Wednesday 5 February 2014

Eye Opener


I like to think that I'm keeping up with technology. I manage to write this blog and get it read over the majority of continents (come on people of Antarctica - aren't you interested in Turkey?). I can work the smart TV and even upgrade the apps. I listen to The Archers via an automatically updating podcast application on my Samsung tablet, which feels kind of wrong on so many levels for a radio programme that is older than I am.  But occasionally I am side-swiped by technical advances and left to feel bit like a dinosaur.  My eyesight has never been good, and I've either worn glasses or contact lenses since the age of 17. I had my eyes tested in late 2011, just before I left the UK and in the past 6 months I have found myself taking my glasses off to see clearly, rather than wearing them.  I had also been persuaded to try photochromic lenses as I was coming back to sunnier climes, but found they were next to useless as they don't darken when I'm driving in bright sunlight, but stay dark for ages when I walk from the sun into a dark room - cue falling down steps and walking into pieces of furniture that I had forgotten I'd moved.  Time had come to get some new glasses. I ummed and ahhed about where to have my eyes tested but in the meantime saw the glasses I wanted.  I am too tight-fisted to splash out on two pairs of specs, and clip-on sunglasses have the taint of the anorak about them, so I got quite excited when I saw these magnetic stick-on shades.  Clip-ons finally got cool! (Italian-made - say no more) 





I now had to have my eyes tested.  The chap who sold me the glasses was called Teoman, he recommended an opthamologist called Teoman and as my husband is also a Teoman, I booked and appointment at Bodrum's Acıbadem hospital to see Dr. Teoman Özek.  (This is probably not a good basis for choosing you doctor if you are seriously ill.) 



The last eye test I had in the UK was pretty similar to the first one I had in my teens: heavy wire rimmed glasses with different lenses slipped in and out to see which is the clearest and that difficult question "is the black dot brighter on the red or green light?" (I've never been able to answer that one honestly). The Acıbadem test was like being beamed into an episode of Startrek. As my daughter is modelling above, no wire glasses, just a clicking pair of high tech binoculars which measured my eyes in seconds and then just two or three questions to check and I was off to the optician with my prescription. As I am astigmatic and need varifocal, the glasses took a whole day to make, but my daughter's were ready in 2 hours.
For the first time in ages I can see really clearly, both close to and far away and now have to concentrate on not losing my "stick ons".

Acibadem has the reputation for being on the expensive side but if you live in and around Bodrum you can sign up for their Bodrum card (all you need is proof that you live in the area)  and you will benefit from at least 50% discount. My eye test, which included two types of glaucoma test, cost 110 TL (about 36 Euros at today's rate) with the card.




22 comments:

  1. I've had to admit to increasing difficulty with distance vision and had to take the plunge.
    Binocular thingys, just like yours, for the test and a pair of glasses ready the next day - twelve quid.
    Mark you, this offer is available in only one shop in a chain of opthalmologists - cum opticians which I found by accident when shopping.

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    1. May be only Tunbridge Wells is behind in eye technology and the rest of the world has been using these binocular machines for decades.

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  2. Excellent, Annie. I too have reached the stage where I need various types of glasses on top of my contact lenses in order to see near, far or in bright light...
    Like you, I was most impressed at how my eyes were tested recently - including a sort of topography image so that my preferred hard contact lenses would fit perfectly - and they do. As you say, a real eye-opener! Love the stick on shades - such a clever and simple idea.
    Axxx

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  3. being able to see...clearly...is a wonderful thing! like the magnetic stick-on shades :)
    Theanne (I had to open an AOL/AIM account to leave a message on blogspot hence all the numbers :D)

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    1. Hi Theanne - I'm glad it's you , all those numbers looked very suspicious.

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  4. B to B, Hi-tech advances in medicine are a wonderful thing. I've found that the level of care I can get here is in some cases even better than in the U.S. I went ahead and got eye surgery at the German Hospital and now only have to wear glasses for reading (which is a lot, I guess, but they only cost 10 TL). I don't think my doctor was named Mark, though.

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    1. Did you have laser treatment or new lenses? I wish I was brave enough to go for this. It must be wonderful to wake up in the morning and be able to see clearly without searching around for glasses.

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    2. It was laser and the surgery only takes minutes. Also, right away, I could even read better. I was really headed for the coke-bottle glasses before I got it. My main motivation was that I was afraid of my glasses being broken in an earthquake and then I wouldn't be able to see anything.

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  5. Good to read you're seeing clearly now. Not at the glasses stage yet but I certainly feel your pain re the tech stuff. You seem more advanced than I am, actually, so don't feel too down on yourself in that department! ;) Barry does our tech stuff. I've got no idea.

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    1. You two youngsters will have to wait to experience how much of the day can be used up looking for your reading glasses.

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  6. Last pair of glasses I got were varifocals and I hate them. I think the frames too small so I am like Noddy when wearing them. My distance sight has improved but cannot read the small print anymore. Stickons sound novel.

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    1. My last frames were too narrow too Mary. These ones are deeper and I can see both close work and distance.

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  7. I've worn glasses since I was about 11, then contact lens only from 18 'til about 35 (bad idea, by the way - terrible for the eyes). Recently, I popped into Boots Opticians only to find my distance vision has got slightly better and my reading vision slightly worse. I think it's all this blogging malarkey. Well done with the techie stuff. You've come along way! I didn't realise Teoman was so common, unlike the Teoman I know.

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    1. Teoman isn't a very common name which is why I decided it was a good omen.

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  8. Having had a bad experience with an eye test some years ago at Selcuk hospital and then using the prescription to buy glasses which turned out to be a waste of money because the prescription was wrong, I've stuck to having mine done on trips to England since. However, this all sounds very impressive. I wonder if where we are situated would count as being in the Bodrum area? Varifocals take up to 4 weeks to be made in England, so to be able to get them in one day is amazing.

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  9. J has had several sets of specs over our time here and the techie stuff just gets more and more amazing. She had a cataract job done 4 months ago and now just needs a few other bits replaced to be 'as good as new' and reliving her teenage years!

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  10. I would really like to get some of those magnetic lenses.... Any idea where I could get some?
    My optician accidentally forgot the react-to-light factor on my glasses. I got a second pair with react to light in them, but would appreciate the stick ons for my 'spare'

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  11. I've worn glasses since primary school and now have vari-focals. I've never seen or even heard of anything like the equipment you show there. SpecSavers is still using the wire-frames. :-) I'm due new glasses after the cataract surgery, but my hernia emergency got in the way. I must see whether I can find the magnetic sunglasses.

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  12. I read this just hours after being told by my gp that i have to sée a spécialiste for m'y étés. I will let y ou know if thé expérience ils as star tracky as tours. PS. Types this with gizmo thé phone who wants to write un french. So sorry.

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  13. I can relate in your blog! I have a problem too with my eye. I am suffering in an eye pain and my vision is not that clear, it’s just like it has some spider web in my eye and shadow line that can make my vision fuzzy. It annoys me that’s why I asked help at placidway.com to find me the best hospital that is assuring for my clear vision after the treatment. They didn’t dismay me, I got a good outcome after the treatment.. Their works are awesome!!!!

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