zoomed her around the house on her broom, and she loved every minute of it!



Kendall was fitted for contacts today. Because she has thick corneas (instead of round...they are a little more flat) and has an astigmatism, she was unable to wear Silisoft lenses and we had to go with RGP. Hmh.

Everyone laughs whenever I bring up her wearing contacts. I don't wear contacts. But I figured it was the next best thing because she won't keep her glasses on. I also thought it may even be an option to split the difference. Making her wear both and have her glasses lighter and thinner. But that's not the way it worked out.
We spent an hour and a half trying to put them in and take them out. We did it. But they slide down off of her corneas and she screamed bloody murder the entire time. So, the Dr. took them off and we left with an appointment to go back next Monday to try again. I don't plan to give up because the things were extremely expensive. (we hit our insurance deductible back in February, so they are paid for) And I really want them to work. But it was very stressful.
And did I mention they are the size of a pencil eraser? Well, they are. They are tinted and marked for each separate eye, but still it will require lots and lots of practice. And if we lose them in the process, we will be responsible for paying for the replacement.
I intend on thinking this over for the remainder of the week. Is it worth it? I don't know. What I do know is that since the traumatizing experience at the office today, she hasn't taken her glasses off once. I think she's thinking they may not be so bad after all!

6 comments:

Lorrie said...

Just some insight (no pun intended). I wear RGP's. Just because that's what I've worn since I was 12. Every eye doctor has tried to talk me out of them, but I firmly believe in sticking with what I'm comfortable in. I go back and forth and wear soft lenses every once in a while, but I always go back to my RGP's for whatever reason.
They are not fun to get used to. Everytime I switch back to them from the soft lenses, I wonder why I torture myself. They hurt and itch and make me blink like crazy, but after about a week and once I'm used to them, they're great. Just stick with it if it's what you want. I know this is all completely different for sweet Kendall, but I thought I would give you my 2 cents :)
I hope you're next appointment goes well!

Anonymous said...

I think she will get through the ripping off the glasses phase and everything will be fine.

cmh134@hotmail.com Maria said...

What about a band for the glasses? Maybe that won't help?? Just a thought... but yeah, maybe the contact thing was lesson and you are right that the glasses aren't so bad!

Oh by the way, I LOVE that she rips off her glasses, that she can do it!! :)

Kelly said...

I too have (had?) astigmatism and have flatten corneas. When I was 8 I began wearing hard contacts and it was a nightmare. They were painful and nearing impossible for me to get used to. My prescription was -10.5 & -19.5, so my glasses were THICK and we were at the point of trying anything. Because I could not tolerate the hard contacts they decided to try the soft but told us there was no hope. Well lo and behold, it worked. I wore glasses to correct for the astigmatism at that point in time with the contacts.
Fast forward to recent times they make soft contacts that correct for astigmatism, they are called Toric lens. Because the contacts themselves always had to be so thick they 'stuck' to my corneas despite them being flat.
Last October I had the Visian ICL surgery and had lens implanted in front of my normal lens. In January I had Lasic to correct the remaining difference and the astigmatism. I went from seeing 20/40 in my good eye WITH correction to 20/20 and went from seeing 20/180 with correction to 20/40 with my bad eye.
There is hope for Kendall. It is amazing what technology can do right now. The Visian ICL surgery is helpful for glaucoma too because it creates 3 valves in the eyes to allow fluid to drain. The lens can also be switched out if vision changes dramatically.
Don't give up! She will eventually wear her glasses and don't give up on those contacts.

Bronx Cataldo's said...

Finnian started out with the RGP's at 6mths old.He too has very flat eye balls. They were the best to find if he did pop them out. We have since moved to the silsoft. THere are pros and cons with them. The biggest con is they are so much more expensive. They are not as forgiving as the RGP's and we have to get a new pair every 6 mths. I am thinking abut going back to the RGP's for him.

Anonymous said...

Chuckling at that last bit!

The zooming witch was too cute!

Barbara