Well, I went ahead and did it. On June 6th, 2001, I had LASIK eye surgery on both eyes to correct a severe miopia and astigmatism vision problem I have had since very young. Up until last week, I would wake up every morning and "feel" around with my fingers on top of my night table, trying to find out where my thick eyeglasses were located, so I could grab them, put them on, and go to the bathroom and get my contact lenses inserted for the day.

After a 20 minute operation, with no pain or discomfort at all, and with Daisy watching on close-circuit TV in the next room, Dr. Fishman restored me to excellent eyesight without glasses, using an almost magical new procedure called LASIK. This procedure did not exist several years ago.

Daisy drove me home after the surgery. I had some lunch, and went to sleep, taking advantage of the medication I had taken to relax. When I woke up four hours later, I could not only see where the TV set was in the bedroom, but I could actually SEE television without glasses. Still, no pain, without pain-killers, no discomfort at all!

It's been now a week and a half, and I am still feeling like this is a dream. I forget and go to the bathroom at night to take my contact lenses off, a force of habit of many, many years. I can drive without glasses and can't get over how great it is not to have to depend on glasses or lenses to see.

Dr. Marvin Fishman, of Los Gatos, California, had a lot to do with the success of the operation and the confidence I had when I decided to have the procedure done. He and I met several times during his careful examinations, and he patiently listened to all of my questions. He gave me straight, no-nonsense answers, which, when taken together with the couple of books I had read on the subject, assured me that LASIK was for me.

Below are pictures of Dr. Fishman and myself the day before the surgery, a picture of me talking with my daughter Ani just after I arrived home after the surgery (wearing the protective eye covers I had to put on for sleeping during the first week, to prevent me from accidentally scratching my eyes while sleeping. I also have pictures of the covers of the two books I read before I decided to go ahead with LASIK. I found them to be invaluable in giving me a broad perspective of the benefits and risks.

I can't wait to SEE you all again!

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