Wednesday, September 28, 2011

This Thing Called Lasik, Part Two

**Part One is here**


So where was I?

Oh, right.

Pressure on my eye.

Burning hair smell.

Focus on the green light.

I remember being led into a room and the doctor making a mark on my left eye. My left eye, you see, has astigmatism so he had to mark it in order to correct it. That was odd because my eyes were numb. I saw him coming at me with the pen and that was it.

And then it came time to lay back. My heart was beating like mad and a woman told me she was going to get Tom.

“Now,” another woman said. She leaned over me and smile. “Just look at the green light no matter what.”

She was blurry. I couldn’t make out her face. I hoped that would be the last time I wouldn’t be able to see someone up close.

Tom was able to watch from the window. I saw his form briefly before they started putting all the equipment above me.

I saw the green light they were talking about and stared hard at it. I didn’t want to think about what was going on with my eyes or else I’d panic.

Yes, they held my eye open but you didn’t really notice it since they kept putting artificial tears in. And plus, you know, it was numb.

Yes, the pressure on the eye felt weird. I could hear a robotic voice in the background counting down.

“Fifteen seconds….”

And then a woman would say, “Almost done…”

“Ten seconds….”

“You’re almost there…”

“Five seconds…”

“And you’re done. Just keep focusing on the green light.”

My vision got weird as the doctor moved stuff around in my eye. The green light darted left and then right. I sort of felt like I was in space. Everything was dark, except for the green light.

Before I knew it, my right eye was done.

Then the same thing happened to my left.

“You are done,” I was told.

I felt odd. My eyes didn’t hurt but the relaxers had kicked in so I felt limp. I felt someone grip my arm and lead me out.

“You did great,” the woman said.

Everything was blurry. I knew that would happen. But things were definitely clearer than before. Plus, I had on the unattractive goggles.

“Are you okay?” Tom asked. I could feel him take a hold of me. I peered up at my husband and mumbled something about fudge. I might have told him I wanted some.

We sat down at a table and I was given instructions on how to use the eye drops. And I was told to sleep propped up for the first 24 hours so my eye flap didn’t go out of place. I know. Ew. I didn’t want to sleep propped up for 24 hours. Oh, and the whole eye flap thing.

Then I had to rest for 10 minutes to make sure my eyes weren’t going to rebel. They didn’t, so then I was able to go home.

Let me tell you, when I got home I was still out of it. I know this because when I was explaining how it went, my Mom asked why I was slurring my words.

“I’mnotslurringmyworrddsss,” I replied indignantly. I sounded normal. But I guess to everyone else I was Mel Gibson. (Only I wasn’t yelling or calling people Sugar Tits.)

“Let’s get you to bed,” Tom said carefully, talking to me like I was a mental patient. He brought out the lawn chair that reclined since we do not have a recliner. He settled me down and I looked up at him. He was still a little blurry.

“DoIlooksillyyyy?” I wanted to know. After all, I was in goggles.

“No,” Tom lied. “Get some rest.”

I shut my eyes and promptly fell asleep.

When I came back down, I could see a little better. Tommy kept flicking me looks and asking if I was okay. It turns out I freaked him out when I slurred my words. I’m not like Lindsay Lohan on a daily basis so he wasn’t used to that. He had asked my Mom if I was going to normal the next day.

The good news is, I can see better each day. The bad news is, yes, it still gets blurry on and off and I sometimes have to wear my sunglasses indoors. My eyes are sensitive to light. Now I know how a vampire feels. I stepped out and crossed my fingers while shouting, “Ahhhh! It burns!” (I think I embarrassed my kids when I did that.)

My eyes also get dry to the point where I want to ask other people around me, “Do you feel like clawing your eyes out right now? No? Oh, that’s just me. Better use some eye drops..”

Yup. I’ve become an eye drop expert. I still hate the things, but they help my eyes out so I deal.

Bottom line? I recommend Lasik. Yeah, it’s expensive. But it’s worth it. If you do it, let me know and we can compare stories!

(Seriously, the worst part was no computer for 24 hours. Is that sad?)

(And I guess the burning hair smell was gross, too.)

(Oh, and I didn’t get fudge, but Tom went out and got me a cake:




I swear I took a picture of it complete, but my eyes were weird and I didn’t push the take picture button. Oops. And yes, he’s aware he spelled congrats wrong.)

37 comments:

  1. So glad you came through the process unscathed. I went to the ClearSight website and requested an information packet...you know, just to have on hand. Seems I'm eligible to get the procedure too but I can't afford it as of yet.

    One day though.....one day.

    Congrats on your being able to see!!!!

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  2. YAY! So glad it all went great. AND you got CAKE! lucky girl!

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  3. Mmmmm Cake! That hubby of yours is a keeper.

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  4. That Tom, such a sweetheart.

    Glad to hear that you can see. :)

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  5. Overall it sounds like everything went well! So happy for you! And cake at the end was worth all the drops, right?

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  6. Congats to you!!! Love the cake - what a great hubby!! I so remember that burnt hair smell too - although I think I was a little more alert during my procedure. I think my tiny little pill didn't work as well as yours!!

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  7. You need to send that cake picture to http://www.cakewrecks.com/!! Have you seen that site? I can't read it at work because I can't help but laugh out loud and they frown on that here. (Nazi's!)

    Congats on being able to see again!!!

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  8. I'm glad you can see! I remember crying a little bit after my eye surgery (PRK, not Lasik) when I looked across the room and saw my daughter. I was so scared I would be blind and never see her again.

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  9. I'm happy to hear it went well but I'm still scared to do it myself. I'm such a chicken.

    Congats, you can see that Tom can't spell congrats! I think that was my favorite part of the story.

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  10. Yay! I'm glad everything went well and you got cake too! Any day with cake is a great day!

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  11. What a good husband that Tom is even if the r was missing!

    This story sounds a lot like me all messed up on pills on root canal day.

    And I think I'll stick to my contacts for now.

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  12. I had Lasik surgery in January 2000, and I still have 20/20 vision. It was so worth it for me - I had significant myopia for much of my life. I hope you have the same kind of results!

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  13. Glad the worse is over and each day gets clearer.

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  14. You survived! My husband got to watch me get mine done too and he thought it was so gross lol. Lucky him, with his perfect eyes. I hope our kids get his vision!

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  15. Yay! congats!!! I am so glad everything worked out well. It's got to be scary to go through it, but well worth it from what I hear.

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  16. thanks for stopping by.....

    love that you can see again.. the cake was like that to make sure you could really see..go Tom...

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  17. Glad you made it through with flying colors! That cake is cute...and so is your husband!

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  18. :) Awe! That's sweet that he made you a cake! (or at least wrote on it?)
    I'm very glad you can see.. even though you had to sleep sitting up for 24 hours... for the sake of you eye flap!! :)

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  19. The cake is so sweet! And well deserved, with the lasers and eye flap and all!

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  20. I don't know - I'm tempted, but the idea of that laser just coming at my eye freaks me out so much!

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  21. oof!
    i'm stuck that he went out and got you a cake.. how sweet!!

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  22. You can see better AND YOU GOT CAKE! So glad it all went well for you!!

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  23. Amber,
    I just wanted to thank you for leaving a comment on my blog. For a new blogger, it meant a lot to me. You are one of the best bloggers around, and I absolutely love reading all your posts.

    - M

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  24. EYE FLAP! Eww that sounds so gross! Was there a chance that when you close your eye your eye flap would move?

    You are brave! I've never had a big issue with my vision, but I don't know if I could do lasik if I did. Good for you!

    And I agree, you should send that picture of the cake into cakewrecks.com!

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  25. I'm still too scared, but I have to admit that your play by play was fascinating!

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  26. So glad all went well and it was topped off by a beautiful cake.

    You can see....woohoo!!! Plus ya got a great guy there.

    Have a blessed day sweetie! :o)

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  27. Congrats!! I hope the side effects go away soon. Sounds awesome, I want to get it myself now.

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  28. YAY.....Glad to hear you got thru it and are doing WELL!
    Hope your eyes don't stay so dry and the blurry goes away!
    My hubby had it and has been extremely happy with it!

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  29. The cake is awesome!

    I'm so happy for you (and jealous!) I want Lasik so badly. It all kind of freaks me out, though. But you seem to have made it through ok, so that gives me hope.

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  30. I'm glad to hear it really wasn't that bad. I SO want this done.

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  31. You're a great writer! So glad to hear your experience wasn't too bad! At least you can see now!! :)

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  32. I so want to get Lasik, but the expense is just too prohibitive right now. Thanks for sharing your story!

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  33. Well....I'm stickin' with my contacts! I'm too chicken!!!!

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  34. I'm so jealous- I'm dying to get eye surgery! I hope it is as good as everyone says it is...being able to see definitely deserves a cake!

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  35. I had lasik 10 years ago (can't believe that it was that long ago) and I loved it then and still do now. One of the best decisions I've ever made.

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  36. Your story helped me clear things a lot. Tomorrow I am doing Lasik Surgery. I hope even after all this time you are happy with the results!

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