A New Vision

Buster and I had a great walk today, almost 1-1/2 hours. It rained a bit while we walked, but I enjoyed every minute. Most people might think that a walk in the rain is nothing special; but for me it was a miracle.

Washington State is a beautiful place, but there’s a reason they call it “the Evergreen State.” The official story of why it's called that is because of the abundance of evergreens here. But, ya know, I think it's because it's always green. And why is it green? Because it rains. Yes, it does rain. It rains a lot, especially in the winter.

If you want to exercise in the Pacific Northwest, you either do something inside, or you brave the elements. I’m okay with walking on the treadmill or using some other type of equipment like the elliptical trainer on occasion; but to be honest, I’d much rather walk outside even if it’s raining, as long as it’s not a downpour.

The sad thing is, I had stopped getting much enjoyment from walking in the rain because of a silly reason. I couldn’t see very well any more.

I had perfect eyesight until I was about 40, then it was as if a light switch flipped, and my vision started to deteriorate. I wore glasses for reading, or sometimes I wore contacts. As the years went by, my prescription got stronger; I also developed “dry eye syndrome” which meant that wearing contact lenses became almost unbearable after a short time. So I stopped wearing contacts and started wearing glasses all the time.

By the time I hit my early 50’s my vision was so bad that I'd put my glasses on first thing in the morning and take them off the last thing at night. I couldn’t read anything unless I was wearing my glasses. I couldn’t drive without them. I couldn't even do the laundry or dishes without them. I once almost ate a dead spider because I thought it was a blueberry until I started chewing it...YUCK! I started feeling unsafe without my glasses, especially while I was walking outside. I never knew if I was going to step into a hole, or trip over something. I started to worry about getting hit by a car, or mugged because I couldn’t see if someone was following me. So I had to wear them when I walked outside.

That was fine, as long as the weather was good and not too hot. If it was too hot, the glasses would constantly slide down my nose when I'd sweat. If the weather was rainy, my glasses would get covered with raindrops, and I might as well not wear them for all the good they would do me. Wearing glasses was really putting a damper on my fitness efforts.

I talked to my doctor for the last 4 years about getting laser surgery. My eye problem was astigmatism, in my case it was simply the result of getting older. He did not encourage my getting the surgery, because of the possibility of complications, especially for someone with dry eyes. Plus when I first discussed it with him, laser surgery for the type of correction I needed was not very common.

Each year, I’d bug him about it, but each year, he’d discourage me. I had resigned myself to wearing glasses forever. As the years went by, however, I kept researching. It appeared that the procedures were improving, and doctors were getting more experience with the vision correction called “monovision.” As weird as it sounds, monovision means you have one eye that sees up close and the other sees far away. For most people, the brain will adjust after a short time, and you won't perceive anything strange. My eye doctor started to realize that I wasn't going to forget the idea, so he finally sent me to an eye surgeon for a consultation.

I’m happy to report that I had the surgery 2-1/2 months ago, and without question it has been the best thing I've ever done for myself. I didn’t have any of the bad side effects that could have occurred. I don't need glasses to read even the finest print. My vision is so good now, my husband says I have "magic eyes." When we went on vacation to Hawaii in November, I got to buy some cute, cheap, non-prescription sunglasses. But you want to know what the absolute best thing is about not wearing glasses? Walking my dog in the rain.