Seeing The World In A Different Light
As a high-school student back in the 60′s I recall coming home one afternoon and finding my Mom wearing glasses for the first time in her life. I thought they made her look goofy but she said she needed them to help her see clearly. She told me to just wait until I reached her age. I’d probably need them too and look even goofier!
My Dad had worn glasses all his life so he didn’t look funny wearing them… he looked funny when he took them off! He wore two different pairs, actually. One was for close in work and the other for driving. I noticed what a pain it was for him to always need to have these things within reach in order to be able to see. I hoped I’d never need glasses but, according to Mom, I probably would.
Two decades later a new treatment arrived called laser eye surgery. It was all the rage and people were choosing this option for vision correction even though it was still unapproved in the U.S. It took nearly ten years for government approval to be official but plenty of people went to Canada or Europe to receive the eye procedure before then.
It was finally approved for use in America in the middle 90′s and the popularity of the treatment soared. The technological advances have been notable and laser eye surgery of today is much different than just a few years ago. The old methods are still in use in some places but are riskier, not as fast or easy to perform and less definite in producing successful results. But it’s cheaper.
It’s common for me to indulge in a comparison exercise of cost versus quality. Sometimes this translates out to the difference between form and function. For example, I went to the store to buy some additional hangers and was given two options – cheap plastic jobs sold by the dozen and wood hangers costing about five times as much. Quality won out in this instance. If you’re thinking about having your eyes fixed I recommend quality over cost too.
Mom and Dad both got the eye surgery (LASIK) this past year and both got close to 20/20 vision as a result. They were fortunate in having medical coverage that paid for the whole thing and they got the latest (and most expensive) treatment done. No more going to the optician to pick out new eye glass frames for them… they’ve both thrown their spectacles away. They’re both in their early eighties. Dad looks funny ALL the time now!
I’ve been considering the new surgery myself. Now that there’s a ‘bladeless’ method available it seems less invasive, which I like. By the way… Mom was right. I started wearing my own ‘cheaters’ at age 45. That was 13 years ago and my eyes haven’t fixed themselves yet!
Bob Proctor has been writing articles since 2006 and is an expert on cartier glass frames, however he also likes to write about leaflet holder
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
