Hi, my name is Despina. I am 47-year old mother of two and a qualified optometrist. I was born and raised in London, UK, to Greek-Cypriot parents. I studied Optometry at London’s City University and then worked in my family business, a small chain of opticians in London. I moved to Cyprus 13 years ago with my family, and worked part-time as an optometrist here. Three years ago I decided to take a break from the optics world and am working in the antiques business. However, Jake Steiner has managed to get me interested in optics once more, by tackling the problem of myopia from a whole new angle. A break-through in science, tried and tested by thousands. I have decided to try the program out for myself as I am one of world’s many million myopes, and I will share my experiences with you here on the blog.

  I must say it felt a bit wrong, clicking on the ‘anti-optometrist program’. I’m an optometrist, see. A non-practicing one, but still, an optometrist. Dad’s a retired optometrist and Mum’s a retired contact-lens specialist. So you can appreciate my dilemma. I remember the sadness in their eyes as they prescribed me stronger and stronger glasses and contact-lenses, year after year, from age 8. They hated having to do that, just as I have hated prescribing glasses for my own children and everyone else’s.  This is why I’m glad Jake has stressed that optometrist’s are not the bad guys. We just do what we were trained to do. We know no better, and, thinking back, neither did our university professors, probably. None of them ran a business , so they had no ulterior motives. They were just teaching a profession. Perhaps they should have concentrated more on research, but that’s a different story.

Of course at age 8, I was thrilled to be getting glasses. I got to pick any frame I wanted, and got loads of attention at school. And then contact- lenses at 12, again a star for being the first one to wear them in the class, thanks to my mum. But now, a few decades on, I am no longer thrilled. My glaucoma drops ( oh, the joys of being over 40!) cause dryness with contact-lenses, so I can’t bear them for longer than 10 hours. Having any type of corrective laser eye surgery never even crossed my mind, even before my glaucoma, probably due to a brief stint working in a laser clinic early on in my career. Eye-exercises always seemed as ridiculous to me as eating carrots and taking vitamins to improve eye-sight.

A couple of months ago, though, I came across Jake Steiner and his ‘Back to 20/20’ program. Obviously I was sceptical. But the more I read, that is his website and the articles he based his research on, the more intrigued I became. Everything he says makes perfect sense to me as an optometrist. It just took someone with Jake’s intelligence and determination ( there’s nothing like a thick pair or lenses to get you going) to painstakingly create this program.  So I signed up. Let’s face it, with a -5.50 prescription, I really have nothing to lose. I did the first session yesterday, and, although it’s still very early, I am very excited and positive about the whole thing. The program is fabulously organised and easy to follow, and you get to see Jake in the video! He inspires confidence and calmness, which motivates you to continue with the program.  The forum is a great way to sort out any queries and hear other people’s experiences, and you can even email Jake if you get stuck.  

Today I dug out my Snellen Chart, and groped around the house without a correction on for 20 minutes, as the first session says. So far so good. I’m not expecting miracles overnight, but I can’t wait for the next session, and I will keep you posted.

Written and posted by Despina

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