Near and Far

So, by now you know that I can see.

Well, you should know that I can see.

Ok, I can see.

And it is the BEST money I have EVER spent hands down.

This journey began for me 23 years ago when at a St. Louis Cardinals game my father asked me to read some of the advertisements along the walls of the ball park. I couldn't. My father admonished me for not trying; I was in the first grade and did, in fact, know how to read the words that were before me (albeit a long ways away). Apparently I did not, however, express very well that I knew how to read the words but I simply couldn't see the words. Big difference. Our suspicions of blindness and not stupidity were confirmed when the school nurse sent me home from school with a note to follow-up with an eye doctor.

Enter exhibit A:

A mere five years later I was introduced to the world of non-frames which did change my life. Unfortunately it also changed my pocket-book or to be more exact my parent's pocket-book. But contacts were out-of-this-world fantastic and soon Opti-free and I were life long friends.

Stuart had PRK in January of 2007 and I admit, I have been ridiculously jealous of him. And so began my intense hatred of glasses.

After failing my eye exam at work, Stuart brought up the idea of my getting PRK or Lasik. I was dumbfounded. Really? Me? Really?

So I made an appointment and was rejected.

Major bummer.

I had bad eyes. Really bad eyes. The combination of so much nearsightedness and so much astigmatism meant that the amount of corneal tissue that would have to be removed in order to re-shape my vision would not leave me with enough tissue for the doctor to be happy. I was doomed to a life of blurriness and halos.

A second opinion proved to be my hero. So off we went to Irving.

The surgery was literally painless.

It began with a 20-30 minute series of numbing drops that left me unable to open my eyes unassisted. This was a good thing. Next I went to the chair that actually made the flap on my eye. Again, no pain just pressure from the suction that was applied. Next came the actual laser chair. I was a bit anxious about this part. I had to sit very still and follow a green, blinking light. It took longer for the retractors to be placed in my eyes and the laser to set up than it did for the actual "sculpting" of my eye. 20-30 seconds tops. Then the kind doctor took me over to yet another chair to check his work. A 30 minute nap in the post-op room and I was reunited with Stuart and the boys.

Chick-fil-A followed by a well timed sleeping pill and goggles (to sleep in so that I wouldn't rub my eyes) ended the fourth best day of my life.

Saturday morning I woke up and I.COULD.SEE.

Literally.

This was monumental.

Enormous.

Huge.

And a little bit sore. But that's neither here nor there.

A follow-up at the doctor left me seeing 20/40 in my right eye and 20/30 in my left eye.

Are you kidding me? I don't think I have ever seen those numbers.

Before surgery I was worse than 20/400. I honestly could not see the "E." Kinda something like this:

Now, it's more like this:

My vision will get better over the next few weeks as the swelling in my eyes goes down. But seriously, 20/40 and 20/30! Who could have imagined?

There was just one thing left to do. Say goodbye to some dear friends.

Ahh, I will not miss you.