i have the eyes of a 60+ year old

according to my optometrist these hazel beauties would more likely be found in the head of a 60+ year old person rather than in my 42 year old head. a couple of years ago he told me i had cataracts. he was a bit stunned that someone my age would have them. i have no thyroid problems; no diabetes; didn't grow up on the coast (people who grow up in beachy areas are more likely to have cataracts); and i don't weld or blow glass (also prone to cataracts). mine are most likely congenital. yeah me! he said at some point i MIGHT need surgery. hmmm.

i got my first pair of glasses when i was in 9th grade. i couldn't see the chalkboard. they got a little worse as the years went by. i got my first pair of contacts when i was a freshman in college. i got my eyes checked almost regularly and i almost always needed a new prescription. we've been seeing our current optometrist for probably 7-8 years. oddly enough, his father owns the company the hubs works for and his younger brother is the douche canoe/lucky sperm boy who is the hubs' boss. this guy is nothing, nothing like his father or brother.

for most of my adult life i've worn contacts, which i'd take out in the evenings and then wear glasses. a few years ago it was time to move to bi-focal contacts. for four months i tried different combinations of bi-focals, multi-focals, etc. and i just couldn't find a good fit. exasperated i went to all glasses all the time and that's when i got the pair pictured above.

i knew my eyes had gotten worse since my last appointment (about a year and a half ago). i was having more trouble seeing at night (common in 80 year olds w/ cataracts). when i went for my exam this morning he was shocked at how my vision had changed, for the worse. the cataracts are growing. he described them as mirrors of each other, nice, petal-like cataracts that are actually kind of pretty. but....he's rarely seen such on a person of my age. now it is not a matter of MIGHT needing cataract surgery it is when. possibly 2-5 years depending on how they grow. nice. the upside is that when i do have the surgery i will most likely not need any corrective lenses afterwards and if i do it might just be reading glasses. the downside is that i won't even be 50 years old, they will CUT my lenses out, i will be AWAKE for the procedure and i'm sure it will be expensive, even with insurance. nice.

on the bright side, other than the cataracts, my eyes are healthy. i am getting new glasses. we have craptastic insurance so they are not cheap glasses. the lenses cost more than the frames and co-pay for the exam. i need multi-focal, which basically mean bi-focals with an extra focal thrown in there. they will be progressive lenses, and while there won't be that tell-tale bi-focal line in them, they will take some getting used to. i've heard bad things about progressive lenses, like they're hard to get used to and some people don't get used to them. great. i also needed a special glare coating, because of the cataracts and how they filter light. yep...i'm so excited. not.