Yes Steph, It is good to know the experience of others to know what can be expected, but ones experience can be quite different from anothers.
I know what you mean about bi-focals. Since losing the vision of my right eye, the remaining left has gone from perfect to needing bifocals in order to read. I however get cramps in my neck having to reposition my head to see through the lower portion in positions such as computer screens, and the presence of the frames is irritating to me, thus I wear a contact.
Under normal conditions, there are options for people who wear contacts but require bi-focals. They now make a bi-focal contact, but I have not tried them. The older methode is to set one eye for distance and the other for near, thus allowing for long range and close up vision, it is referred to as Mono Vision I believe, but when only one eye can be used, this option is unavailable, thus mine is optimized for reading and at distances beyond a few yards, things are less then distinct.
One never really appreciates things until they are lost. I once enjoyed exceptional vision with far better then normal hand to eye coordination, but now have no depth perception or perifial much past my nose on the right side. Make things interesting at times. One of the most common frustrations is hashmarks on a street. Without depth perception, they can appear as a solid barrier standing up depending on lighting conditions. It is things that some years of experience has taught me to deal with, but still today sometimes causes misconceptions in what I see.
I drive 18' box trucks as part of my job, and backing them up under tight conditions is often more an excercise in confidence in ability then actual perception of distances. Almost anything is overcomable if you are willing to try and do.
I use the Acuvue 2 brand lenses and find them quite comfortable, as a rule, I can not even tell I am wearing one by any "feel". They can even be worn while swimming underwater and will never fall out unless they become to dry, which as I have said, only occurs in my case in the mornings when I have slept for a few hours.
The cost of these lenses is generally on an average of $25 or so for a box of 6, which worn on only one eye will last me about 3 months if changed according to recommended time.
Take care of them eyes Steph, and if wearing contacts, keep them clean and guard against infections. This is why most optomitrists do not like the extended wear lenses, they are concerned about bacteria buildup, which I am told could destroy ones eyesight almost overnight if the wrong bacteria becomes present and you do not remove them. As said though, I have worn the Acuvue lenses for a good many years and never had a problem, but then remember the different experience of different people.
Terri
