New glasses are better than the old ones but they could be (much) better and Tyler has an appointment of his own.

I paid for premium progressives with maximum viewing area, Digimax® Ultra HD with NeverGlare Advantage poly transition, that came with Crizal no-glare —  in a cheap $29 frame and my glasses still cost $600 not counting the $94. eye exam sans picture of the back of my eyeballs.

This is what Tyler looks like to me across the room without my glasses on. He could be a raccoon!

I still had to tilt my head to the left, so my right eye can see the same distance from center my left eye could, but at least with this pair, (that is a full diopter stronger than the last eye doctor prescribed) I can find a spot that is clear. It is just a super small width of an area. I still had to tilt my head down to see over where the progressive part that starts where I need to see distance while driving. Seg height from the bottom is 14.5 and it could have been lower so that I had to look for it.  They could not be any heavier and they really really hurt behind my ears. I wonder if the Hi-Index lens would weigh less or if it’s available with transitions?  No way I can wear them all the time like I’m supposed to. I don’t like that even though they’ve been adjusted they kept sliding down my nose or how easy they fog up.

If I hold this dead in front of me and look at the red dot under my cell phone home button, I can not see any farther than the lined off square without turning my head and the right side is blurrier farther in. That just can’t be right that you can’t even read 3″ wide without turning your head.

Since my last eye doctor that I’ve used for years gave up on me, and his suggestion was to keep taking my glasses off for close up, I found a new ophthalmologist. This new eye doctor, Dr. Brown at Walmart said I’d lost my astigmatism in my right eye and that I had dry eyes. She did not measure my distance and near PD herself even after I said that I thought my eye did not go in the same amount as my left. She suggested going with a taller frame.

I swear they could make a better lens! Kind of like a progressive with a wider corridor or reading area and less distortion outside the hourglass shape. Kind of like a trifocal without the lines. I can’t believe you’re supposed to move your head instead of just your eyes for the width of an old Samsung S4 that is 3″ wide.

Here is my older post from the last time I went through this ordeal.

I went back and found some old prescriptions and was kinda surprised at how all over the board they were.

I tried my husband’s lined bifocals, and even though they are not the same as my prescription his reading area is much wider (left to right) than mine. Since I already took his turn getting new glasses I decided these will work for now.

These are better than having to take my glasses on and off over and over to see my camera, where I’m walking and what I’m shooting. I like the progressive lenses better than the single vision for everything except reading for any length of time, and going downhill or down stairs. The next time I go if my prescription has not changed much I’ll continue to use them and possibly get a lined pair for using the computer or reading and looking up at the TV and just let them sit on the end table where my old 8gram single vision pair stays now. Love the weight of those!

For now, I’ll just take them off for reading and wear my computer single vision pair for sitting at the computer. It is very nice not to have to take them on and off, I just wish the progression started farther down, I wish the reading area was wider and I wish the edges of the frames were not so blurry.  It is nice to be able to read a label or take a quick glance at my LCD without needing to look under or take them off.

After I wrote what you just read,

My left eye started twitching. I went back to Walmart. Dr. Brown said the Rx including the PD was correct and that my right eye was not lazy. Even though the glasses had been adjusted she thought they were not close enough to my eyes. She also said that some people do better with different brands of progressives. Walmart typically fills orders with Digimax, but they can use Varilux by Essilor. I think the makers of Digimax is National Vision. So, she talked to the optometrist and they adjusted them again and offered to order the Varilux lenses saying when they came in I could compare both and pick the one that worked best for me. I said I’d give it till Monday.  She put silicone nose pads on instead of the hard plastic and they quit sliding down my nose. I shopped through Walmart and was still frustrated at how little of a close-up width there was. I think even though I kept saying it was narrow in width they told me I had to move my head up and down. I explained that the vertical was not the problem it was left to right. I decided since they offer the ability to get the other brand and that two people told me they had better luck with Varilux that I’d just go back and say go ahead and order them.

Holly, who I said they’d order the other brand was at lunch. There was another lady there who was probably closer to my age (and been doing this awhile) who said they were not fit to my face correctly. I explained they’d already been adjusted several times. She said to let her try. Sure. Well, she knows what she is doing. She somehow brought them closer to my eyes and tipped them down, then curved them to my face. Walah, The right side is no longer blurry farther in than the left AND the close up is more out of my distance vision when looking straight ahead. Now it’s still narrower than I’d like but I had no idea having the glasses bent around my obviously misshapen face could make such a difference. How had the others never gotten this right?

They are really really hurting the area behind my ears and I’m still considering while the offer is there to let them try the Varilux since they are offering. I’ll call back on Monday and verify that it will still have the same no glare that came with the Digimax and that I can choose between the two brands. I did look back at my paperwork from my first pair of progressives in 2014 and they were Varilux Comfort 2, the problem is that Rx was not right as I could NEVER see anything clear at any part of the close-up bottoms.

I tried to look up a comparison of Varilux and Digimax but couldn’t find anything. Since Dr. Brown and Holly’s friend both tried Digimax and could see more with Varilux I think for that much money that I’d like to try them. Dr. Brown and Walmart have gained me as a customer and I’m betting my hubby will try them too with them costing less than where we’ve been going.

I also finally made a breakthrough in my email. I realized when I was doing taxes and looking up receipts that some of my emails were missing. They didn’t all survive the multiple computer tranfers in Thunderbird. I did everything Thunderbird said to do and nothing was making it ‘see’ the folders and their contents. I thought maybe if I got a new email program that when I transfered to it, that the new one would recongize them. As a last resort I tried something different, not listed in help, and even though it will take a long time I have figured out how to get my emails back!

I also made Tyler his annual vet appointment and after seeing he has another tooth with FLORS, I asked if they could do his annual and if everything was okay, do the extraction right after. Less stressful car rides, one day less having food withheld and his heart murmur and being put under anesthesia is only going to get worse the older he gets. The person who made the appointment said I could just drop him off. I don’t think so! How would we go over what’s changed during his annual visit and how would I talk to the vet about his grade 2 heart murmur if I just dropped him off. Nope, I’ll be in the parking lot with a book after his annual so I’m right there if they need me and I can bring him back home the minute they say he’s good to go. I don’t like my cats taken into other rooms for stuff they can do in the exam room. Helicopter mom you say? Darn right I am.

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