the eyes and ears

So I drive down for what I believe is my last appointment for my eyes in San Jose. It's been months since my last checkup and my eyes feel like it's always been without glasses, though I know it's been the other way around.

It's incredible to think that sight is such a gift that we all take so much for granted. As a photographer, I see things in a different light and if I were to ever lose my vision, I'd be more than up a creek!!

In the months it's been since I've had my "new" eyes, I've been blinded while shooting the sunsets, I've been jabbed in the eyes plus I've poked myself in the eyes several times and also jabbed my eyes with my camera straps. It wasn't easy to do and to do it several times wasn't easy ~ actually very painful! I've seen a lot and even as I write this, my vision improve each and every day and I can SEE the differences.....

When I make the hour drive from SF to San Jose for these eye appointments I try to make it a day-trip to shoot things and places; this won't be any exception..... will post results of the appointment plus any fotos later....

The other day attended for the first time the Stupid Parade which started near the Ferry Building. It's my first time as I've been away from the City for so many years. So many events, so much uniqueness and so little time. sigh..... I had the chance to meet with a fellow-blogger and flickrite who is from the Costa del Sol, plus yesterday I met with a fellow Yelper and flickrite bubbletea1 who BARTed over from Fremont and we met at the Museum of Craft + Design, then walked over to Polk Street and Washington to see a Yelp-friendly art gallery. I got back to my car parked near the museum just in time before it was towed!!

UPDATE: Well, it was harrowing drive to San Jose - leaving at a later hour but stopping at the Daly City cemetery to see family, I lost track of where all of my family were as they had cut the grass and one tomb marker was completely covered by the grass!! It took me a few minutes to find it - I haven't been there often as I lived out of the country for decades - and now have the location etched permanently into my brain! It's disgusting to see that so many tombs have no flowers which means that they are forgotten... so sad. Will I too be forgotten and just a piece of blowing grass or trash when I am gone?

Because of that search and the outbound traffic, I had only 20mins to drive from Daly City to San Jose!! I couldn't believe it but I arrived and walked in on time! Usually I select an appointment time much earlier but as it was my last I decided on a later hour - big mistake! So my eyes are improving as can be expected. I should be using eye drops but I haven't - too busy - but I do try to remember to use the drops at night to see better. Within a half hour, I was out of there and enroute other locations. The day ended with a grand sunset from Immigrant Point at the Presidio....

Did you see it?

On a more somber note, while I was eating at a downtown restaurant the other day, I sat at a booth with a few people behind me. Of course, it's the typical situation where I could everything said.... and at one point, these tourists I overheard "have you seen all of the homeless on the streets here?" then laughed loudly. It bothered me... and for the next few minutes words floated and bounced through my head. I determined that when I left, I would turn to them and tell them that homelessness is a WORLD problem and it could be them next week or month, and would people point at you and laugh? I tossed the words inside my head, but when I left, I didn't turn to them, nor did I say a word....

I knew they would not care, I knew they would not understand, and I knew I would be looked upon as the stupid one to bring up my thoughts that interfere with their private conversations.....

sigh....

more eye drops and that new vision

It's been some days since I've commented on my eyes... it's progressing well but I still have the sensation that it's almost like wearing my glasses (where are those?) but without the glasses. Right off I had been instructed to buy some lubricant eye drops which I did and have been using them, though I was "forced" to slack off during Fleet Week where my eyes were subject to blowing wind, debris, hot bright sun, etc. You can imagine the rest.... a total of five and more hours without eye drops, and me blinking like a madman all day!!

Just recently and through a friend of my sister who sponsored me financially for this corrective eye surgery, I was introduced to a different type of eye drops which still complied with the eye doctor's requirement of being "preservative-free"; I've been trying these newer drops for a few days and the difference is amazing! With the other type I had purchased, my eyes would dry up almost immediately and I couldn't see anything... okay ~ I can see but it's like staring through very really dirty smudged glasses. With these, I can see clearly almost immediately and up to farther distances!!

WoW!!

I also guess I haven't been thinking of my eyes because I adapted so well to my new vision... I still think of my glasses now and then, but I have adjusted quite easily - too easily I think - to my new life without the need to wear glasses. I still have them though they are useless now, and were just recently purchased at a cost of a few hundred dollars.

I've been thinking of buying sunglasses for some time to keep the wind and dirt out of my eyes. I have looked at quite a few types, but haven't plunked down the money because I had this done to have vision without glasses; if I buy sunglasses then I'll be wearing glasses again and it really doesn't make much sense!

Saturday 18 Oct: Went out and finally got some sunglasses. I just cannot tolerate any more wind blowing dirt into my fragile eyes! While at the mall shopping for these glasses, I bumped into my sister's friend who just coincidentally had purchased a box of eye drops, minutes prior with her own money ~ for me!!!! Wow! Talk about a small world!!

If you're going through this same process as I am, just email me and I'll give you the brand names, etc. My next follow-up in San Jose is in two weeks.....

Monday 20 Oct: I have experienced the halo effect that many have spoken and written about. I believe this is a result of the burring of the cornea surface just before the first cut is made; it's an undesirable end result but when one thinks of the cause, then it's not easily preventable. I've discovered that the more moistened the eyes are, the less the halo effect noted. Of course, this mostly occurs at night and when looking toward bright objects, such as headlamps of cars, street lamps, etc. I don't see it as a problem and while it's slightly annoying to this patient I see it as a very tiny trade-off for the benefit and advantage of not requiring glasses.

Walking with a new vision...

....can reveal so much. Glasses slipped down on my nose for nearly four decades and from my very first to the very last pair of glasses owned, they have always been progressive, meaning the glass will turn dark when I am outside, and when I enter a dark interior the glass turns clear automatically. I couldn't understand why people would have a clear set and a dark set, switching from one to another when in- or outdoors. Why trouble yourself when you have have one set capable of both uses?

With camera in hand, I stepped outside today for the first time in my adult life without glasses upon the bridge of my nose, and was promptly blinded by the brightness of it all. How can people tolerate this on a daily basis? WoW! I now understand the following:
1. Having glasses serves several purposes:
a: Protective
b: Sunglasses
c: Something to do with your fingers on a hot day



Whatever will I do now with my bored fingers on a hot simmering day and there aren't any glasses to push back up? Oh, the misery!

I spent some time at the Marina where there was a festival of family kite-flying, and enjoyed the bright colored-kites but didn't appreciate the strong breeze blowing through the Golden Gate. Another use of those old glasses: a wind-block! Now I have to tolerate air blowing directly into my eyes, and it wasn't pleasant!

During this time of discovery, I stopped here and there to snap a few pictures... adjusting the camera viewfinder diopter now, a few minutes later, and again... and again. I found sometimes my left eye would see sharply, then not. Another time not, then later yes; sharply. It's a progression and I am happy I use auto-focus!

But it was something new.... though many take it very for granted to be able to walk outside with or without glasses, this is the first time since my teen-years that I've stepped outdoors without anything sliding down my nose. It's amazing the things we grow accustomed to, and how we tolerate it and even make it a necessary evil and a routine... a habit of our individual lives.

I am glad I am able to put aside finally one small but important detail of my life, and though I haven't yet purchased those reading glasses, I still am very grateful for the vision I have, and now enjoy the liberty of a vision free of other items... hanging around my neck, hanging off my nose, or something I need to remember to take with me in order to see.

It's a great sensation and very liberating!

Fourth day after eye surgery

Well, yesterday ~ not feeling safe enough to drive alone in my car ~ I rode as a passenger in a car. It's strange when you are always driving in your own vehicle, to be sitting elsewhere in a vehicle. It's a strange sensation and while it's nice to see everything pass by and to enjoy the sights, it's still an odd state of being. In this case, it was even more special as my new eyes were being tested minute-by-minute, it seems. The previous day I couldn't focus on anything with my left eye and on this day I would take turns closing my right, then my left eye and each eye could focus.... I could actually see things with my left eye at mid-day and by day's end, it was amazing to see that it was seeing very well too. I know this is a slow process where each day will be a pleasant (I hope) surprise and have I said I love these types of surprises?

It's now Sunday and the fourth day after my surgery and my eyes are even better than yesterday. I think yesterday I pushed my vision a bit too much because by time I slept at past 11pm, my eyes were as bad as if I needed glasses again, and neither could focus on anything.

Now it's again a beautiful gray San Franciscan morning and my eyes are doing well. I'm still taking the eye drops and medicine as prescribed, and am confident my eyes will be a grand performance I will rejoice in during the coming days and weeks. The hint of the end results I am "seeing" and experiencing now, and I am more than happy at this progressing outcome. That it's a slow process only pleases me more as I would have died of shock with one day being blinder than a swinging bat and the next day seeing everything in its sharp wonderful beauty!

Thanks again to everyone for your support and emails; I did stay off the computer for almost two days after the surgery as I couldn't read and didn't feel like typing, but those days are over and long gone.

I cannot wait to use the camera again and start seeing with my eyes alone, and not having to clean my glasses after a few minutes!

Is it real or virtual (Eyes)

Well, it's done. I was there at 12,45pm in San Jose to get my eyes done. It consisted of more waiting than the actual operation required. My brother drove me to the center, killed time and came back to pick me up at 2pm. Starting out, I had to watch a DVD explaining the whole procedure, plus definitions of the various type of surgery of the eye. It also explained the risks of having such types of corrective vision procedures and how it might not work, and even in the most rarest cases, destroy your existing vision. I decided to go ahead and do it.

After some waiting, I was finally explained some procedures, and started waiting in a separate waiting room which quickly filled up. The came my turn.... I was first asked to take a small Valium pill and allow it to dissolve in my mouth under the tongue. I never realized how difficult it is to put anything, let alone a small pill, under the tongue! Then came some preparatory eye drops to numb the eye and others. After a few more minutes, I was escorted to a large FREEZING dark room where the procedure would be conducted. More eye drops then lie down. One eye covered while the right eye was prepped: marking of certain points of the eyes then laying down and being subject to a red and green light into the eyes. I guess that was the method in which my eye was to be reshaped, then the eye was rubbed then a slight sensation of scrapping. Not a bit of pain was felt throughout this whole procedure! Once that was completed, as the red light shined into the eye, I could smell the slight odor of burning flesh.... it didn't bother me; I have smelled worst in my life. Another slight movement on the eye surface and that was it. The application of a clear contact lens to protect the surgery then the same procedure was done on the other eye, with the doctor holding my head tightly.

I think the whole procedure took less than five minutes!

I walked out without assistance though was told many were a bit floozy after the procedure. I collected my things then went to meet with my brother who was kind enough to act as my taxi this day.

Enroute SF, bright scenes began to annoy my eyes, though shaded areas gave me relief. I just closed my eyes and kept blinking... Still a few hours later there is NO pain and I can see, though the general sensation is bothersome but not painful, and my vision is like I am wearing glasses that are very oily and smeared. I was surprised right off that I could make out words and freeway signs at several feet away that I wouldn't be able to see in other circumstances, and without glasses.

He had to pick up a computer at a MAC store, and after we arrived, I actually got on a few terminals and left my site of imagery on the screens. I had no problem then seeing the keyboards, the screen or anything. The only thing that bothered me was bright sunlight or points of reflecting light.

My first follow-up is on Friday, then the following Monday and I expect to be driving down to San Jose myself.

I'm happy with the results!!!!

DISCLAIMER: ANY TYPOS ARE DUE TO MY "POOR" VISION ONLY THREE AND A HALF HOUR AFTER THE SURGERY!

Note: I just looked through the viewfinder of my camera and can see adequately well!!! :-)