Have you had your eyes checked lately?
How is your eyesight?
Do you need glasses to drive at night?
I used to but don’t anymore.
Every two years I drive down to Toronto to have my eyes examined by my optometrist.
I was one of his first patients when he opened his practice in downtown Toronto in 1987 at the age of 25 years of age.
Quite possibly the best decisions I had ever made.
I look forward to my visits to get my eyes examined for several reasons.
The cool machines I look through to check my eyes are fascinating to me.
I especially like the one that blows air in your eyes to check for glaucoma with the little farmhouse in the back room.
Plus I get to chat with my optometrist Jerry who I’ve known for 30 years.
We talk about family and sports for an hour first before he examines my eyesight.
He always asks how my eyesight is doing.
It’s really a rhetorical question because he already knows how my eyesight is before he checks me.
I always ask him how his eyesight is doing.
Not only are we the same age but we also have the exact same vision.
There was a big difference the last time I went to see him from the previous time.
I had trimmed down and made some drastic changes to my life.
He told me that he had good news and bad news about my eyesight.
The good news was that my eyesight had improved.
I laughed and asked “ how is that even possible?”
He explained that pressure exerted on the optical nerves to my eyes had become less because of my weightloss.
And I wouldn’t’ need glasses to drive at night anymore.
I found that difficult to believe after driving with glasses for almost 30 years.
But he was right. I didn’t.
How is the optometrist always right?
Then he gave me the bad news.
I would need glasses to read in the not so distant future.
It was fascinating to learn that losing weight could actually improve my eyesight.
That was something I was not expecting to hear on my visit.
Your eyesight is important.
Having your eyes checked regularly is an important part of health and fitness plan.
I look forward to my next appointment.