A whole New World. That is the way I describe the experience of having my eyesight without any need for correction. At first I was highly skeptical. My mother was actually the biggest proponent of corrective eye surgery. Perhaps she felt like it was her fault that my eyes didn’t get the stronger gene pool. She convinced me to see I if I was a candidate for-the surgery.

As you know, I was minus 10 in one eye and minus 11 in the other. My optician told me that I probably would not be able to receive corrective surgery in the United States, at my level. Usually eye doctors of any kind would say, "wow, you’re in the high prescription club", or something to that effect. I couldn’t see the woman next to me in bed without corrective lenses. I wore contacts for 26 years and glasses for longer. Given that I’m only 36 years old, my eyes were bad from the beginning. I was known as the "the little professor" as a child because of the horn-rimmed glasses that became my signature style by default. The usual "coke bottle" comments were also prevalent.

Contacts worked for me in respect to the ability to correct, however, they were cumbersome. Every morning and every evening they had to go in and out. The solutions, the cleaning, the changing prescriptions, and glasses on top of it all. The disposable variation didn’t work well for my correction. The soft lenses did correct the vision but the hassles were unbelievable. I travel frequently and each time I would have to fly, out go the contacts because of the dry air in planes. I f I forgot to remove them, I would usually risk scratching my cornea. The same risk applied to watching TV in the evening when I was a bit tired out. Scratching happened on more than a few occasions. I never could find a contact that was comfortable for sleeping or extended wear.

Last week, I went on the first camping trip to Yosemite since I was a young child. To experience the grandeur of "El Capitan" from the meadow below was truly unbelievable. Without vision correction was beyond belief. I was with several family members and they were amazed that with my naked eyes (after LASIK) I could see climbers at a 3000-foot elevation--from the

ground! They couldn’t see as well as I could. Also, the entire experience of seeing waterfalls and nature with my "natural eyes" for the first time had a special significance to me.

I am truly grateful to you and the fellow doctors and researchers that developed the laser surgery technology. It has improved my quality of life in countless ways. I now sleep safely knowing that when the next earthquake hits, I won’t need to fumble for my glasses to escape disaster. I know that I will be able to see when I awake in the morning. I know that I am just as good as everyone else. I have more self-confidence than ever before. I have my eyesight and I am enlightened.

Thank you for the operation and the opportunity.

Most sincerely,

Rob Tonkin