Two years ago today, I had LASIK surgery. After wearing glasses for 34 years, I can now wake up in the morning and clearly see my way to the bathroom. I no longer have to carry around two pair of prescription eyewear- sunglasses and a pair for indoor wear. Best of all, my vision, which was once 20/200, is now 20/15. On top of all that, since I only had one eye done (it’s called monovision), I don’t need reading glasses, even though I’m 45.
I no longer reflexively reach up to push up the glasses that aren’t perched on the bridge of my nose. After 34 years, that habit took a while to break- about 15 months, in fact. The only downside that I’ve noticed is that my night vision is not as good as it was prior to the surgery, but I was warned that this might be a possible side-effect, so I wasn’t exactly taken by surprise. If that’s as bad as it gets, and that appears to be the case, then I am one blessed human being. Here it is, two years later, and I still marvel at being able to see clearly without the aid of glasses.
Un-freakin’-believable….
I’ve always loved sunglasses, but one’s options are rather limited when one wears prescription glasses. Most really nice sunglasses can’t hold a prescription lens, so I’ve always been limited in my choices. Now I can wear whatever I like…er, can afford, because I don’t have to worry about my prescription. I have to admit that one of my little quirks is that I have VERY expensive taste in sunglasses.
There are numerous things that are made easier by having perfect eyesight. Playing golf, for example, is so much easier because my visual field is so much larger. Putting was always a bit of a challenge in prescription eyewear, because I would have to change the way I held my head in order to see the ball. Though I’d adapted over the course of 34 years to the realities of wearing glasses, life in many respects has become much easier over the past two.
Sometimes I’ll just stop and look around me, and I’m almost overwhelmed by the fact that I can see clearly without glasses. It still amazes me that, after being dependent on glasses from the time I was ten years old, suddenly everything is clear all of the time. Those of you who’ve been blessed with perfect vision your entire life may not be able to relate to my sense of wonder, but trust me, I still marvel at being able to clearly see the flagstick on a 550-yard par-5.
Now, if I can just find a surgical procedure that will make me taller, thinner, and better looking, I’d be a happy boy…. ;p)
