Ways of Seeing......a story of a man with(out) eyeglasses.
On 13th March 2020 I underwent LASIK (Laser in situ keratomileusis) eye surgery, which is a corrective surgery performed on people who wish to completely do away with wearing eyeglasses or in case of high power eyeglasses reduce the power to a great extent. I belong to the second category. As I crossed the threshold of forty years of age the astigmatism in my eyes was showing signs of turning more severe, which also meant that the already high power and a complicated set of numbers that I had for my eye glasses threatened to get more menacing eventually leading to a lot of strain on my eyes. So following my eye doctor's advice I finally decided to go for the procedure. Though my family was supportive the decision was met with some apprehension and of course some friendly outside people pointed out the risk and at times the utter fruitlessness of it all. I had however made up my mind having complete faith in my doctor.
The procedure itself went extremely smoothly and after a couple of days I actually started seeing things without glasses. For some one who went virtually blind when the glasses were off till two days back now actually recognized people from a distance instead of just blurred faces. Hell I could actually read the number plate on my car parked across the street from my first floor balcony. Although things were not completely in focus as my doctor had already predicted that I would still have to wear glasses post surgery albeit with negligible power compared to the thick glasses that I was used to wearing for years now and also I would not need to wear them all the time. The post surgery check up after couple of days also went very well and the doctor said that he will be doing the final check up after a week to ten days in order to give time for the vision to stabilize for an accurate assessment of the power. I returned home feeling very happy. It was the 17th of March 2020.
And then tragedy struck! On 24th March the entire country went in to lockdown owing to Covid-19 and I was left stranded without the new prescription glasses. I could not use the old ones as they were not remarkably high powered for my eyes and I felt incredibly dizzy when I tried them on once. I was advised to wear the protective glasses that I was issued during the surgery. Because I am used to seeing myself in glasses for almost my entire life so far I found it very weird to look at my own face in the mirror without glasses and so I ws happy that I would still have to wear glasses. I just had no idea when that was going to happen.
I was able to manage alright, but I felt like it was a conspiracy against my long cherished dream. As someone who had to wear glasses 24/7 I really envied the people who could afford to take of their glasses every now and then and really choose when to wear them and when to remove them. I could actually drive and ride my bike without wearing glasses now and I could actually wear an accessory which I could never imagine wearing previously........sunglasses!
And now Corona was in the way of my desires for the last thirty five years being fulfilled. The wait seemed never ending until finally on 29th of April my doctor called me and asked me to come for an examination. I got the prescription, but most of the eyewear shops in the city were shut down due to the lockdown. Finally on the 16th of May I received my eyeglasses that I had ordered online I am proudly wearing them right now while writing this post, and tell you what I can take them off and still manage to read what I have typed Dream come true at last! And after I finish writing this post I am going to take my glasses off and go and make myself some coffee......oh yes and the sunglasses will also be on their way soon.