My Jordi Glasses are Ordered!

This is what they look like! Mine will be blue!
They are the Ocutech VES-Sport!

Woo hoo! The other day I was measured for my bioptic glasses! I’ve had a loaner pair from Wilmer for the past two weeks and I have to say that I LOVE them. When I wear them, I can see so much! Street signs, Power Point presentations from the back of the room instead of the front, menus posted on the wall, restroom signs, faces of people playing basketball in the park behind our house, signs inside the metro. I even saw detail on our 55-inch HD TV that I've never seen before!

My new here - Geordi La Forge

My sweet husband was so tired of me narrating our road trips that I thought he was going to kick me out of the car:  "Did you know that Exit 17B is before Exit 17A”,  “Checkers Cheeseburgers $1.89”,  “Left turning vehicles”, “Hey, look, there is the sign for the light rail”, “Did you see that sign for the aquarium?" He said I sounded like a GPS with runaway software – the only thing I didn’t say was “Recalculating.”

I wore the glasses every day and practiced aiming my better eye out the telescope’s small hole to bring into focus a small, but very clear field of vision. It’s a little tricky, but after a while the muscle memory develops and it becomes as easy as looking in a rear view mirror.

The only problem with the bioptic glasses was that occasionally I got so involved with all the things I could see, that sometimes I didn’t always watch where I was going. Several times, I almost walked into something or fell. I didn’t, though, and I also didn't feel the least bit self-conscious about wearing these weird looking things in public.

Now I can see the subway menu when
at the cash register.

I call them my Jordy Glasses, in honor of Geordi La Forge, the Chief Engineer on the Starship Enterprise, who wore a VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement). Jordy, my preferred spelling, is an acronym for “Joint Optical Reflective Device.” OK, that’s really just “Jord,” but it’s my blog and my eyes, so I’ll take a bit of license if I want to.  While discussing this with my low vision therapist (LVT, since we’re doing acronyms today), I learned that there really is such a thing as a “Jord(y)”, and of course it was developed at Hopkins!

When I sit on the metro, I can read this sign.

Anyway, back to the “fitting.” First, it was necessary to show the LVT and the doctor that I really was making progress. They both agreed that I was. In fact, with my better eye and the telescope I was able to read the 20/15 line on the Eye chart. “Astonishing” she said.

The “carrier” lenses will be my distance prescription on top and the lower bifocal will be speedometer distance. I chose silver frames since I wear a lot of black AND since I had no color choice with the white cane, I chose a classy metallic blue for the telescope. If I’m going to be a Star Trek character, I might as well be a fashionable one!

Next steps: I’ll get the bioptics in a month. First I’ll practice some more. Then, I’ll take driving lessons (at my age!) to see if I can integrate the telescope safely into my driving. This little gizmo will make a world of difference - not just in my vision, but also my independence. Stay tuned!