Harry's Blog

I'm sure I've mentioned before the eyesight problems with which I suffer. I have something called keratoconus which means I don't have smooth corneas. While not particularly worse in effect than many more common eyesight problems it is harder to fix.

The best treatment is hard contact lenses. Not only do these give good quality eyesight, the pressure of the lens on the cornea means that you can actually have improved sight when you take the lens out. Alas I lost my last set of lenses not long before we moved from North London.

They were actually overdue for replacement anyway, but because I'd moved twice in the space of a year it took some time before I got a consultation with a specialist sorted out. Once I'd seen a consultant over here in Essex I was referred to a specialist optician for fitting of the contact lenses I need.

Well a week ago I had the first fitting and it was a revelation. I had a trial fit with two blank lenses, ie ones without any prescription at all. Now without at lens I can't see much of anything through my left eye, but even with the blank lens I was able to read most of the opticians letter board. The fit was perfect and I didn't even feel the rather large lens at all. The right lens, for my relatively strong eye, didn't fit as well.

However tomorrow I return to the optician for a fitting of my new lenses, ones with the added prescription and a new fit for the right lens. I'm really looking forward to it. At my fitting last week, the lenses combined with the prescription test glasses meant I could read every letter on the board.

If the lenses I try tomorrow fit perfectly then it looks like I will be enjoying the best eyesight I've had in years. Certainly in one fitting these lenses were already better than any I had from Manchester's Royal Eye Hospital, where they spent years faffing around with various types and fits.

Tomorrow can't come soon enough.