I can see that I'm going blind

Currently listening to Radiohead - In Rainbows

I can remember the first time I realized that I had eyesight problems. My family went to a Dodger game, and I was unable to read the name and numbers on the pitcher's jersey like everyone else. Shortly thereafter, I got my first pair of glasses--brown carbon fiber frames, oversized, and very 80's-looking. I broke that pair of glasses more than once, and I always freaked out when I did. My mother never got angry, though. She's always worn glasses herself, and I guess she understood that these things happen.

It wasn't until my last year of high school that she allowed me to get contact lenses. I wore rigid, gas permeable lenses for a few years, but never liked wearing them that much because they always made my eyes bloodshot. I was frequently asked by my high school classmates if I was high. Entertaining, in a strange sort of way. I finally got soft contacts after returning from Hong Kong, and although they were much better than the RGP contacts, I quit wearing them altogether a few years ago. Staring at a computer screen all day made wearing contacts unbearable.

I grew tired of being unable to see ANYTHING without my glasses. I couldn't see the clock when I woke up in the morning, and I frequently fell asleep in front of the TV, only to find a tangled mess of wire and lenses on my face when I wake up. So, I decided to have a consultation for Lasik surgery late last month, and then had the surgery yesterday afternoon. My vision is not 100% by any stretch of the imagination, but when I woke up this morning, I was able to read the two digital clocks in the bedroom just fine. It's an amazing feeling.

I'm no fan of medical procedures, but this one was fairly simple and relatively painless. I was given Advil and Valium before the surgery, and took one more Valium afterward. I haven't taken anything else since. A laser was used to create the flaps in my eyes, and then another laser was used to correct my vision. The most painful part of the procedure was the suction cup they put on my eyes to keep them from moving, and not the lasers themselves. It wasn't painful so much as it was annoying to have this pressure on my eyes. The whole thing didn't take 10 minutes.

What has been harder for me is to have to put eye drops in my eyes at least every hour. I tried doing it by myself yesterday, but kept closing my eyes or missing them altogether, so I had the little lady help me do it. I didn't want to wake her up early this morning to help me out, so I finally got the hang of it myself after a few tries. I really do hate eye drops.

I still have this feeling like there's wax paper over my eyes, and my eyes are very sensitive to light right now (the computer monitor seems insanely bright), but I'm doing much better than yesterday, when I had to wear sunglasses in doors and had trouble keeping my eyes open for more than a few seconds at a time until late in the evening.

It was pretty expensive and the whole thing made me a bit nervous, but I'm glad I did it. Not having to wear glasses any more is awesome. I'm going to buy myself some new sunglasses this weekend to celebrate.