I now can do something I haven’t been able to do since I was seven years old–see without wearing prescription glasses (or contact lenses). I took the plunge. After many years of contemplating it (and, let’s face it, not being able to afford it, especially while I was a newspaper reporter), I finally got LASIK surgery.

This had nothing to do with vanity. Sure, as a high schooler and college student, and when glasses were far less attractive, I wore my contacts for hours and hours each day. I NEVER went out with my glasses. If my contacts tore, I’d stay in.

But nowadays, glasses frames are stylish, and I’m older and wiser. I like how I look with my ‘four eyes’ on! But as far as action sports, or swimming, I’ve always felt left behind. At the gym, the glasses-sliding-off-my-face thing was getting old.

So I did it. I went to Gotham LASIK Vision in midtown Manhattan, and I highly recommend them.

I literally walked by the place dozens of times (I work nearby) and one day popped in for a brochure and eventually made an appointment for a free consultation. That’s what sold me. Gotham LASIK’s doctor, Brian Bonnani, has been performing refractive eye surgeries for more than 15 years. He answered all my questions (and I had plenty), carefully explaining how nearsightedness occurs and how this laser surgery would correct it.

Because he uses the Allegretto Excimer Wave Laser, he told me the chances of losing my night vision or having a ‘halo’ side effect, were virtually nil. So I did it.

It’s been less than a week and, thus far, I have a very slight blur when I try to read small print right up to my nose. (You know, the way I had to hold a book without my glasses before my surgery.) He tells me that will go away. Though I won’t need to hold print that close to read, (I can read like a normal person now!) it will be important for other tasks (threading a needle, for instance! lol)

I am still inserting antibiotic and anti-inflammatory eyedrops four times per day. I’m also using lubricant eyedrops to ward off dry eyes. I haven’t experienced dry eyes, but it’s interesting to note I experience tired eyes.

It’s almost as if being very nearsighted awarded me a “break” from seeing. At the gym, for instance, I’d take off my glasses and “work out” blindly. Or remove my glasses while commuting and “tune out” the world. Now, I’m always “on,” and it’s tiring. I wonder if this is psychological. (Probably!)

In any event, I’ve only tried “reaching” for my glasses once (at night, right before bed, as if I were going to take them off), and I can’t shake the feeling that I’m missing a step– that I need to remove my contacts at the end of a long day.

So, verdict: despite the occasional feeling of tired eyes, I’m happy to have 20/15 vision. Can’t wait to go to the beach this summer, where I’ll be able to see the sea when swimming!