NOTE: This shorter post contains one (1) photo with caption, taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.
MONDAY 15 and TUESDAY 16 July 2024 — Vision and Hearing
Monday 15 … Optical
By today, Linda was well on her way to recovery from her cold. I was also a lot better, but definitely not fully recovered yet. We had another fairly easy day, but I did test my new tri-focal glasses as well as my previous pair (from at least 8 years ago). I was only interested in the distance portion of the lenses, as the reading and arm’s length prescriptions in my new glasses were fine.
My test setup consisted of a box of cat litter as a target; a white box with a solid blue panel, with white letters. The large letters were ~ 3/4” high and the small letters were ~ 1/4” high. I set the box on our patio table facing east so it was illuminated by the morning sun. Beyond the box were bushes and trees at various distances, all well-illuminated. I estimated the farthest trees to be about 130 feet beyond the target. I secured the free end of my 100-foot tape measure at the front edge of the target and un-reeled it along the deck to the far east end, which turned out to be 70 feet.
The front panel of a box of Dr. Elsey’s Cat Litter served as the target for testing my new tri-focal glasses and comparing them to my old ones. It was well lit with sunlight, and had both larger and smaller letters with good contrast, so it made a good target.
With Linda’s assistance, we noted how clearly I could see the letters on the target at increasing distances in 5-foot increments, starting at 5 feet from the target. (Somewhere around 40 feet, we went to 10-foot increments up to 70 feet.) We also noted how sharp things appeared beyond the target. We did this first with my un-aided vision. We then repeated this procedure with my new glasses, and then again with my old glasses. What we found was that I could see the target fairly well without glasses out to about 45 feet, and that things farther away were less sharp, but not too blurry. With my new glasses, everything was less sharp at every distance, getting worse with increasing distance. With my old glasses, however, the target and everything beyond was sharper at every distance compared to my un-aided vision.
I had a return visit at 16:00 with our new optometrist at the Kellogg Eye Center (KEC) at the UofMH-BCSC. I shared the results of my testing with the technician, and again with the optometrist. The technician did not really seem interested in my test, re-checked my eyes, and then checked my new tri-focal glasses as well as my previous pair. She basically told me my new glasses were fine. Uh, no, they are not.
Fortunately, the optometrist listened carefully, took my concern seriously, and acknowledged what I needed my tri-focal glasses to do. She re-tested my eyes and came up with a revised prescription. She even took me to an outside window with a view of several signs in the parking lot at various and considerable distances. She held up additional corrective lenses until I could see the signs clearly and then finalized a new prescription. If my replacement lenses achieve the same clarity, I will be very satisfied.
Rain was in the forecast again for today and overnight, which probably meant our lawn care guy (Keith) would not be able to mow tomorrow. Such are the vagaries of weather-dependent work.
Tuesday 16 … More optical, and an online Cochlear meeting
Well, it did indeed rain overnight, a lot. We had standing water around the property and mowing the grass did not seem prudent. Keith texted me around 8 AM to see what the situation was and we agreed that he would skip mowing our property this week. Unfortunately for his, his makeup day is Monday, so if he cannot mow us on Tuesday (our regular day) it has to wait a week, or I have to do it.
Our Boondockers Welcome guests, Dave and Martha T., left around noon. Their next stop was the Jellystone Family RV Resort in Frankenmuth, Michigan. We will be there in early Fall. When they had left, I headed to the SVS Vision Optical Center in Brighton with my new tri-focal glasses and my revised prescription. The optician was very helpful and it did not take very long to return the glasses and get the new prescription ordered. There will not be a charge for the replacement lenses as I was well within the 45 “no questions asked” return/adjust period.
Back home, Linda had a 4 PM online meeting with a representative from Cochlear. There was another woman (client) in the meeting, and I sat in out of curiosity. The meeting was conducted using Microsoft Teams, but Linda did not have to install anything on her laptop computer. (I had to use MS Teams back in June 2022 just after we entered Canada. I was randomly selected for a CoVID-19 test, and the test had to be monitored by someone online. I used my iPad Pro, and had to install the MS Teams app.) The reason for the meeting, was that Medicare covers the cost of replacing a Cochlear device every five (5) years and Linda was now eligible for a replacement.
Cochlear is always working to improve their products, and Linda was excited about getting the newest version of the external processor. Cochlear handles the entire order and delivery process, coordinating with our BCBS Medicare Plus health insurance and with Linda’s audiologist. The new processor will be shipped directly to our house, and will be pre-programmed with the current settings as last determined by the audiologist. Linda had already uploaded a lot of information to Cochlear, and the purpose of the meeting was to finalize the details on what she wanted, including a choice of accessories. Of no small importance, we learned that Linda does NOT have to return her current processor, but will retain it as a backup.
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