I've worn glasses or contact lenses since I was 17. There was a morning that lingers distinctly in my memory of waking up and looking out of the bedroom window and the realisation that the leaves on the trees were a blur. There was nothin specific about them - just a blur. I was due to start learning to drive in the next few months, and it was with a heavy heart that I realised I needed glasses.
Since then all outdoor activities have been done with the addition of eyewear of some form or another. There was always the concern that a contact was going to come out, that glasses were going to fog up or something along those lines.
In the past few years friends have had their eyes lasered- LASIK, LASEK etc. and each time they have raved about it. "Best money I've ever spent in terms of being outdoors" etc. All well and good, but crikey- expensive. So for the past few years I have been putting bits of change that we found down the back of the sofa etc. away in a pot.
The crux came recently- because of Covid Ive been having to work with a facemask on, mountain rescue in a first aid context needs to be done with a face mask on- and so on and so forth. Doing all this with glasses on that steam up ALL the time just isn't practical- and with the increased infection risk, I don't particularly want to be fiddling about sticking my fingers in my eyes with contact lenses. With the best will in the world, that is the most likely mucous membrane that is going to cause infection for me.
Time to find out some more about laser treatment.
A good friend recommended I try Optimax in Manchester, so I went into Manchester for the first time in about a year for a consultation. (Had to get a lift in as they stick some crazy dialation drops in your eyes which would make driving a tad tricky- and fairly illegal).
The main thing that came out of the consultation was that I have thick corneas (a good thing) and a relatively low prescription (equally, useful) and no astigmatism. So any laser treatment was likely to have a good outcome. The option was given to have only one eye done, the advantage of this was that I wouldn't need glasses for reading because one eye would still be short sighted. The disadvantage would be that stereovision would be affected with the associated depth perception etc.
As I'm getting this so that I can go biking, running, climbing, swimming etc. a lack of depth perception would be pretty silly. "but you'll need to wear glasses for reading from your mid-40's!" was the line. To which I would say "meh".
Becoming longsighted at mid40s is fairly normal. I've been wearing glasses for years outside- I really don't mind wearing them to read, and if I don't have to wear varifocals, all the better. Both eyes thanks.
The earliest I could see the surgeon for the pre-zapping meeting was 3 weeks away, and then once we'd chatted and he was happy, there was a 7 day cooling off period before I went in to get, um, zapped. A few friends knew this was happening, and there were a few questions about it, mainly - was I worried? How was I feeling?
The response was mainly - I'm totally freaked out, I'm fairly worried - they're going to ZAP my EYES with a LASER! How can you NOT be freaked out?
To say that I had an untroubled night sleep the night before would be a lie. We went in nice and early, met the surgeon who rechecked my eyes- checked the scans etc. and then we went to the laser room where, without going into too much detail, my eyeballs got sucked and lasered by a massive machine, and then another one, and then - done.
(OK- a bit more detail- you're looking into a machine that has a lot of bright lights, things go fuzzy, you get a massive adrenalin dump when you realise you can't see out of the eye that's just had a flap cut in the cornea, and when the actual laser treatment gets done, your eyes end up blurry as hell and you wonder if everythings gone wrong despite the assurances of the very lovely surgeon and technicians around you, and you end up with some crazy halo bruising around your irises).
Straight away as I'm walking around back to the car, detail is kind of sharp, but it is like I have a fog over my eyes. Yes I can see, but there is a film around everything.
On the drive back home (No I was not driving), the anaesthetic started wearing off- which is never a good feeling. If you've had anaesthetic it is generally for a good reason, and it never lasts long enough. I then spent the rest of the day in bed either asleep or listening to podcasts.
Gritty eyes ruled the roost for the next hours- not allowed to touch the eyes- only administer eyedrops- (there were some anaesthetic drops should I need them- didnt use them), and then back in the next morning for a check up. Details are sharp, but again, foggy everywhere- which slowly gets better as the day progresses. The opthalmologist tells me that they have done a very good job, my eyes are currently better than when I had glasses on, and that I can drive if I want.
Uh- maybe not right now.
Lasik was the one I opted for. Fast recovery, (in on friday and theoretically you can work on monday). Wear sunglasses outdoors for a week so as not to get any grit or pollen etc in them, eye drops for the next few weeks, and then all good.
On sunday we went for a walk (no running for a week), and it was lovely. I'm still reaching for my glasses when I wake up, and when my eyes get gritty (several times a day when the anti-inflammation eye drops wear off) I think I need to take out my contact lenses, but in terms of actually being able to see stuff. Wow.
Can't wait to get out and about, running, cycling, climbing, swimming, camping, bivvying etc etc- and most of all, Im looking forward to waking up in the middle of the night and seeing the stars without having to find my glasses.