Over the last year, I’ve gotten pink eye two or three times in my right eye. My most recent infection is still lingering, albeit mildly. I think I reinfected my eye by not washing out my contact case. (not one of my brighter moments, but I thought the contact solution would sanitize it)

Pink eye is annoying for anyone, but it’s extra annoying for me. While my left eye is perfect, my right eye (the sick one) is badly nearsighted, so I wear one contact. When you have pink eye, they recommend not wearing contacts. I suppose the microorganisms could linger on the lens and keep the infection alive or something. Normal contact wearers simply switch to glasses when they have pink eye. However, when I first got my contact, my eye doctor said glasses weren’t a good idea because they would screw up my depth perception. So I have no glasses and no contact until the infection is gone. I suppose I’ll declare the end of my pink eye sometime later this week.

Until then, I’m running around with one good eye and one really blurry, naked one. My brain gets a bit confused trying to reconcile the two images, but I actually works fairly well. My left eye is dominant anyway, so I guess my brain just tunes out the blurry image. It’s a bit odd when I can only see an object with my bad eye, such as in a mirror or around a corner. For a good time, many of you can simulate this by running around with one contact or by looking through only one lens of your glasses. Although I haven’t had many problems with my contact, it does feel dry or get lost in my eye on occasion.

My recurrent pink eye got me thinking, though. Apparently wearing contacts boosts your risk for pink eye, as does having small children. I’d prefer to keep my children, but I don’t have to use the contacts, certainly not every day. And I don’t have to be half-blind if I get pink eye again. I have three options:

1. Get a monocle. Would I look good in a monocle? I think I’d look mysterious. And wise. And a lot older. Maybe I’d grown a beard and dye it gray. “The most important men in town would come to fawn on me. They would ask me to advise them like Solomon the wise. ‘If you please, Reb Tevye… Pardon me, Reb Tevye…’”
2. Get glasses. My original doctor said no glasses. My current doctor never said that. Perhaps he might have a different opinion. If not, I’m sure there’s some optometrist somewhere who would hook me up.
3. Get LASIK. Jenny had LASIK over a decade ago and was very pleased. So have millions of other people. It’s expensive, but I would only need one eye instead of two. Even if the surgery went badly, I’d still have my good eye as a backup. Part of me wonders whether it’s a frivolous expense. It’s certainly not necessary, but it would save me from having to buy contacts for the rest of my life.

Have any of you tried LASIK? If so, do you have any thoughts or advice to share?