Friday, May 6, 2011

Lasik revisited

It has now been about 4 months since I had my eyeballs zapped and things are pretty good. In reality, I traded nearsightedness for farsightedness. I have great distance vision, beyond about 3 feet, but I need reading glasses for anything close.

I used to be able to read the smallest writing imaginable by taking off my glasses and sticking the writing about 2 inches from my eyes. Now I need reading glasses and sometimes a magnifying glass to read anything close or small.

Tradeoffs?

Reading glasses are a heck of a lot cheaper than prescription bifocals. I now have about a dozen pairs of reading glasses at a total cost of about 50 bucks. A couple pairs of sunglasses at 20 bucks each. Prescription glasses were over $400 a pair. Prescription sunglasses were even more.

I am still having to modify my behavior. Since early childhood, if I couldn't focus on something I pulled it closer. Now I have to do the opposite, and the retraining is going slowly. Old dog, new tricks.

I read somewhere that very nearsighted people don't have the level of depth perception that 20/20 people have. Not sure I bought that idea, but I do now. Mountain biking made me a believer. The first times jumping up a step and descending a steep trail was vastly different. Step-ups looked higher than they did before and descents looked steeper. My timing was way off as obstacles approached at a different rate than they seemed to before. It took a few rides to get used to it, not quite as hard as learning to trail ride, but still unsettling. Its all good now.

Would I do it again? Yes. Even with the need for reading glasses and the loss of being able to read the itty bitty writing on the edge of my watch face, I'd do it again. Besides, I already know the watch was made in Japan.