I was told in high school that I would never be able to wear contacts because I have dry eyes, did I mention that I also wore braces. Glasses and braces are not a good combination for a self conscious high school girl. That's when I decided to only wear my glasses in class. I then spent the rest of the time squinting to see street signs or trying to figure out who was waving at me.

After high school my eyes got so bad that I decided to disregard what the optometrist told me and I got contacts. I loved it, I could see without my dorky glasses. Everything was good for about 20 years, then one morning I woke up with red swollen eyes. The optometrist told me that I had an infection, which was most likely caused from the contacts. I wore my glasses while my eyes healed, then I tried my contacts again. The next infection was even more severe, I woke up with cysts on the white of my left eyeball. They tried to burn it off, which was probably even more painful than childbirth.

The cysts didn't go away and I had a thick film covering my eye and I couldn't see out of it, I panicked! When I went back, the doctor told me that I might have a disease of the cornea, brought on by the contacts. This particular disease eats away your cornea and can cause blindness. He put me on high strength steroid eye drops. Luckily, it cleared up, but the cysts are still there (think of having something constantly stuck in your eye, that's how it feels everyday!)

I am currently wearing my glasses all the time. I discussed laser surgery but was told that with dry eyes, I am not a good candidate. My eyes would become even drier and therefore more prone to infection.

Unfortunately, I have learned the hard way that my eyesight is more important than my vanity!

Learn more about this author, Lisa Petrarca.
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