Less Worried

My eye is starting to get back to normal. I still have a little hazy light in my peripheral vision when I read too much or focus on the computer screen, especially with glarey overhead lights. But in general things are getting closer to how they were before. I am beginning to think stress and eye strain are a big part of the problem.

Anyway, I talked to my mother, among other things to make sure she didn’t hear about this episode from one of my sisters who may have read my site. I didn’t want to alarm her. Among other things, she assured me that I never had surgery on my good eye, only on the one in which I am legally blind. Whew. While that doesn’t mean nothing bad can happen in my good eye, it does mean that I am not at risk for retinal damage that could crop up at some random point in the future, due to the shortened muscle having been ineptly stitched to the eyeball… there was no stitching on the good eye.

There’s still some kind of weird light-interference I get from the computer screen in an overly-bright environment, though — at least, when the screen is white and I’m focusing on text onscreen — so I am going to take that as a hint to (a) get my desk lighting setup improved, and (b) as a hint that at least for the next week or two, I should minimize computer usage. I may also try to seek out an eye-saver screen for the monitor, or seek out a higher-quality desktop monitor to use when I’m working at home. (And which Lime and I can use for watching TV programs and videos from the PC. A wireless mouse and keyboard wouldn’t hurt, either…)

Anyway, in the spirit of minimiing strain for as many days as possible, I’m going to sign off now, noting, I am less worried and that means everyone else who was worried at all should also be less alarmed after seeing this.

6 thoughts on “Less Worried

  1. My eye doctor tells me that office workers need only about 75% of the overhead light they typically get. A couple of years ago, I turned them all off and switched to a desk lamp to the left of my monitor (for task lighting) and a floor lamp elsewhere (but not where it would glare on my monitor). I also increased the refresh rate on my monitor, which helped with the eye problems I was experiencing.

    Not only did it help my eyesight, but I experienced an increase in energy.

    YMMV.

  2. Refresh rate is something I wanted to increase, but my laptop isn’t capable of more, apparently… which is why I’m thinking of getting a flatscreen for this very purpose.

  3. Hey Gord, I’m glad to see that your problem is settling down.

    I can empathise with you completely: I was born with a cataract in my right eye, and have no vision in it.

    Several years ago I woke up and had floaters in my field of vision – it really freaked me out at the time. But, floaters are pretty normal, and I got used to them.

    I’ve been advised against any kind of unnecessary surgery on my left eye, and I don’t wear contacts for the same reason. Basically, doctors have always told me that anything that had the remotest possibility of interfering with vision in my good eye should be avoided. So, no laser surgery to rectify my short-sightedness, for example.

    I sit beside the window that looks out my back garden and I look away from the screen out at my garden at regular intervals. It’s more of a strain on the eyes to look at close objects, so it’s best to vary your focus. Your eye is relaxed when it looks at objects in the distance.

    Some of what you described reminded me of the preliminary effects of migraine. Do you get headaches often?

    From reading your journal it looks like you’ve been very stressed and busy lately, and that is probably a big factor. I’m not sure how much rest you’ll get at Clarion, however. :)

    But as they say in Ireland: “A change is as good as a rest.”

  4. Well, I am nearsighted, but I am nowadays going for walks and such to try to alleviate the strain. I also have been working on improving the lighting conditions in my apartment, which seem to be helping. It’s a bit of a dark place, and I stupidly didn’t sort that out right when I moved in.

    When you have sight only in one eye, yeah, the floaters can scare the hell out of you, huh? And yeah, I would never even consider laser surgery in my good eye.

    I don’t get migraines, actually, or any kinds of headaches, although, in the last couple of days, I’ve hung on the verge of headaches. But nothing has actually coalesced in that department.

    I am thinking stress and exhaustion probably have a lot to do with it. My eye is still strained, even now, I can feel it and the dryness is a reminder of that. But I think I’m going to be okay, and I think that yes, the change of scenery at Clarion will do me some good, even if I do feel some stress along with it.

  5. That statistic I cited should be 25%, not 75%.

    The eye exam after I changed jobs showed that my eyesight had improved, and my eye doctor said that stress does indeed affect eyesight.

  6. I figured the number 75% was wrong, as I’ve had to tone it down to something closer to 20-30% for comfort.

    I’m not in luck for now, then… Clarion’s supposed to be quite stressful. Then again, after the last semester, I’m imagining it as more of a break than a stressor. Not to complain, I really like my job, but adjusting hasn’t been easy. And I’ve had too many writing classes all at once.

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