Laser Eye Surgery: I Can See!

Regular readers of this blog may be surprised by this deviation from my usual topics, but I am going to take this opportunity to share a personal experience with you in the hope that you might have a similarly positive experience.

For over a decade I needed glasses to see (contacts wouldn't work for me). I'd start my day by waking up in the morning, putting on my glasses, and then getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom. The glasses would come off for a shower, and then go back on before I left the bathroom and stay on for the rest of the day. Driving, watching TV and doing pretty much anything wasn't possible without my glasses. Snorkeling on vacation without glasses meant that the fishes and scenery were indistinct blobs. Nature watching with binoculars and spotting scopes was a juggling act that involved constantly putting my glasses on and off (for some reason I could never see well through other optics while wearing glasses).

All of this hassle is over, now. I had all laser LASIK surgery in both eyes about a month ago. My vision is now 20/15 without corrective lenses. I can see perfectly all of the time. My useable field of view is much larger, as I can turn my eyes to the side to see rather than my entire head (if you wear glasses, looking to the side with your eyes means trying to see an area outside of the focal point of your corrective lenses). When I got hot and sweaty, I don't need to constantly clean oil and moisture off of my glasses to see. When I open the dishwasher or step into a steamy room, my glasses aren't there to fog up. I can wear any kind of sunglasses instead of expensive yet unfashionable prescription lenses. My nose is no longer sore from the constant chaffing of nose pieces. I literally have people telling me things like "Wow, you look younger!", "Did you lose weight?", "You look good, what did you change?" and "I never noticed how nice your eyes are".

Now that the healing is mostly done, I look forward to seeing how this will affect my shooting. I could see well the day after the procedure, but it can take up to 3 months before I am 100% healed, so I didn’t want to risk gunshot residue and copper or lead dust getting into my eyes and thus haven’t shot since the surgery. While doing simple holster drills and dry firing (with snapcaps), I’ve noticed that target acquisition through open sights is much faster than it was with glasses.

The actual laser procedure was quick, painless and surprisingly bearable. The worst part about it was the "creepy" feeling I had about the thought of someone messing with my eyes, but there was neither pain nor even much discomfort. The only downside I have is some post procedural dryness that is easily managed with drops, but even that is rapidly subsiding.

If you are sick and tired of glasses, I suggest you look into having LASIK. Do your research and find a top notch doctor with the best equipment and the best procedural techniques. I paid about double what some of my friends did, and I had better results than people I know who went to discount doctors. I'll never know for sure if I just got lucky with the outcome and wasted the extra money, but I do believe that paying for one of best surgeons in North America contributed to these great results.