Tuesday, November 14, 2006
I Can See Clearly Now
I have a very strong sense of smell….I also can hear quite well. Both things were probably developed as a way to compensate for my poor eye sight. I started wearing glasses when I was in the 2nd grade. Now, I would not wear them unless it was absolutely necessary, but when even the front row was too far back to see the chalk board (yep, they used to use chalk!) I relented and started wearing my glasses in class. As soon as I turned 16 I got a job. As soon as I could save up enough money I wanted contacts. I am sure my Mom & Dad helped me out (since I was making like $2.00 per hour and only working 16-20 hours per week and contacts was over $200) but soon I was able to get them. It was great! I could see. While it was sometimes a pain to wear the old “rigid” gas permeable lenses, it was just a part of my life. I took them out at night or even if I wanted to take a nap. The first thing I did every morning was to put my contacts in. Life was good.
Then, the unthinkable happened. When I went past that 40th anniversary of the day I was born my arms started getting shorter. I couldn’t see to read! If you know anything about me you know that this was a tragedy. I finally found that I could read at night by taking my contacts out, but then I couldn’t see to do anything else. The more rigid the contact the more it forms to your eye, making your vision change continually when you take them out, thus glasses would only work some of the time.
Finally totally frustrated I took a chance on checking out Lasik surgery. Now I had always been told that they could not help people with astigmatism. I had severe astigmatism (that just means I couldn’t focus and would see double). Much to my surprise the Doctor said he could fix my eyes and in December of 2002 I woke up with the ability to see.
I had my right eye enhanced in May of 2003 and again life was good. My left eye has been steadily getting worse. That has not been such a bad thing because it lets me see to read without reading glasses. (you can’t have it all!) But it has really created challenges with my tennis game. Having what they call mono-vision really messes with your depth perception. Anyway I am going today to see about having my left eye enhanced or getting a contact for playing tennis. Either way, hopefully once again I will be able to see clearly.
It occurred to me this morning that I have had to make several adjustments and even course changes in my journey to see more clearly. I remember when I first had my surgery, I would miss being able to take my contacts out when I was tired, because it always made my eyes feel so relieved. My point is just because something is familiar and even a source of comfort, it does not mean that there is not something better out there. Why would we limit our choices by what we know? If I had not went to the eye Doctor I could have just went around saying- “I can’t have surgery, I have an astigmatism”.
If we never stretch ourselves beyond what we know and are comfortable with, we may never know the joys and fulfillment that we could achieve.
Then, the unthinkable happened. When I went past that 40th anniversary of the day I was born my arms started getting shorter. I couldn’t see to read! If you know anything about me you know that this was a tragedy. I finally found that I could read at night by taking my contacts out, but then I couldn’t see to do anything else. The more rigid the contact the more it forms to your eye, making your vision change continually when you take them out, thus glasses would only work some of the time.
Finally totally frustrated I took a chance on checking out Lasik surgery. Now I had always been told that they could not help people with astigmatism. I had severe astigmatism (that just means I couldn’t focus and would see double). Much to my surprise the Doctor said he could fix my eyes and in December of 2002 I woke up with the ability to see.
I had my right eye enhanced in May of 2003 and again life was good. My left eye has been steadily getting worse. That has not been such a bad thing because it lets me see to read without reading glasses. (you can’t have it all!) But it has really created challenges with my tennis game. Having what they call mono-vision really messes with your depth perception. Anyway I am going today to see about having my left eye enhanced or getting a contact for playing tennis. Either way, hopefully once again I will be able to see clearly.
It occurred to me this morning that I have had to make several adjustments and even course changes in my journey to see more clearly. I remember when I first had my surgery, I would miss being able to take my contacts out when I was tired, because it always made my eyes feel so relieved. My point is just because something is familiar and even a source of comfort, it does not mean that there is not something better out there. Why would we limit our choices by what we know? If I had not went to the eye Doctor I could have just went around saying- “I can’t have surgery, I have an astigmatism”.
If we never stretch ourselves beyond what we know and are comfortable with, we may never know the joys and fulfillment that we could achieve.
