And Then I Couldn’t See

Sometime last year, I realized I was having trouble reading highway signs and my whiteboard from across the room. Then in December I noticed my ability to see both far and near was beginning to be blurry. But I turned 40 this year, so it isn’t that surprising that I need to upgrade my prescription reading glasses to regular everyday glasses. I called and made an appointment with an eye doctor but they couldn’t get me in until April 26, 2021.

Now with double outer ear infections and an inner ear infection in the right ear, I didn’t use my computer or watch TV much for 2 weeks. I had to be prescribed a second round of stronger antibiotics last week before I could return to work. And so Sunday morning, I booted my laptop with the intention of writing for a few hours… oh boy.

My laptop is no longer close enough to me. Even typing this with my reading glasses, my screen is hard to read. Both numbers and letters are basically black blurs. I got 1,900 words typed this morning after which I had a horrible headache and took a two hour nap with some migraine medication just to make sure I didn’t wake up with a migraine.

I’m going to call the eye doctor again this upcoming week and ask them to put me on a “call if there’s a cancelation” list if they have one. But I suspect I’m going to be forced to make a decision: wait until April 26th to get an eye exam or pay for it and the glasses I need out of pocket since I can’t get in sooner someplace that takes my vision insurance. Because writing without being able to see the letters is a struggle and it’s making me a touch nauseous.

There’s just no way I can go 92 days without working because I can’t read text if it’s more than 15 inches from my face.