My eyes adore you

It' s now 3 weeks to the day since I had laser surgery to correct my shortsightedness (and a bit of astigmatism) and my current conclusion is that it is one of the most incredible experiences I have gone through in my life.

During the first 2 weeks I struggled with the recovery. I know that I did write that my vision was almost perfect but it was so inconsistent in those 2 weeks that it was quite unbearable. I had spells in which it would be perfect but I needed to have entirely perfect conditions for it to occur.

So I needed to have the right amount of moisture in my eyes, the correct amount of light as too much glare was agony and too much dark meant I couldn't see much. Then my eyes had to be fresh, not tired. If all these things came together I would have great vision but it wouldn't last for long as one of the fators would always change withing minutes. But I had far more periods when it would be blurry and my eyes would feel uncomfortable and during these I was just so frustrated and impatient.

However, as time moved on I found that my eyes became more tolerant. I could stand more glare, the darkness wouldn't affect them so much and I wouldn't have to put the artificial tears in my eyes as often. Last Friday (12th May) was a turning point, as that was the first day when I felt that my sight was good more frequently than it was bad. This has continued.

I still have to keep putting all kinds of drops in my eyes but I am only slightly more sensitive to glare than normal, my night vision is as good as it was before the op with contact lenses in and I can work at the PC and read books without struggling. I have been told that the eyes can take up to 6 months to heal fully after treatment so I know that they aren't finished but I also know that they are bloody excellent even now. As the healing continues I am so excited with my new found freedom. They are still a little bit uncomfortable at times but that is continually improving.

I learned a lot of things during my recovery period. I found it really hard to do nothing at home, not read, not watch TV, not surf the net, all I could do was listen to music but even that was hard as it was so uncomfortable to even look at my iPod. My new pastime of putting my iPod on shuffle and taking pot luck was great but, when I didn't know the song, I couldn't resist the temptation to squint and frown at the iPod's display to read the track information.

Now I have near perfect vision for almost all the time. Last night I went to my first band practice for 3 weeks and enjoyed myself no end. We have our second gig in a couple of weeks' time and we are getting better all the time. I drove home and spent most of the journey in awe of my new clear night vision.

I don't want to sound too pleased as I am aware that my vision could fluctuate in the next few months while my eyes complete their healing process but, after 30 plus years of wearing glasses or contact lenses all the time except when sleeping, perfect unaided vision is something I can't even remember.

If anyone is considering doing it and you are worried about it then my advice would be to go for it. For me it has been worth the money and the discomfort.

The biggest lesson I learned was how lucky I am. I have all my faculties and I am so lucky that I can afford to pay for this kind of "luxury". There are so many less able people in the world and they often don't have the money or just the circumstances to change their luck, yet they just get on with things without complaining.

I salute you.