Gee I´ve got good eyes!

    Aside from the locals passing comments about my blue eyes (which aren´t so spectacular in comparison to others, but obviously stand out here), people who spend time with me always end up commenting how spectacularly good my eyesight is. In groups, I get nominated as the person to look down the street and read the signs when we are looking for something because I usually see better than everyone else.

   For this I can thank the Laser eye surgery I had 3 years ago. It´s been the best money ever spent! And it is such a relief as a traveller not to have to carry bulk supplies of contact lenses, solutions and spare glasses. It is also nice to know that if I get abducted in the jungle and made to trek for days I won´t be having to ask my captors if I could please have my pack and some time to clean my contact lenses, or be concerned that they smash my glasses like so often happens in the movies!
   People say that you can expect dry eyes after the surgery, but in my experience this has been way less than with contacts. The haloing effect they tell you to expect is minimal and I usually had haloing with my glasses prescription as it got a little old anyway. Three years after my surgery, and I still see fantastically well, and apparently I can expect this to continue. They did tell me when I had it done that my close up eyesight would probably be reduced, but guess what? I can still read the poem on the Australian $10 note, although not quite as easily as before. (For those who don´t realise it the shading in the background on the $10 note is writing, on one side it reads TEN DOLLARS repeatedly, and on the other side is the words to the poem ¨The Man from Snowy River¨).
   It´s also nice to wake up in strange places and be able to see.... a view, or the way to the toilet, or the people in the next bed of the dormitory.
   Prior to getting the surgery I did get some advice from an optometrist friend for a particularly good clinic, and since they were offering me Lasik or Intralase surgery, which she recommended.... she said if you can afford the Intralase, do that, so I did.... I think the eyes are worth spending extra on.
   Some people comment to me that their optometrist doesn´t recommend eye surgery. I believe this is probably true. Optometrist companies make money selling glasses and contact lenses, customers who have eye surgery rarely buy another pair of glasses or contacts, so of course they aren´t likely to recommend it.

Notes
Date of Surgery 16 April 2007
Surgery: Laser Sight (www.lasik.com)
Cost $AUD6400, two eyes.