When Self Care includes your Physical Self

Self Care

Do you know how important self-care is?

I’m sure you do, we all do right!? But did you know that self-care includes your physical self as well? I definitely did not, not until recently when it dawned on me that the last time I had my eyes checked was so long ago I can’t remember when. Full disclosure: I’ve been wearing glasses since I was in elementary school and I wear contacts on a daily basis for the past six or so years and I can hardly see without them!

As the CEO of my house aka Mom aka scheduler, organizer, party planner and lady who takes care of almost everything, I have been really good about taking my kids to all of their appointments with various health care professionals. In recent months I have been really good at scheduling some time for myself, since we all know how important and necessary that is, it was a no-brainer! I recently read a personal post from a local blogger who had over worked herself and had forgotten to take time for her health, she shared strategies and tips for taking care of herself/ourselves physically and it got me thinking about how I was neglecting my physical health too. Over the next few days I contemplated what I needed to do and where to start; near the top of my list was my eye health.

self careLike I mentioned above I don’t know when my prescription was last updated and I wear contacts on a daily basis; naturally I’ve been experiencing dry, sore eyes for a little while now but since I hate my glasses I’ve continued to persevere. Alas as a busy Mama of three I have put off making an appointment because really who has time to make a phone call when their toddlers are awake???

BUT I recently discovered that Pearle Vision works with Optometrists who can offer you an eye exam in house. Oh and the best part, you can book your exam* online! Yup, you read that correctly, you can book your eye exam online (when the toddlers are awake). Fast forward to last week when I went for an eye exam at Pearle Vision in West Edmonton Mall. I decided to book an appointment in the evening so that I could leave the little ones at home with Dad and really enjoy some time to myself, with coffee in hand of course. When I arrived at Pearle Vision I was greeted by a very friendly team member who showed me where to find the Doctor of Optometry (her office is located inside Pearle Vision but has its own entry way), I was again greeted by a very friendly receptionist who gave me some paperwork to fill out before getting my exam started. For those of you who have neglected an eye exam it can be daunting {at least it was for me} and when you first go in there are a few machines that check out your eyes before you get down to the sight test; well as soon as we headed back there I was completely at ease because of the receptionist who I had been chatting with from the time I arrived.

Once I met with the Doctor she explained to me what those funny machines were looking for and she actually showed me the image that one of them took of my eyeballs it was super cool and good news: my eyes are super healthy! And by this point, my nerves had calmed right down and I was starting to feel really comfortable. The Doctor was roughly the same age as me and even though she didn’t have any kids yet I felt like she totally understood where I was coming from {aka why it took me so long between eye checkups}. As a newbie to this whole process, I totally forgot to bring my old glasses with me and so Dr. Mah didn’t know just how bad my vision was to begin with, luckily she had her trusty “light saber” and was able to determine, with pretty close proximity, what my lens would be. **Light Saber is the unofficial medical term used for this piece of equipment, actually though she told me that it was the nickname that many children had given to this device so she stuck with it.

Once Dr. Mah was able to determine what lenses I might need we moved onto the sight test, and with a few adjustments we were able to have me seeing the tiny letters sharp and clear. I was so impressed with how quickly and professionally Dr. Mah was able to get me seeing better than when I first walked into my appointment. Once we were able to determine the strength of my prescription I was able to put my contacts back in and Dr. Mah and I were able to talk about caring for contact lenses. {Full disclosure: I’m not the best about disposing of my lens on the day that they should be tossed, mostly because I lose track of the days.} When Dr. Mah asked me how often I toss my lenses away, I decided to be honest and tell her that I usually end up going a few days to a week longer than I should because I lose track of days until I realize it’s been too long. Well, Dr. Mah was very nice in saying that I shouldn’t do that and she actually explained to me how a person’s eyes get oxygen and how improper care can lead to serious infections. I agreed that I would start writing down when I switch my lenses so that I can be more aware of when I need to change them and I went on to tell Dr. Mah that my eyes have been quite dry lately and I have been using eye drops to hydrate them. She was very concerned that I was using products that include Tetrahydrozoline because it can be quite damaging to my eyes and even suggested a few brands that would be safe to use, I really appreciated her honesty and concern.

By the time that my appointment was finished, I was pleasantly surprised by how fast and thorough Dr. Mah was with my eye exam, she asked if I had any questions or concerns and since I did not she wished me a great rest of the evening. Great news: since my last recorded eye exam [10 years ago] my prescription has not changed significantly yay! But since I really hate my glasses and Pearle Vision has a great selection I decided to check out my options and really take my Mama’s Night Out to the next level, by trying on all. the. glasses. It might sound like I’m joking but as a Mom of a three-year-old, a four-year-old and a five-year-old a little self-care in the form of an eye health checkup all by myself was just what I needed!

Experience a child’s first eye exam:

Book your exam* online here!

*Eye Exam Arranged

 

 

 

 

***This is a sponsored post, however all views and opinions expressed above are my own.***

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