Sunday, September 7, 2008

Best Money I've Ever Spent

I got glasses when I was in the second grade. I remember my parents taking my sister and me both to get our very first pair. I picked out some pretty purple ones. On the way home, I remember my sister and I reading all of the signs, completely in awe. I remember saying to my parents, "You mean to tell me that most people see this good ALL the time?!" And thinking, "Wow, the trees really do have leaves on them!" Isn't that sad?

Well, from there my sight just went downhill. I got my first pair of contacts when I was in the 5th grade. I totally loved wearing them over glasses. Over the years my eyes continued to get worse and worse. I think I probably tried every kind of contact over the next 16 years.

My glasses were coke bottles and let me just tell you, they weren't pretty. I never liked wearing them. I always felt dirty when I had to wear them. I'm not really sure why--maybe because usually if I was wearing them it was early morning before I was ready for the day, or just before bed. I heard someone say once that wearing glasses was like looking out a window your whole life.

When I was about 18ish, I went on a camp out with a bunch of my friends. Some of them were seeing me in glasses for the first time. It was on this trip that one of my guy friends referred to my glasses as my "birth control glasses." Nice.

My husband likes to tell people he saw me walk into a wall once. Hahaha. Sadly it's true. My dad likes to tell the story about me failing the "how many fingers am I holding up?" in the doctors office and hearing the doctor and nurse laughing about it in the hallway. My mom reminds me often of the time we were boating and I was assigned to be the flagger. As she recalls, she was on the water weiney with some of my siblings and was doing the "STOP" signal over and over. Unfortunately, I missed seeing it at all. Or there's the embarrassing story when I went boating with a friend and her dad asked me to video tape her doing tricks on the knee board. Well, when we got home and played it back, there was about 10 minutes of blue sky recorded, and that was it. (I remember struggling to see, but thought I could see an outline of something?...maybe not?) Well, the list goes on and on...you get the point, right? I was basically blind!

I had been dreaming of having lasik eye surgery as long as I could remember. Unfortunately, with my perscription and the shape of my eye, I was not a candidate. And yes, I cried the first time they told me that.

Three years ago, I went to the office (where my husband, father, and sister all had lasiks done) just to have a free consultation and see if I had any hope at all. A few days later I had PRK surgery done. It is done with a laser (like lasiks) but it is a little more invasive and your sight takes a little longer (a few weeks) to fully improve. I completely jumped at this chance and have never looked back.

I went in for my 3 year post op last month and I still have nearly perfect vision. It is truly a miracle to me. I have asked a lot of my bloggy friends "what's the best money you've ever spent?" I figured I would answer this question myself. This is absolutely the best money I have ever spent--worth every penny! And I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Jaime Sig

19 comments:

Carissa(GoodnCrazy) said...

Shut up? My husband has eyesight like you just described. 2400! And he went in to see about lasik and they turned him down! I'm looking into PRK right now. what did it cost?

And um...I walked into a light post once, nothing to do with eyesight, everything to do with talking too much...who me?

Shannon said...

My hubby feels the same. He just had his done and it is amazinghowlife changing it is. Glad your eyes are still going strong!

Laura said...

I can imagine that having good eye sight would be priceless!

Anonymous said...

As soon as I started reading this post I had the flashback of you walking into a wall. I had Lasik 4 to 5 years ago. It seems like I am starting to see a little worse, but I had my eyes checked and they are still 20/20. I would agree its definitely worth it.

Matt

Are You Serious! said...

♥ That's awesome! I'm so glad that it worked so great! :)

Tonya Staab said...

Birth Control Glasses - although I'm positive it was not in the least bit funny at the time, that is quite a funny comment LOL Sorry.

Everybody I know who has had it said it has been an amazing experience and are so thankful that you can have this done these days.

Jaysi said...

I am so jealous. I have been waiting *patiently* for lasik. My vision sounds almost as bad as yours, but maybe you had it a bit worse. I do remember when I first got glasses, seeing the leaves on the trees and thinking the same things. Hopefully next year for me!

Claremont First Ward said...

I'm so glad you answered the question you always ask. I can only imagine how life altering the surgery was for you. Congrats on still having nearly perfect vision!

Dan and Melissa said...

I would love to get that done as well. I'm pretty blind myself. But..I think I am still to scared to do it. Maybe somewhere in the future!

Casey's trio said...

I'm so glad there was a happy ending...I was feeling so sad after all of your examples of growing up and being teased about your bad eyesight. My hubby got the surgery also and is so happy he did it.

Weeksie50 said...

I am so happy PRK worked for you.. I have never had glasses but I know friends of mine struggled with theirs..

Becky

Jyl @ MommyGossip said...

I am so glad you were able to have it done. I have had perfect vision my whole life and even though I admit to buying a pair of non-prescription glasses once--just because I think glasses can be so smart/sexy looking--I have always been grateful for my eye sight. BTW: Those glasses did get me two job offers, I kid you not! Funny how grass is always greener? ;)

justin and jaime wimmer family said...

You always looked darling in glasses. I remember thinking how fun it would be to wear glasses. I am so glad you can see so great. What a miracle.

Stephanie said...

Fortunately, I've never had to be in those shoes. My husband and sister both were though, both have had lasik, and both love the results. Their only complaint is the dryness that eyedrops don't seem to help much.

I'm supposed to wear glasses, but since I see fine without them I don't. They just help me adjust from looking far away then at something up close. My eyesight is getting a bit blurry with age...I dread wearing glasses.

Kim said...

My story was similar, I hated wearing my glasses in school I got them in 5th grade, then contacts in 7th which was better. I did get lasik about 7 years ago. Absolutely love it, I was seeing clear almost instantly afterwards. That's up there with the best money I ever spent too!

Lindsay said...

I so totally feel the same way! I had it done in 2000 and haven't had any problems since then. I too remember my dad "yelling" at me when I was younger because I couldn't see two towers in the distance and after I got glasses I remember looking at things and saying "wow, people actually see like this?!"

I am Arizona; a person, not a place. said...

I got glasses in 1st grade and have always hated them. I was glad to finally be able to see, but I hate the feel of glasses on my face. I got contacts in 5th grade, but didn't wear them daily because they were the first contacts to come out and were really hard to get used to. Later, gas permeable contacts came out and those were better. Now I have soft contacts. I'd love to not need them at all and wish I were brave enough to get PRK.

girlytwins said...

I would have to agree with your decision on that one. I am starting to have less than great vision and if there is anyway to bring back my old vision I would in a heartbeat :)

Laurie said...

I love the story of video taping and not getting your friend. Not laughing at you just super cute. I am glad that you got the surgery done and things are so much better for you. My hubby wants lasik... he keeps talking about it so we will see.