I Can See Clearly Now

The rain's not gone, but my glasses are.

They've been gone for almost 3 years now.  It's a miracle!

My eyesight was quite poor and that's putting it mildly.  In truth, I was bat blind.  I know everyone says that, but I really was.  Nobody believed me until they put my glasses on. Invariably I got this reaction:

"Whoa!  Holy cow.  You can see through these?  You are blind!"

Yep.  Myopic, to be technical.  Nearsighted.  I couldn't see things far away and by far away I mean about a foot from my face.   Your average prescription is between -1 and -5.  My eyes were -9 and -9.5.  To put it in perspective, -20 is legally blind.  I once asked an optometrist, "if 20/20 is normal vision, what am I?"  His response:

 "20/lousy.  Seriously, the scale doesn't go up that high.  It stops at 20/400."

Whoa, indeed.

But now, I can see without the aid of contacts or glasses.  And, no, I did not have Lasik, smartypants.  I was laid on hands by a faith healer.

Just kidding.  That would be a miracle.

No, it was just an ophthalmologist who is very, very good at his job.  I want to protect his privacy (although he might not mind the publicity), but if you want a recommendation for any eye procedure, let me know.  Dr. R is the best.  It doesn't hurt that he's cute either.  I've never had a hero crush on anyone before, but the man gave me eyesight.  How could I not worship him?

I got to see him today.  It was my annual checkup.  That's why it's on my mind.  If you're wondering what this all has to do with training for a triathlon, let me tell you how freakin' brilliant it is to not have to wear glasses while working out.  Especially while swimming or running in the rain.  And I don't have to fuss with contacts either, although strictly speaking, I do wear them.  Sort of.  But they are in my eyes.  That's right.  In.  My.  Eyes.  

I had non-phakic IOL.  If you are the curious type and not squeamish about eyeballs you can watch a two-minute video explaining the procedure.  A miracle of science, no?  I think so.  Especially since the only downside is I always have red-eye in photos.  Small price to pay.  (Although the procedure itself was not a small price, but still... totally worth it.)

k