I remember growing up feeling frustrated even penalized by the fact that I couldn’t see without my glasses. I could get by without them as a young kid, however, once I turned 16 and wanted to drive I knew I couldn’t get by without them any longer. I convinced my mom that if I had to wear some sort of vision correction then I wanted to at least wear contacts. She obliged and took me to the eye doctor where it took me over 2 hours to get them into my bloodshot eyes. The doctor told my mom that it didn’t appear I would be able to tolerate contacts because my eyes were so sensitive. I told my mom I would learn to deal with them because I wasn’t going to wear glasses through high school. Needless to say I was a very determined young man and managed to get used to contacts and eventually became an abuser. Meaning I over wore my contacts, rarely cleaned them and only purchased new ones when the old ones tore. In my mid 20’s I began to develop a condition called corneal neovascularization due to the overuse of my contacts. The doctor explained corneal neovascularization as a condition where blood vessels grow into the cornea, a place where they don’t belong. He also explained that due to that condition I would be unable to wear contacts if it continued to progress. Again, I was faced with the possibility of having to go back to glasses full time. It was a time when Lasik and PRK were not approved in the U.S., a time when your visual options were glasses or contacts, a time when I realized my options for vision correction had been reduced by 50%.
I managed to milk a few more years out of my contacts before relocating to D.C. in order to work for Laser Eye Centers in Rockville, Maryland. After seeing the excellent results patients were having with laser vision correction and hearing the overwhelming positive testimonies the patients were sharing, I couldn’t wait to get scheduled. I’m proud to say, I had Lasik 12 years ago and I couldn’t be happier. My vision today is the same as it was the day after the procedure…20/20 with no glasses or contacts.
I felt then and still feel today like a miracle occurred in my life. I no longer feel frustrated or penalized due to my poor vision. My life has been so enriched because of the procedure. No longer do I have to worry about neovascularization, dirty contacts that irritate my eyes or waking up and putting a bent pair of glasses on because I fell asleep with them on the night before watching TV. I am visually free!!
I’ve said it a million times…..Having LASIK was the best thing I ever did for myself.
