Dry eye, how do you hold down a job??

[irish eyes]

....... but it cost much more energy to perform like a normal person.....

This is so true.

One of my work colleagues had to take a couple of days sick leave this week because she had conjunctivitis. She is OK now but she told my line manager (who then told me) that never before had she really understood what it must be like for me having something the wrong all the time. When you see a person coping - you think they must be OK and that's it.

She had suffered with a relatively minor complaint for a few days and admitted she was nearly demented with frustration and fatigued to the point of wanting to cry. I fully understood.

[frankzhang]

Sometimes hope is hard to come by with this crazy condition... I've had weeks/months like that myself... but eventually, if you are open to it, I think hope will come back to you...

Eventually you will find the strength to handle this condition... sometimes it just takes time...

How long ago was your Lasik procedure?

I did Lasik procedure in March 2009. I just dont understand I am not a good candindate for the surgeon, but why the doctor thought i am a perfect one even after a series of check ups..... I knew it's too late to blame anyone, but I believe there will be still more and more people get this kinda situation....

I wont give up my job, even for one day, but it cost much more energy to perform like a normal person. I will stick to this job otherwise i will lost even more.

[jlg_uk]

Round by us there are IT guys bombing round fixing desperate people's home computers for decent money (cabling, upgrades, antivirus, software). We worship them. Charge what you like for emergency call out. Software training businesses are doing OK too. You need never be out of work, my friend

It is one of the things I've considered. There are drawbacks:

- alot of evening work, which is the time of day I really don't want to be staring at computer screens
- people's home are full of allergens, dust, smoke etc
- people's PCs are full of internal crap
- work would be very variable
- potentially a fair bit of driving

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not ruling it out. It seems a shame for me to get some low paid skill-less job which doesn't use the IT skills I've acquired over the last 15 years. And if I can make this work I'd only have to work part time which would be great.

I suppose the thing to do is the wait until my full time job ends, and then try it.

Give up hope is almost like give up my life. but where hope would come from?

Sometimes hope is hard to come by with this crazy condition... I've had weeks/months like that myself... but eventually, if you are open to it, I think hope will come back to you...

Eventually you will find the strength to handle this condition... sometimes it just takes time...

How long ago was your Lasik procedure?

[frankzhang]

I am an architect and working with computer all day long. I just got Master degree from States and came back to China for the new stage of my career. Obviously, the post lasik dry eye, almost kill everything, especially in the psychological side.

From the post in the forum, I knew lots of people quit or switch their jobs. I dont know how to deal with this kinda of situation. I still have lots of dream to pursuit as an architect. is that mean my goal is sentenced to death? or say, achiveing anything in my career will be a mission impossible. I never realize there is something could make me so depressing, people will find extremly hard when they can't find any hope.

I dont know if I should fight with dry eye and continue working as an architect, or just give up the career.

as the host said, we have problem looking other people's eyes. is that the problem we should be more confident to conquer this problem or we should just avoid avoid, and avoid... I dont know how to find happniess under this kidna of physical condition.


everyday wake up in the morning, the only thing i can think of is how to fight with dry eye from the very first minutes in the morning.

Give up hope is almost like give up my life. but where hope would come from?

we even call it disablility?

[Jerry]

Your nervousness about competing for jobs and proving yourself as a young new employee is understandable. I graduated from college in 1977 with dry eye problems that were at that time managable, but I have gotten worse over the years to the point now it is severe. I have done state agency work in personnel and purchasing for 28 years. I have compensated for my disability mainly by working extra hours and taking work home, and just doing what I have to do to get the job done. I won't lie, it's been hard.

I would suggest trying to find work in a large non-profit organization. Not because the expectations would be lower, but that generally they can be more tolerant in giving you time to prove yourself. Also, once you get your foot in the door and find you are in a job that you just can't do, your options for transferring to another job are better in a large organization.

I think you are going to have to be up front with your prospective employers about your disability. They may be able to offer flexible work hours and perhaps allow you to do some work at home. Work hard on preparing for your interviews and learn as much about the organization as you can. I wish you the very best!!

Jerry, Okla. City, OK.

[littlemermaid]

Round by us there are IT guys bombing round fixing desperate people's home computers for decent money (cabling, upgrades, antivirus, software). We worship them. Charge what you like for emergency call out. Software training businesses are doing OK too. You need never be out of work, my friend

[jlg_uk]

Read this thread with interest, as my current IT job may well soon be ending, primarily because they seem to be getting sick of me working at home for 2 days a week and having slightly different hours (by 30 minutes due to traffic). I'm going to be independantly assessed and probably got rid of. I find the job hard to do physically, and won't miss that. The money on the other hand is good, which I will miss.

I think I might be back on the job market quite soon, and really need to find something that I can do that doesn't require much traveling. Something part time would be nice if I can make that work financially.

Problem is, every job would seem to mess with my eyes either indoors or outdoors, and I'm also having (less severe) problems with my feet, legs, hips etc which makes something very physical not ideal either.

But I'm also unlikely to be obviously severe when it comes to being assessed for disability allowances and things. Whichever way I look at it it seems I'm ****ed

[Lucy]

Don't forget to look in regular optical shops for "moisture chamber" glasses. You're likely to find something that might fit your RX there too.

For example, ladies who have a smallish face can try on children's frames. I just bought two pair of glasses. One side is -4.5 and the other -1.0. Yes, I've had Lasik and that's what I am now. I got my day glasses in child's frame. Then I got a pair on sunglasses which are NOT necessarily moisture chamber glasses, but they are so tight to my face there is little room for air blowing in or across through the sides.

I also have Panoptx goggles with RX. Since I got my plain old sunglasses, I don't wear the Panoptx as much. Again, I would just take some time going through the optical shops in your town. Tell them what you are looking for. Ask if they have any catalogues to look at.

I have seen the MEGS in person and would get them if I had to, but I don't have to, so it's a moot point. Look around you, you might be surprised.

Lucy

[sazy123]

I dont know how bad your eyes were, mine are generally really bad, My left is worse now and drops dont alleviate the dryness, i think the rosacea on my outer eyelid made it worse, and as such my right feels much better.

Where can you get custom madce chambers in the states?.. thats a very good idea i dont know why there isnt more people doing it?

I wanted to go into health which you need these skills for. I have the skills but dry eye is preventing me using them well.

If working in health would mean working in a hospital for example, I can't imagine it would be any worse than what I'm doing now (again, assuming not too much computer use and reading involved)...

Of course, I don't know how your eyes are... I can work NOW, but last summer my eyes were so bad I was damned lucky to be on mat leave, because I couldn't have worked at all with my eyes the way they were then...hopefully your eyes aren't as bad as mine were last summer!!

Anyhow, with my Wiley's on (and PF artificial tears as needed), I can do almost any type of work with the exception of
1) prolonged computer use
2) prolonged reading (ie. more than a few moments)
3) prolonged staring (some aspects of my job inevitably require this... but not much, and I take frequent blink breaks when I do these things)

Oh, AND, with sunglasses Wiley's on, no-one can tell if you're looking them in the eye or not anyhow... so if your eyes get sore, you could even be speaking to a client with your eyes shut for a few moments, and they'd never know it!

Ok... I'll stop raving about how much I love moisture chambers... err... actually it's a bit of love-hate relationship I suppose... would rather just look freaking normal like everyone else... but at least they help make my eyes feel better...

about MEGs - do you say they really fit every face and it's safe to order them online?

No... the MEG's definitely will not fit every face... the reason I have decided to go ahead with custom moisture chambers is because the MEG's don't fit my face perfectly... for me, the protection that I get from the MEG's is better than wearing nothing, but not nearly as good as my Wiley's.

With the MEG's, they will let you return them if they don't fit properly (they charge a restocking fee though, plus you'd have to pay the shipping).

At the time I ordered the MEG's, I didn't realize there was someone in my city that could make custom moisture chambers... oh well... the MEG's will be my "back-up" pair... plus, depending on humidity etc, there may be times when my more closed-in custom ones fog too much and my MEG's will therefore be better!... geez... it sure does get expensive with all this though, doesn't it...

As for the safety of ordering them online, everything went fine for me in that regard.

[avee]

about MEGs - do you say they really fit every face and it's safe to order them online? I dont' have anything decent to wear because the trial and error is too expensive for me. I ordered the onion glasses but they were too tight for me. So I remover the foam from onion classes and glued it to the sides of my regular sunglasses which protects my eyes from the dust coming in LOL.
About work - yes, I've experienced all that. avoiding eye contact and being very uncomfortable and at work. I've stayed home with my children for 5 years and now I have to go back. But I'm scared. I've also chosen myself a new career which would enable me to work at home but this involves mostly computer work and reading. And first I would have to go back to school to get a degree. So pretty stressful times of deciding....

One more thing... I was VERY self-conscious when I first started wearing my MEGS or sunglasses Wiley's at work... but you get over it... after wearing them a few times, if you work at it, you'll forget that you look different from everyone else, which is great... and eventually, you get so used to seeing yourself in them that you almost think you look "normal" in them lol (sometimes being delusional is a good thing haha)

Anyhow, while I assume most people probably think the MEGS look rather odd, it is kind of cool that a fair number of people actually LIKE them...

The pics of the young people wearing megs on the company's website are pretty accurate I'd say... not sure what kind of rx they can take though... I see perfectly since Lasik, so don't need an rx lens...

If the megs don't fit you well enough, I'd highly recommend looking into custom moisture chambers... You can pick almost any kind of frame that you would for regular rx glasses, but them get the moisture shields fitted specifically for your face... my guy is charging me $160 CDN for the materials/labour to make them... then of course, there's still the usual cost of whatever frames you pick out and your rx lenses.

The custom ones will have more cool frames than the megs, and fit you better, but since the side shields are clear, they are a bit more discreet from a distance... up close from the side view they will look a tad goggly tho... but WAY better than something like the clear lens Wiley's that I wear at home.