Tag Archives: Lasik surgery

Posted in opinion

I CAN SEE! SORT OF

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By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

Twenty-seven years ago I underwent LASIK surgery to correct my vision. At the time, I couldn’t read the big E on the eye chart with my left eye. I had worn glasses or contacts since I was 10 years old. Not Coke-bottle thickness, but I was headed in that direction. LASIK was a miracle for me. Afterwards I had 20/20 vision that lasted for many years. But as with other body parts, Father Time eventually caught up, and I learned that LASIK was not intended to last forever. At first, I wore “cheaters” from the drug store but eventually my distance vision deteriorated to the point I couldn’t read road signs. This made for some lively discussions on the road trips that my husband and I used to take, where he relied on me for navigation. I finally gave in and started wearing progressive glasses, which give all the satisfaction of a warm shower. My head had to be tilted in just the right way to see or read. And frankly, my vision wasn’t crisp at any angle. That came in handy when I looked in the mirror, but was exceedingly annoying when reading or watching TV.

Luckily, one of the few advantages of getting older is that I started to develop cataracts. My ophthalmologist and I have been discussing surgery for a few years. Because of my LASIK surgery he couldn’t guarantee that traditional lenses would give me perfect vision. In 2021 he told me about light-adjustable lenses (LAL’s) that were being used in Europe for people that previously had LASIK. Unlike traditional lenses that are permanently fixed in their refractive power, he told me LAL’s can be adjusted postoperatively using specialized light treatments.

That seemed a little daunting to me. I wondered exactly what kind of torture they put you through for the adjustments. Turns out that the LAL’s are made of specialized photosensitive material that contain light-reactive molecules. After the lens is implanted, the surgeon uses a light delivery device to expose the lens to specific patterns of UV light. That exposure gradually alters the lens’s shape and optical power, allowing for adjustments over several weeks. Okay – that’s the scientific stuff. But I needed to know how it worked in practice. So I talked with a few friends that had the procedure and they raved about it. Colors were brighter, vision was clear, and they could read a menu without a floodlight streaming down on it.

So, earlier this month I had the LAL’s implanted in both eyes. I did them on consecutive days, which caused some people to question my sanity (not a new phenomenon), but I wanted this process to be done ASAP. The surgeon said it takes 2-4 months for the light treatments and then the final “lock-in” and until that time, one must live as a vampire. Sunlight is a killer for these lenses so even when I take Dooley out to the dog run, I have to don a very “attractive” pair of UV-blocking sunglasses. They also provide a clear pair to wear inside, that fortunately have “cheaters” built in. For the first week I was to stay off of electronic devices. Luckily The Masters was on TV so I was entertained.

Thus far, I’m pretty happy. The day after my second surgery I drove myself to the doctor’s office. I could not read anything on the instrument panel of my car, much less street signs. I questioned whether I should have been driving, but after a vision test the doctor said I was legal by Arizona standards. ‘Nuff said. At one week they checked me again and it looks like 20/20 vision will be possible. Eventually. The computer is still blurry – over time this will subside but for now I can only spend 10-15 minutes on it before I have to take a break.

My glasses collection

Overall, I’m glad I did it. The prospect of good vision again is uplifting. My glasses will go to the Lion’s Club donation program so hopefully someone else will enjoy them. A big benefit that I didn’t anticipate? After a week away from electronic devices, my bad habit of constantly checking them is gone. I may not be able to keep up with influencers, but I read more often now, and I think that’s a VERY good trade-off.

Posted in opinion

I CAN’T SEE!

By Comments:10 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

My glasses, hiding in plain sight

The other day I was struggling to read the fine print on a label in the grocery store. Don’t even get me started on why the print has to be so small – what are they hiding? I have often said that the most frustrating part of aging has been the steady deterioration of my vision. I had to wear reading glasses beginning at the age of 12 and it’s been a downhill journey ever since. Over the years I’ve made many attempts to improve my vision, including Lasik surgery in 1999. The surgery was a great success, resulting in 20/20 vision for distance but as I aged, I needed reading glasses for anything up close. Fast forward to 2023, when I complained to my ophthalmologist that my distance vision was deteriorating. And as is so often the case these days, he started with the dreaded, “Well, at your age…”. Turns out Lasik doesn’t last forever, and he suggested progressive lenses. My house is now littered with glasses: four sets of progressive, two single vision sets for computer and piano distances, and two sets of progressive sunglasses. And I still have drawers full of “cheaters” that I pull out when one of my prescription glasses are not within arm’s reach. I’m looking into cataract surgery later this year, in yet another attempt to see clearly. I’ve often wondered, as I’m reading that fine print at the grocery store, how did people survive before the invention of glasses. Turns out, hundreds of years ago people were equally frustrated by blurry vision and as is often the case, came up with some rather ingenious inventions.

There’s not much historical evidence explaining how our prehistoric ancestors fared in the absence of visual aids, so historians have used a combination of deduction and common sense to determine how, say, a sight-impaired individual would keep up with the pack in a group of hunter-gatherers. A person with imperfect vision could still be useful to a group simply because sharp eyesight (needed to read signs or Google Maps) wasn’t necessary in prehistoric times. And they didn’t have to deal with those pesky grocery store labels. As civilization progressed, those with visual impairments could even find their condition produced certain advantages. A myopic (nearsighted) person, for example, could find themselves steered toward a craftsman role for their ability to focus on detail.

Somewhere in the vicinity of Pisa, Italy, around 1286, an unknown craftsman fastened two glass lenses to a frame likely made of wood or bone to create the first eyeglasses. Thus, the modern notion of vision aids was invented. But there were incremental improvements for the vision-impaired even before that. Archaeological digs in the eastern Mediterranean area have uncovered the existence of plano-convex lenses (flat on one side and rounded on the other) made of glass and rock crystal that date back to the Bronze Age! While it’s unknown what these lenses were used for, some of them magnify objects between seven and nine times, rendering them useful for work on items in close quarters.  After that there came water stones, mirrors and even emeralds, which didn’t really improve vision but were thought to reduce glare. A major development in the area of visual tools came with the invention of reading stones. The concept of using curved glass to magnify print was discussed at length by an Arab mathematician in 1021. Typically made from quartz, rock crystal, and especially beryl, reading stones were fashioned in a plano-convex shape, with the flat side against the page of a book and the rounded top providing a clear view of the lettering below. Initially used to assist the elderly with faltering vision, the stones became popular among younger readers as well, especially as beryl was said to possess magic and healing powers.

I still use one of these
Visby lenses as a necklace

One surviving example of reading stones are the 11th- to 12th-century Visby lenses discovered in Gotland, Sweden, in 1999. Along with providing excellent magnification of tiny text, many of these quartz lenses are mounted in silver, suggesting a decorative purpose as well. It’s unknown if the Visby lenses were the work of a local professional or somehow made their way from Muslim regions where other reading stones first appeared. Regardless, the quality of the images generated by these artifacts, and the craftsmanship that went into their creation, underscores how people were seeking help for their vision woes long before LensCrafters went into business.

Somehow, it’s comforting to know that people struggled with vision issues from time immemorial. One can only imagine the cave people saying, “Darn it, Harriet, I can’t see the damn hieroglyphics on that wall anymore!”