Blind as a Bat

I had to laugh when I read my brother Andy's post on his Lasic surgery.
For those who know me, you know that I was blind as a bat. Literally. You know that big "E" on the eye chart that you see at the eye doctor? Yeah, I couldn't even see it. I'm not sure exactly how bad I was, but my contacts were -7.0 and -5.5. The average near-sighted person is -2.0.

You see, my contacts are -14 and -12. Since the age of 3 I have worn glasses or contacts. I had eye surgery when I was 3 and again at 6. I don't remember much about the first surgery, although my Mom mentioned that they really had to watch me because although I had bandages over both eyes, I would run around like I could see ( guess it didn't make much of a difference for me). I do remember the surgery when I was 6 quite vividly. I was in a room with about5 5 other kids. One of the girls kept talking about "vomit". I had not idea what she was talking about ,but it sounded exotic. Mom had made new pajamas for me to wear during my hospital stay. They were a pretty light yellow, with small flowers. The day after my surgery, the nurse came in to feed me some oatmeal. I told her I didn't like it and felt sick. She forced me to eat "just one more spoonful" and I promptly threw up. Never ate oatmeal again.

According to my Dad, contacts (and hair) are the root of all evil. As with most things durng my childhood, my sister Cindy was the pioneer regarding contacts. The first day she had hers, she dove into a pool and promptly lost them (this was in the day before dispoable and soft contacts). Basketball games would come to a halt while all the players dropped to the floor to look for a lost contact. Losing a contact was especially difficult for me, because I ended up being a cyclops when I lost a contact.

I got my contacts between junior and senior year in high school. My braces also came off my teeth that summer, so needless to say there were a lot of people who didn't recognize me when returned for senior year.

When the kids where toddlers and they came into our room, they automatically would hand me my glasses and then identify themselves.

I have gotten used to my lack of sight. I am extremely grateful for contacts. As an avid reader, I don't know what I would do without the ability to read. I have thought about having Lasik surgery but have always hesitated . My doctor told me that I probably would have to wear reading glasses or even a very slight correction even if I had the surgery. To me, it is an all or nothing event.

As I told my eye doctor when he mentioned it, I am not sure I am ready to wake up every morning with clear eye sight. I enjoy the fuzzy entry to the day, where everything seems soft and unformed.