I’ve been relying on reading glasses to see things up close, and I’ve developed a bit of an astigmatism. Neither bothers me that much on land, but in blue water sailing, you want to be ready to handle any emergency…and not have to grab your glasses first.
The solution seemed to be monovision (where one eye sees at a distance and the other up close and your brain calibrates and handles that), and having my vision permanently made to work that way via a LASIK procedure.
Fortunately, I knew the best doctor for that, Dr. Eric Linebarger, who studied at the Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis where I used to live. Dr. Linebarger operates in San Diego now, so that is where I had the procedure done. He’s a terrific doctor and did a great job. Now I can see perfectly both up close and at long distances, without having to rely on glasses or contacts.
This video is a little narly to watch since it shows the doctor cutting and peeling back my cornea, but know it didn’t hurt in the least and had a tremendous result.