“Seeing” (get it?) as some of you have been following my progress (or lack thereof) following SBK laser eye surgery in December 2011, I thought I’d offer yet another follow-up. I went to see the clinic again last week.
The good news is, they think a touch-up can help me. The bad news is I’m not confident how much it can help me. My left eye remains bionic—it’s wonderful at reading close (which is what it was designed to do) and it’s not too shabby in the near-to-mid-distance department. I am in love with my left eye.
My right eye is the one that requires a touch-up. I had measurements taken last week and compared to the measurements taken 6 or 8 weeks previous. The measurements haven’t changed all that much, and that’s good. There’s always going to be some fluctuations. The eye guy can’t see anything on the surface of my right eye that might be hampering my vision. That’s good, too. However…and this is where my disappointment comes in…At this nine-month point, I simply could not stand going without glasses for driving any longer. I know from this whole experience that you’re allowed to have pretty crappy vision and be considered legal to drive. Honestly, I’m amazed how bad your vision can be and you’re “legal.” It’s ridiculous.
I no longer care if I’m “legal” or not, I like clear vision when I’m driving. And, I’m attending the Novelists Inc. conference in a couple of weeks. Which means I’m going to be in a few airports and in a hotel (and catching some Broadway—it’s only a minor addiction), and I need to be able to see to enjoy a successful conference. Just in case a plane is late, I can’t be squinting up at monitors. I need to glance and go.
So…I decided that even though I should be getting my laser surgery touch-up before the end of the year, I wanted driving glasses now and glasses to take to the conference.
Luckily, I never gave away my old frames, so this meant getting one lens replaced that I would eventually need for night driving anyway (the left eye—the reading eye) and getting the right lens temporarily replaced until after I have my touch-up. I decided I could live with that extra expense. So I had the laser clinic write me up a prescription.
It never occurred to me that I would not be able to see distance clearly with a glasses prescription! Yet that is what’s happened.
My left eye, the bionic eye, can see fantastic distance with the glasses while driving. But my right eye, even with glasses, I STILL can’t see distance clearly. And I could see distance clearly with glasses before laser eye surgery, thank you very much.
I am hoping this is a temporary condition. One of the reasons the clinic didn’t schedule me for touch-up surgery now is that my right eye wasn’t seeing clearly in the office, with the aid of the doctor’s fancy machines. At the last check-up, I could see clearly when he passed this little monocle thing in front of my eye. Last week, I couldn’t. Somehow I thought I would be able to see clearly with the glasses, but nope.
So something is going on with my right eye. The eye doc has prescribed a steroid eye drop to take in my right eye three times a day. It’s supposed to help with irritation and/or inflammation. My next appointment is mid-November, after I return from White Plains, NY. Cross your eyelashes that I can see clearly at that point (I mean with the aid of lenses) because then we can schedule the touch-up.
In the end, I might have to accept that I will never again see distance clearly out of my right eye, even with a touch-up and even, after that, wearing glasses. I might have to be content with better mid-distance vision and then letting my left do all the work when I’m driving.
Anyway, you know when you read the fine print about how you might never be able to achieve your “best personal vision”? I think that’s what’s happening. The eye guy is hoping the steroid drops (not as strong as the drops I used when recovering last winter) will do the trick. And so am “eye.” 🙂