Imagine being at the bottom of the North Sea, looking up through an oil slick during a heavy windstorm and you will have a picture of what it is like looking through my eyes.
I am a realtor and experience delayed reactions to street signs, house numbers, and faces of people I know. I have been told that I roll my eyes frequently (trying to clear the fog) and this has made some potential clients think I have a nervous tick. I don’t know whether to tell them the truth and thus terrify them or let them believe I have a “condition.”
And it is embarrassing and disconcerting to have to pause in the middle of writing a contract to “wait ‘til the fog breaks!”
Iris M.
May 16, 1994
Preoperative letter
————————–
We have now completed Phase III of having removed the floaters from my left eye and I am now finished, (I believe), with the post-surgical care and drops for both eyes.
After surgery on my second eye, I stayed at my daughter’s home for a few days and then decided to drive home. It was like being in a widescreen, 3D movie! I could read (and did) every stupid billboard and road sign and did NOT have to slow down, (or stop) to do it! It was wonderful!
A month later, we spent a week in the hills and woods of Tennessee. I found a small rock with a face on it. It was lying on the ground in dried leaves, and I saw it! It hangs on my wall as a reminder.
There are now no negatives! I simply can see and rarely use glasses. Previously, I had to use sun-sensor darkening lens – very heavy – very expensive! I went to Walmart and bought seven pairs of sunglasses ranging from $1.89 to $2.98 – cheap, cheap, cheap! They’re wild, even garish colors and I love it! Thank you!
The first time I saw all the stars in our “polluted” sky, I wept with joy! Thank you!
Before you began to help me, I had been considering disability retirement because of my inability to focus and see. Like too many people with my problem, I would have spent the remainder of my life growing increasingly dependent on others to drive for me, to shop for me, to see my way home for me. I would have been unable to continue my profession as a realtor, as I was already unable to read street signs, addresses and directions.
The number of people who suffer from “floaters” are amazing and they believe that there isn’t much hope or relief, or they have heard discouraging stories and often have been led to believe (from other doctors) that surgery is not very successful and not worth the risk. This is tragic! I was told that myself a year earlier. I have since become one of these people who tell others about “my operations” and the name of my doctor. I have observed that, rather than being bored, they are keenly interested and genuinely excited about my results because they either have these problems or know someone who does.
Clear vision has opened a new life for me. I have a productive future. I am able to give and to do instead of a future of being given to and being “done for.” I now see better than I did as a young girl. It is incredible! I pray I never take the joy and wonder of sight for granted or neglect to tell others of this help. Thank you!
Iris M.
January 16, 1995
Postoperative letter OU