Mr. Editor:
Just a quick note to follow-up regarding preparations for Eyesight and Hearing. I checked into lasik and contacts long ago (I am slightly near-sighted – too many hours staring into cameras and computers I guess). Although Lasik advances have come a long way, please be sure you talk to your eye surgeon at length before you commit to this serious expense. If you are near-sighted, a successful lasik procedure will improve your long-distance vision, but may impede your “up close” vision. I talked with my eye doctor at length about this, and after many questions he acknowledged that in many cases, near-sighted people would require reading glasses in as little as 3-5 years.
Also, remember that as a person gets older, the eye muscles simply weaken, which is why many people need reading glasses by their mid-40s. For those of you who were genetically lucky enough to not need glasses, oh how I envy you! (Forgive me Lord!) For those of us who do need glasses, contacts are a nice thing. Remember that eye solutions do have expiration dates and never sleep with your contacts in because it can lead to eye infections. Make sure your hands are “hospital surgery clean” (HSC) when you place the contacts in your eyes. A post-TEOTWAWKI eye infection is not something you want to deal with.
If there are any ophthalmologists reading, I’d be interested in hearing from you about eye-related injuries and treatments, etc. For example, I imagine there will be a lot of people chopping wood without wearing safety glasses who end up with one of nature’s toothpicks embedded in their eye.
As a side note, I recommend going to Costco and picking up extra pairs of reading glasses. Buy several different strengths, including some that “stronger” than what you currently need. They are cheap, but somewhat durable. Even if you don’t need them now, someone else may. – Jake G.