optical ordeal
Last Thursday, I underwent PRK surgery on both eyes after nine years of contact lenses. I had initially planned for Lasik, but my thinner-than-average corneas made PRK the better option.
Unlike Lasik’s flap-cutting approach, PRK requires brushing off the eyes’ surface before the laser can do its work.
I won’t describe the ordeal in graphic detail, but that brush, those shiny blades scraping my taped-open eyeballs (while I watched in excruciating detail, unable to blink), and the smell of my eyes burning under that blinding laser… it was one of the more unpleasant 15 minutes of my life.
And that was only the beginning.
Oak pollen here in central Texas came at just the wrong time, infiltrated between the bandage contact lenses and created excruciating pain while that outer layer had to regrow. I’m not sure I would’ve had the guts to go through with this had I known how bad it would be. It’s now been three days and three nights, and I am finally starting to feel normal again, though my vision is still blurry.
Later today (Monday), they’ll remove the contacts, and hopefully, I’ll have 20/20 vision.
an idea to take seriously
I have so much to be thankful for. The ability to see in the first place. A comfortable home and an amazing wife. Two charming boys to make me smile (Lucas faithfully prayed “Jesus, help Dada’s eyes get better and make the owee go bye bye” every single day), and so much more. Even a small period of discomfort like this one is a wonderful reminder of how much we can take for granted.
Some time Friday afternoon, I could no longer bear to look at even a fully dimmed screen, so I put my phone away. I did not pick it back up for two full days. I can’t remember ever going without my phone for even 12 hours since getting one nine years ago, around the same time I got contacts.
I was in a lot of pain during this time, but there was an unexpected peace that came from not worrying about my phone or what else was going on in the world. I knew that if someone really needed to reach me, they could get though to Helen.
And no, the world did not burn down. It probably did help that all of this happened over a weekend, but it is so freeing to realize just how “OK” everything was without me.
I crave more of this disconnection but wonder if I have the willpower without another “forcing function” like surgery. We shall see.
Got me thinking, what if more hospitality experiences made digital disconnection mandatory? My friend Eric is building Freewyld and incorporating an element of this. Who else has done this or is doing this?
I’m still recovering my vision—but in other ways, I see more clearly than I have in a long time. And I’m thankful.
