I thought I'd try posting a running travelogue on my trip to Greece. Since I don't have a good Internet connection at the hotel yet, we'll see how this works out. (Next trip I'll try to figure out how to post photos from my camera too... but let's not get too ambitious prematurely.)
We (my mom, 12-year-old daughter Caroline, and I) left on Friday. Difficult to travel to Thessaloniki - short flight to Philadelphia, long layover, 9-hour flight to Athens, long layover, short flight to Thessaloniki. At BWI, they tried to convince us that since the flight was delayed by 20-30 minutes, we should instead take a cab to National Airport for a 1:20 flight. This was around 11:45am, so it seemed unlikely that we'd even make it on that flight. The ticket agent got very snippy and said she would put a note in our record saying that we had denied their offer to help, and basically implied that if we then missed the Athens flight it would be our problem. But with a 3+ hour layover in Philly, it seemed very unlikely that we'd miss the flight. The gate agent was much more reassuring, and as it turned out, also more competent -- the flight left 45 minutes late, arrived 30 minutes late, and we had more than enough time.
Uneventful (but lo-o-o-ong) flight to Athens, during which none of us slept particularly much, but at least we dozed some. In Athens, it immediately became clear that I should have paid more attention to those Greek letters in mathematical equations. I've been practicing, though, and can now decipher most signs -- but of course the words are so different from most of the languages I speak (English, French, some German and Italian) that it's pretty hopeless. Luckily most people speak some English, but it's definitely challenging trying to communicate.
We had to check in for our flight in Athens, then had a lot of time to kill -- picked up some breakfast, sat and waited, waited some more, waited some more... the only really bad part is that nearly everybody in Greece smokes, and although there is a separate smoking area in the Athens airport, it's entirely open to the rest of the airport, no physical separation whatsoever. So the whole place just reeks of smoke. Pretty unpleasant when you're used to the nice smoke-free environments in the US or even the rest of Europe. (I looked up some statistics: nearly 50% of Greek men smoke, and 25% of Greek women, according to what I could find. And Greece has the 5th highest rate of lung cancer in the world. Someday maybe they'll figure out this correlation -- Aristotle would have spotted it in a second.)
We took a taxi to our hotel, the Elektra Palace in Aristotelus Square. I've noticed that Greek people aren't very friendly initially, but sometimes warm up a bit if you wait patiently. So at first the taxi driver was completely silent (except for the incessant cell phone calls, a bit scary considering he was also swerving in and out of traffic, blowing his horn, and not wearing a seat belt -- consistent with the risk-taking smoker's mentality, I suppose -- at least he wasn't smoking...) But eventually he started chatting a bit and pointing out a few landmarks. So far I feel like the locals really aren't that friendly, and people are *really* pushy (you have to shove your way through the crowd -- there's no concept of waiting in a line or taking turns). But I'm trying to reserve judgement until we've been here for a while longer.
The hotel is fine; there are a bunch of fans outside our room, generating white noise that covers up the city/traffic noise. Our neighbors were unfortunately in a couple of rooms and had kids running up & down the hall, banging on doors. But we were so tired by the time we went to bed that we mostly went through it.
After unpacking and resting a bit, we strolled down to the water -- the area we're staying in is right in the center of town, so there are lots of outdoor cafes/bars with tons of people on a Saturday night and loud music (and of course lots of smoke...) We walked down a little ways west and then up Aghia Sofia, looking for a restaurant that was listed in my book. But then we spotted a "Restaurant Cafe" (just off Aghia Sofia Square) whose name we couldn't decipher, and the food we saw people eating was very tasty, so we stopped there. Turned out to be Kourdisto Gourouni, a hybrid Greek/German restaurant, with over 50 different beers and a mix of dishes from the different cuisines. Caroline had a very tasty rabbit with black truffle sauce; mine was a Greek specialty (stuffed cabbage in a lemon sauce); and Grandma had wiener schnitzel. We also had a grilled cheese appetizer and local white wine. Everything was delicious.
After dinner we walked down to a cafe we'd spotted with a good ice cream selection, then strolled back to the hotel. I think we ended up crashing around 8:30, and I set my alarm for 7:30. Other than waking up a few times during the night and having trouble getting comfortable, we (Caroline and I) both slept straight through. I feel pretty well adjusted to this time zone - we didn't make the mistake of napping in the afternoon when we got in, so we had a good night's sleep on local time. Caroline woke up a bit when I got up, but was sound asleep again when I left.
They had a very nice breakfast buffet in the open-air rooftop restaurant (best part: sour cherry juice). Then I decided to be a risk-taker and took the bus to the university. Bit of an adventure -- I wasn't quite sure what bus # (turned out to be 12), how to pay (luckily had the right change to pay on the bus), or where to get off (bus driver waved me off at the right stop). Then I couldn't figure out where the university was, but walked in the direction he pointed, and eventually saw the buses (from the main hotel) with the "ICAPS" signs, then someone wearing a lanyard who was also going to the conference.
So here I am, blogging and sitting in the Learning & Planning Workshop. Tonight I'm planning to skip the conference banquet (it was way too expensive, around $100, to get tickets for Grandma and Caroline), and we're planning to try a local popular restaurant that was listed in my mom's book (Aristotelus, just a block or so from the hotel). Grandma and Caroline were thinking to take a taxi up to the museum area when they got up, but I haven't talked to them today, of course.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thoughts on Nearsightedness
This is pure speculation on my part. But I've often read that nearsightedness and intelligence/being good in school are correlated. I've also often heard people claim that reading too much causes nearsightedness.
What if it's the other way around? What if some people, like me, are born moderately or severely nearsighted? As an infant/toddler/young child, it might be years before the condition was diagnosed. Meanwhile, activities like throwing/catching balls and climbing trees, which involve gross-motor skills and major physical activity, would be challenging. But reading and fine-motor skills, done close up, would feel much more natural. So nearsighted kids would naturally pay more attention to manageable, nearby things like books and blocks; might become early readers; and might develop a tendency towards the "intellectual/internal" and away from the "adventurous/physical."
Like I said, pure speculation, but it does seem like it might make some sense. Of course, I can also imagine some co-evolution going on (intellectual ability as a compensatory trait to protect us hapless nearsighted organisms).
What if it's the other way around? What if some people, like me, are born moderately or severely nearsighted? As an infant/toddler/young child, it might be years before the condition was diagnosed. Meanwhile, activities like throwing/catching balls and climbing trees, which involve gross-motor skills and major physical activity, would be challenging. But reading and fine-motor skills, done close up, would feel much more natural. So nearsighted kids would naturally pay more attention to manageable, nearby things like books and blocks; might become early readers; and might develop a tendency towards the "intellectual/internal" and away from the "adventurous/physical."
Like I said, pure speculation, but it does seem like it might make some sense. Of course, I can also imagine some co-evolution going on (intellectual ability as a compensatory trait to protect us hapless nearsighted organisms).
Lasik - Two-Week Followup
I had my two-week followup today in Rockville. I continue to be a near-textbook example of Lasik surgery success. :-) My vision is still 20/20 in my dominant eye and 20/40 in my other eye, and I could read the smallest line of text on the "presbyopia" card. (Today's appointment was also quicker -- I was in and out in less than half an hour.)
I do have some minor annoyances, which I hope will fade over time. My eyes are occasionally dry, but really no worse than before the surgery -- I think I just notice a bit more, because the dry eyes do seem to affect my vision a bit. And they say that using artificial tears regularly helps with vision and with corneal healing.
As far as the monovision, I basically have no difficulty at all with normal distance vision -- I do notice the imbalance between my eyes occasionally, but it doesn't bother me much at all. The near vision is a bit more problematic -- I think that's because for near vision, my right eye needs to "take over," and it's not used to being the dominant eye, so my brain has more trouble adapting to that situation. I expect this will keep getting better over time.
I definitely notice that my vision is worse in low light than it was before. I think this is partially related to the monovision -- my theory is that whichever eye is having more trouble focusing on whatever I'm looking at tries to dilate more in order to see better, and this actually makes my vision worse in the other eye. I'm not as confident that this will fix itself over time, but hopefully I'll at least get more used to it. It's not *bad*, but it can be annoying at times (e.g., when I'm trying to do a crossword puzzle or read in bed before bedtime).
I do see very noticeable "starbursts" around any light source when I'm driving at night. I find this pretty annoying, and on top of the increased difficulty in focusing in general, and reduced depth perception from the monovision, it definitely makes me a little nervous. But I'm fine, really, I just need to concentrate a bit more than I used to (which is actually a good thing!) and to slow down a bit (ditto). Driving in the early-morning fog yesterday, driving Heather to school for her spring trip at 5am, was definitely not a great experience. But it's not anywhere near debilitating, and definitely very worth the tradeoff! I do think that the starbursts will improve somewhat over time, as my corneas heal -- as I understand it, while the flap is healing, there are imperfect contact points between the corneal flap and the cornea itself as the re-adhesion process occurs, over the 3-6 months after the surgery.
All of these minor side effects were exactly what I had expected from my reading about the Lasik surgery, and they're actually much less severe than I worried they would be.
It really is pretty amazing to wake up in the morning, look out the window, and be able to see every single plum blossom in bloom on the tree outside. At night, when my eyes start to get tired, I still have this moment where I think, "Oh, I should take my contacts out"; and in the morning, when I wake up, I often start to reach for my glasses before I realize, "oh, yeah, I can already see the clock and everything else I need to!" I've worn glasses or contact lenses pretty much every single waking hours for the last 38 years, and if I could ever make out any details on object smaller than a foot across, more than a few feet away, I couldn't remember it. (I started wearing glasses when I was 5 or 6, and I imagine that my eyes were quite nearsighted for years before that, before anybody realized how nearsighted I was.) Now I can just simply *see*, after an incredibly quick operation with near-zero complications. What's not to love?!
I do have some minor annoyances, which I hope will fade over time. My eyes are occasionally dry, but really no worse than before the surgery -- I think I just notice a bit more, because the dry eyes do seem to affect my vision a bit. And they say that using artificial tears regularly helps with vision and with corneal healing.
As far as the monovision, I basically have no difficulty at all with normal distance vision -- I do notice the imbalance between my eyes occasionally, but it doesn't bother me much at all. The near vision is a bit more problematic -- I think that's because for near vision, my right eye needs to "take over," and it's not used to being the dominant eye, so my brain has more trouble adapting to that situation. I expect this will keep getting better over time.
I definitely notice that my vision is worse in low light than it was before. I think this is partially related to the monovision -- my theory is that whichever eye is having more trouble focusing on whatever I'm looking at tries to dilate more in order to see better, and this actually makes my vision worse in the other eye. I'm not as confident that this will fix itself over time, but hopefully I'll at least get more used to it. It's not *bad*, but it can be annoying at times (e.g., when I'm trying to do a crossword puzzle or read in bed before bedtime).
I do see very noticeable "starbursts" around any light source when I'm driving at night. I find this pretty annoying, and on top of the increased difficulty in focusing in general, and reduced depth perception from the monovision, it definitely makes me a little nervous. But I'm fine, really, I just need to concentrate a bit more than I used to (which is actually a good thing!) and to slow down a bit (ditto). Driving in the early-morning fog yesterday, driving Heather to school for her spring trip at 5am, was definitely not a great experience. But it's not anywhere near debilitating, and definitely very worth the tradeoff! I do think that the starbursts will improve somewhat over time, as my corneas heal -- as I understand it, while the flap is healing, there are imperfect contact points between the corneal flap and the cornea itself as the re-adhesion process occurs, over the 3-6 months after the surgery.
All of these minor side effects were exactly what I had expected from my reading about the Lasik surgery, and they're actually much less severe than I worried they would be.
It really is pretty amazing to wake up in the morning, look out the window, and be able to see every single plum blossom in bloom on the tree outside. At night, when my eyes start to get tired, I still have this moment where I think, "Oh, I should take my contacts out"; and in the morning, when I wake up, I often start to reach for my glasses before I realize, "oh, yeah, I can already see the clock and everything else I need to!" I've worn glasses or contact lenses pretty much every single waking hours for the last 38 years, and if I could ever make out any details on object smaller than a foot across, more than a few feet away, I couldn't remember it. (I started wearing glasses when I was 5 or 6, and I imagine that my eyes were quite nearsighted for years before that, before anybody realized how nearsighted I was.) Now I can just simply *see*, after an incredibly quick operation with near-zero complications. What's not to love?!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Lasik - Postop
After the surgery, I opened my eyes now and again, but everything was really pretty blurry and very, very bright, so mostly I tried to keep them closed. I think I really didn't want to know, at that point, whether my vision was any better than it had been before -- either it was or it wasn't, and I knew it would take some time to settle in, so I didn't want to start overanalyzing.
They had me wait a bit, then the doctor looked in my eyes to make sure everything looked OK, which it did. That was it -- I was free to go. (I'd already made my one-day and two-week followup appointments.) We stopped at a drive-through and I ate in the car on the way home with my eyes mostly closed (the light was *really* blinding now that we were outside, even with the super-dark sunglasses they'd given me).
When I got home, I pretty much went straight to bed, as they had told me. The directions were to take a three-hour nap, which I did, more or less, except that I woke up and staggered to the bathroom a few times. It's not like real surgery, where you've had anesthetic and are still out of it from the drugs, but I think just because my eyes *so* didn't want to be open, and because of the huge adrenaline rush of the surgery, I was really groggy and out of it.
Once I woke up, I put in the antibiotic and steroid drops as directed. (I did forget that I was supposed to use the steroid drops every hour that day, and only used them every 4 hours with the antibiotic. Oops.) Then I pretty much tried to not look around too much and again, not to think too much about how my vision was. (Answer: Still kinda blurry and hazy; certainly less nearsighted than before, but hard to tell, really.) I figured reading was hopeless, but that I could kind of half-watch TV, which is what I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening doing. I had forgotten how mind-numbing it is to watch TV all afternoon and evening.
By late that evening, I decided I could definitely see pretty well, but was still trying not to make any assessment until the morning, since there was still a bit of haziness. I checked my email (but only very briefly, especially since John scolded me when I opened the computer). I did do one crossword puzzle before bed, just to prove that I could still read.
I slept pretty well, despite the goofy goggles, and when I woke up -- well, I looked outside, and it was still a bit too bright for me, but I could *definitely* see with more or less normal vision -- the buds are coming into bloom on the maple outside our window, and I could see each and every one! Weird. Amazing and weird.
I drove myself (wearing the super-dark sunglasses) to the postop exam. Not a problem at all. The monovision is definitely going to take some getting used to, but it doesn't affect most activities. If I am trying to focus on something specific, at whatever distance, I'm very aware that one of my eyes is working better than the other, and sometimes it's a little disorienting. Like when you're wearing contact lenses and one of them is really dry and blurry, or you need a new prescription in one eye. I wonder whether I'll always be as conscious of it as I am now -- hopefully not.
The postop exam took a long time (they really kept me waiting -- I was there for an hour and a half, for two 5-minute checks -- one of my actual vision, and one to look inside my eyes). The vision check was just as they'd aimed for -- 20/20 in my left (dominant) eye and 20/40 in my right eye, and no problem reading close up (as long as I can use my right eye!) When they looked in my eyes, the doctor told me that I had a little inflammation under the flap in my right eye. So she told me to use the steroids more often (every 2 hours) for the next 2 days, and to come in on Monday to make sure it's not getting worse. Other than that, everything looks perfect.
It really is incredible that with a 10-minute operation, a lifetime of myopia is just... gone. Poof. I can see like a normal person. (well, except for the funky weird monovision thing.)
Last night, as I was getting ready for bed, the blurriness of the monovision caught my attention, and my immediate reaction was to think, "Oh, I should take my contacts out." Very disconcerting. Good, but disconcerting.
At the moment, I'm not experiencing any bothersome symptoms whatsoever except for the adjustment to the monovision. There's maybe a tiny bit of ghosting around bright lights, but it's not nearly as bad as the glare that I would get off my glasses (and forget about scratches and dirt!) So far I haven't tried to drive at night, but it doesn't seem likely that it will be a problem. My eyes aren't even particularly scratchy or dry. I think I'm like a poster child for Lasik. :-)
More posts to follow if there are any interesting developments to report. Otherwise I guess you can all count me as a satisfied customer!!
They had me wait a bit, then the doctor looked in my eyes to make sure everything looked OK, which it did. That was it -- I was free to go. (I'd already made my one-day and two-week followup appointments.) We stopped at a drive-through and I ate in the car on the way home with my eyes mostly closed (the light was *really* blinding now that we were outside, even with the super-dark sunglasses they'd given me).
When I got home, I pretty much went straight to bed, as they had told me. The directions were to take a three-hour nap, which I did, more or less, except that I woke up and staggered to the bathroom a few times. It's not like real surgery, where you've had anesthetic and are still out of it from the drugs, but I think just because my eyes *so* didn't want to be open, and because of the huge adrenaline rush of the surgery, I was really groggy and out of it.
Once I woke up, I put in the antibiotic and steroid drops as directed. (I did forget that I was supposed to use the steroid drops every hour that day, and only used them every 4 hours with the antibiotic. Oops.) Then I pretty much tried to not look around too much and again, not to think too much about how my vision was. (Answer: Still kinda blurry and hazy; certainly less nearsighted than before, but hard to tell, really.) I figured reading was hopeless, but that I could kind of half-watch TV, which is what I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening doing. I had forgotten how mind-numbing it is to watch TV all afternoon and evening.
By late that evening, I decided I could definitely see pretty well, but was still trying not to make any assessment until the morning, since there was still a bit of haziness. I checked my email (but only very briefly, especially since John scolded me when I opened the computer). I did do one crossword puzzle before bed, just to prove that I could still read.
I slept pretty well, despite the goofy goggles, and when I woke up -- well, I looked outside, and it was still a bit too bright for me, but I could *definitely* see with more or less normal vision -- the buds are coming into bloom on the maple outside our window, and I could see each and every one! Weird. Amazing and weird.
I drove myself (wearing the super-dark sunglasses) to the postop exam. Not a problem at all. The monovision is definitely going to take some getting used to, but it doesn't affect most activities. If I am trying to focus on something specific, at whatever distance, I'm very aware that one of my eyes is working better than the other, and sometimes it's a little disorienting. Like when you're wearing contact lenses and one of them is really dry and blurry, or you need a new prescription in one eye. I wonder whether I'll always be as conscious of it as I am now -- hopefully not.
The postop exam took a long time (they really kept me waiting -- I was there for an hour and a half, for two 5-minute checks -- one of my actual vision, and one to look inside my eyes). The vision check was just as they'd aimed for -- 20/20 in my left (dominant) eye and 20/40 in my right eye, and no problem reading close up (as long as I can use my right eye!) When they looked in my eyes, the doctor told me that I had a little inflammation under the flap in my right eye. So she told me to use the steroids more often (every 2 hours) for the next 2 days, and to come in on Monday to make sure it's not getting worse. Other than that, everything looks perfect.
It really is incredible that with a 10-minute operation, a lifetime of myopia is just... gone. Poof. I can see like a normal person. (well, except for the funky weird monovision thing.)
Last night, as I was getting ready for bed, the blurriness of the monovision caught my attention, and my immediate reaction was to think, "Oh, I should take my contacts out." Very disconcerting. Good, but disconcerting.
At the moment, I'm not experiencing any bothersome symptoms whatsoever except for the adjustment to the monovision. There's maybe a tiny bit of ghosting around bright lights, but it's not nearly as bad as the glare that I would get off my glasses (and forget about scratches and dirt!) So far I haven't tried to drive at night, but it doesn't seem likely that it will be a problem. My eyes aren't even particularly scratchy or dry. I think I'm like a poster child for Lasik. :-)
More posts to follow if there are any interesting developments to report. Otherwise I guess you can all count me as a satisfied customer!!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Lasik - The Surgery
I went for my Lasik surgery on Friday, March 20, 2009, at LasikPlus in Rockville, Maryland. My surgeon was Dr. Jay Lustbader (who's done 10,000+ Lasik surgeries and is also the Chair of the Department of Opthalmology and Director of Cornea Service at Georgetown).
Before the surgery, they checked me in (and collected my payment of course! - for the record, with a discount they gave me for my insurance plan, I paid $3390 total for both eyes, with a year of postop exams and lifetime "enhancements" (touch-up surgeries if I have any problems) - the "standard" price is $2099/eye). Somebody examined my eyes to make sure the corrections they'd recorded earlier were still accurate, and I met with somebody else who gave me the post-surgery care instructions.
Finally I was called in by Dr. Lustbader, who I liked -- he was very relaxed but professional, explained the surgery, and asked me if I had any questions. They sent me back out to wait for a short while, then brought me into the operating suite (which is partitioned from the waiting area by a glass wall, so you can watch the surgeries, including a TV camera showing the eye as the operation proceeds).
They gave me "squeezy balls" to squeeze (and telling me to squeeze those, *not* my eyes!), then put numbing drops in my eyes, and a patch over my right eye. Then Dr. Lustbader inserted a lid holder into the left eye, which wasn't exactly painful but was *really* uncomfortable. After that I couldn't really see very well. Then he put some sort of cup device over my eye, at which point I basically couldn't see anything (but he had warned me about that). Then they cut the flap (I have no idea how that went, since I couldn't see or feel it!) Same thing on the other eye.
Then I had to get up (with my corneas cut away) and walk across the room to the other table, which was a little weird and disorienting. That's where they did the actual surgery on the cornea itself. Again with the lid holder, and this time they also taped my eyelashes down -- again, not painful, but very uncomfortable and not at all pleasant. The weirdest thing was when I could see the doctor's hand coming at me with a pair of tweezers to peel back the corneal flap (which took a few tries).
Then there's a flashing red (now very blurry) light you have to look at, and the laser makes these funky clicking noises, and you are very aware that your cornea is being reshaped, which is quite disturbing and sends an adrenaline rush through you like you wouldn't believe. The squeezy balls turn out to be quite useful at this point.
They were great about telling me exactly what they were doing and how long it would take. Then I was done, and that was it - the nurse walked me out to the lobby and told me to wait with my eyes closed for a few minutes.
More in the next post...
Before the surgery, they checked me in (and collected my payment of course! - for the record, with a discount they gave me for my insurance plan, I paid $3390 total for both eyes, with a year of postop exams and lifetime "enhancements" (touch-up surgeries if I have any problems) - the "standard" price is $2099/eye). Somebody examined my eyes to make sure the corrections they'd recorded earlier were still accurate, and I met with somebody else who gave me the post-surgery care instructions.
Finally I was called in by Dr. Lustbader, who I liked -- he was very relaxed but professional, explained the surgery, and asked me if I had any questions. They sent me back out to wait for a short while, then brought me into the operating suite (which is partitioned from the waiting area by a glass wall, so you can watch the surgeries, including a TV camera showing the eye as the operation proceeds).
They gave me "squeezy balls" to squeeze (and telling me to squeeze those, *not* my eyes!), then put numbing drops in my eyes, and a patch over my right eye. Then Dr. Lustbader inserted a lid holder into the left eye, which wasn't exactly painful but was *really* uncomfortable. After that I couldn't really see very well. Then he put some sort of cup device over my eye, at which point I basically couldn't see anything (but he had warned me about that). Then they cut the flap (I have no idea how that went, since I couldn't see or feel it!) Same thing on the other eye.
Then I had to get up (with my corneas cut away) and walk across the room to the other table, which was a little weird and disorienting. That's where they did the actual surgery on the cornea itself. Again with the lid holder, and this time they also taped my eyelashes down -- again, not painful, but very uncomfortable and not at all pleasant. The weirdest thing was when I could see the doctor's hand coming at me with a pair of tweezers to peel back the corneal flap (which took a few tries).
Then there's a flashing red (now very blurry) light you have to look at, and the laser makes these funky clicking noises, and you are very aware that your cornea is being reshaped, which is quite disturbing and sends an adrenaline rush through you like you wouldn't believe. The squeezy balls turn out to be quite useful at this point.
They were great about telling me exactly what they were doing and how long it would take. Then I was done, and that was it - the nurse walked me out to the lobby and told me to wait with my eyes closed for a few minutes.
More in the next post...
Lasik - The Decision
I thought I'd write and share my (ongoing) story about getting Lasik surgery.
I first thought about Lasik maybe 5-10 years ago, but when I looked into it, it seemed that there was a fairly high rate of complications (especially halos and glare), which made me nervous. I just didn't think it had been tested enough back then. Then as I got older, I thought, well, what's the point now? Sure, if I was 25, it would be worth doing it, but not now.
A few years ago, though, I started to develop presbyopia, and more people I knew were having Lasik surgery, even people in their 40s, 50s -- this year I found out that a 72-year-old I know just had Lasik! And the rate of complications seemed much lower. Looking around on the Internet, it wasn't that easy to find people who were unhappy -- and most of them seemed to actually have relatively mild complications (e.g., they would complain that they still had to wear glasses -- well, I have to wear glasses *now*, so that doesn't seem like a tragic outcome). My biggest concern had been major loss of eyesight, but I really couldn't find *any* stories with extreme outcomes like blindness. Given that millions of people have Lasik every year, it seemed like it had gotten pretty safe and straightforward.
I went to the LasikPlus in Columbia (recommended by a friend who had had the surgery) for an evaluation in September 2007, and they said that I was a candidate. But they also told me that I had presbyopia (which I knew) and that I'd need reading glasses after the surgery. Trading one kind of glasses for another didn't seem all that appealing. They mentioned monovision, but I didn't think I could get used to being severely nearsighted in one eye and fairly farsighted in the other eye.
Fast-forward a year and a half, to late 2008, and my presbyopia was clearly getting bad enough that I was going to need bifocals pretty soon. (I couldn't just take my glasses off to read; I actually had to replace the regular glasses with reading glasses, especially if it was dark or my eyes were tired.) So I thought, OK, now the tradeoff seems worthwhile.
I made another appointment at LasikPlus (this time in Rockville, because the appointment times were more convenient) in February 2009. Again, they told me that I was a good candidate (pupils not too large, correction not too extreme (-3.75 diopters with mild astigmatism in one eye, -4 in the other)). They also told me more about monovision -- I had gotten the impression that the "close vision" eye wouldn't be corrected at all, or very little, but they told me that I could expect to have 20/20 vision in the distance-adjusted eye and 20/40 in the close-adjusted eye. They gave me some of those goofy insert-a-lens glasses with the monovision correction to wear while my eyes adjusted. It seemed like something that I could probably adapt to, and they also told me that if I didn't like it, I could come back after my eyes healed to change the close-adjusted eye to distance vision at no charge. (Of course, then I *would* have to wear reading glasses.)
I was also somewhat worried about glare and night vision, but it seemed that with the new laser technology, fewer people had long-term problems with these issues than even a few years ago -- and the night vision problems that can be caused by monovision (extra glare/halo from the blurry distance vision in the close-vision eye) can generally be fixed by wearing night glasses (that give you that extra bump in distance correction to even out the eyes).
I also talked to several friends who have had Lasik and are wildly satisfied with it, including a student who has monovision. I decided that the risks are small enough (possibility of still needing glasses, now or in the future; possibility of night glare or blurry vision, especially during healing) that I was going to do it.
I scheduled my surgery on Friday, March 20, 2009. I'm planning to post a series on the surgery and healing process, so stay tuned!
I first thought about Lasik maybe 5-10 years ago, but when I looked into it, it seemed that there was a fairly high rate of complications (especially halos and glare), which made me nervous. I just didn't think it had been tested enough back then. Then as I got older, I thought, well, what's the point now? Sure, if I was 25, it would be worth doing it, but not now.
A few years ago, though, I started to develop presbyopia, and more people I knew were having Lasik surgery, even people in their 40s, 50s -- this year I found out that a 72-year-old I know just had Lasik! And the rate of complications seemed much lower. Looking around on the Internet, it wasn't that easy to find people who were unhappy -- and most of them seemed to actually have relatively mild complications (e.g., they would complain that they still had to wear glasses -- well, I have to wear glasses *now*, so that doesn't seem like a tragic outcome). My biggest concern had been major loss of eyesight, but I really couldn't find *any* stories with extreme outcomes like blindness. Given that millions of people have Lasik every year, it seemed like it had gotten pretty safe and straightforward.
I went to the LasikPlus in Columbia (recommended by a friend who had had the surgery) for an evaluation in September 2007, and they said that I was a candidate. But they also told me that I had presbyopia (which I knew) and that I'd need reading glasses after the surgery. Trading one kind of glasses for another didn't seem all that appealing. They mentioned monovision, but I didn't think I could get used to being severely nearsighted in one eye and fairly farsighted in the other eye.
Fast-forward a year and a half, to late 2008, and my presbyopia was clearly getting bad enough that I was going to need bifocals pretty soon. (I couldn't just take my glasses off to read; I actually had to replace the regular glasses with reading glasses, especially if it was dark or my eyes were tired.) So I thought, OK, now the tradeoff seems worthwhile.
I made another appointment at LasikPlus (this time in Rockville, because the appointment times were more convenient) in February 2009. Again, they told me that I was a good candidate (pupils not too large, correction not too extreme (-3.75 diopters with mild astigmatism in one eye, -4 in the other)). They also told me more about monovision -- I had gotten the impression that the "close vision" eye wouldn't be corrected at all, or very little, but they told me that I could expect to have 20/20 vision in the distance-adjusted eye and 20/40 in the close-adjusted eye. They gave me some of those goofy insert-a-lens glasses with the monovision correction to wear while my eyes adjusted. It seemed like something that I could probably adapt to, and they also told me that if I didn't like it, I could come back after my eyes healed to change the close-adjusted eye to distance vision at no charge. (Of course, then I *would* have to wear reading glasses.)
I was also somewhat worried about glare and night vision, but it seemed that with the new laser technology, fewer people had long-term problems with these issues than even a few years ago -- and the night vision problems that can be caused by monovision (extra glare/halo from the blurry distance vision in the close-vision eye) can generally be fixed by wearing night glasses (that give you that extra bump in distance correction to even out the eyes).
I also talked to several friends who have had Lasik and are wildly satisfied with it, including a student who has monovision. I decided that the risks are small enough (possibility of still needing glasses, now or in the future; possibility of night glare or blurry vision, especially during healing) that I was going to do it.
I scheduled my surgery on Friday, March 20, 2009. I'm planning to post a series on the surgery and healing process, so stay tuned!
Friday, November 7, 2008
After the 2008 election
It's hard to put my feelings into words after the 2008 election. Elated, relieved, delighted, amazed. Verklempt. With renewed hope for the future.
I spent some time this morning catching up on election news coverage, and kept finding my eyes welling up as I realized what an amazing outcome this is -- for Democrats; for those who value diversity; for those who practice the politics of caring and unity instead of the politics of divisiveness and intolerance; for those who despaired of America ever being viewed positively again by the rest of the world; for those who believe in the power of positive thinking. I cared far more that Obama was a strong leader, with positive ideas and the willingness to listen, than that he was an African-American. But now that he's been elected, I'm just in awe of the incredible power and symbolism of an African-American, Hawaiian, Kenyan, Indonesian-raised, child of a single mother, "up from poverty," self-made, family-centered, post-Boomer, devoted husband and father of young children, 44th President of the United States.
I realize that no President can solve all of our problems, least of all after eight years of partisanship, executive overreaching, unilateralism, deregulation, overspending, anti-family policies[*], suppression of individual liberties, favoring big business and the wealthy at the expense of working- and middle-class families... But I fervently believe that the intelligence, bipartisanship, pragmatic liberalism, and respect for diversity that the Obama administration represents will make an enormous difference to our country, and to our ability to stand proud together as Americans.
GObama!
I spent some time this morning catching up on election news coverage, and kept finding my eyes welling up as I realized what an amazing outcome this is -- for Democrats; for those who value diversity; for those who practice the politics of caring and unity instead of the politics of divisiveness and intolerance; for those who despaired of America ever being viewed positively again by the rest of the world; for those who believe in the power of positive thinking. I cared far more that Obama was a strong leader, with positive ideas and the willingness to listen, than that he was an African-American. But now that he's been elected, I'm just in awe of the incredible power and symbolism of an African-American, Hawaiian, Kenyan, Indonesian-raised, child of a single mother, "up from poverty," self-made, family-centered, post-Boomer, devoted husband and father of young children, 44th President of the United States.
I realize that no President can solve all of our problems, least of all after eight years of partisanship, executive overreaching, unilateralism, deregulation, overspending, anti-family policies[*], suppression of individual liberties, favoring big business and the wealthy at the expense of working- and middle-class families... But I fervently believe that the intelligence, bipartisanship, pragmatic liberalism, and respect for diversity that the Obama administration represents will make an enormous difference to our country, and to our ability to stand proud together as Americans.
GObama!
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