20/20 vision!!!
I can see! Without help! And it's amazing. I've been wearing glasses since constantly since I was nine, but never actually saw well even before that.
I had the procedure yesterday at about 2.15 and here I am glassesless today. I'll be describing what they did cause ladytalon1 is interested in having it done, so I'm putting it behind a cut.
The assessment was that morning and I had several different tests where they measured my eyes and took pictures of them. The lady who did this gave me a few bad moments when she told me that my corneas were very thin and my prescription very large, the doctor would have to check them before I got the go ahead. Apparently it's more difficult the thinner your corneas are...
Anyway the doctor was very nice and checked everything a million times and said yes he could do it!!! Instead of the regular cutting of the cornea they would use a laser to do the job.
So then I had to make all the payment arrangements *gulp*(since I have no actual money at this time) and got a time to come back that afternoon for the actual procedure. Me and the little guy went for a walk to my favourite bookshop, where of course I bought books, and had lunch etc.
Then we were back at the theatre going through all the preparations. The girl doing that was very good, she explained everything in terms I could understand and arranged for the little guy to watch the television while I was gone.
First I had to put booties over my shoes and a dorky cap on my head. We went through the endless list of my allergies again and decided to paint my face with something other than iodine to keep it sterile. I got a valium to calm me down (my first ever and no reaction *dances*) and drops in my eyes to deaden the pain. They gave me two stress balls to hang on to during the surgery and off I went.
The first part of the procedure was to cut the cornea. They put a plastic ring thingy in my eyes and then fitted the laser on my eye. It sort of felt like it was sucking my eye, but didn't hurt or anything and probably took about 40 seconds on each eye. Then I was moved to the next bed and another different laser. This time they held my eye open with some sort of little retractors and I had to stare at a green dot while they did the laser thing and moved my cornea back. Again it didn't really hurt, though the retractor things were really uncomfortable and the hardest part of all was keeping the rest of my body still and calm.
The second part probably took about 5 - 10 minutes and I was led from there to another room where a technician looked at my eyes to check everything was ok and then put eye shields over my eyes and a pair of dorky sunglasses over that. I got a bag full of different eye drops complete with instructions and they called a taxi for me.
The little guy and I got back to where we're staying and I took the sleeping pill they gave me and fell asleep. He looked after me, till my neice's flatmate got back, got his own dinner and everything and answered the phone etc.
Today I went back for the post-op check and they said my vision was doing well. I've got to keep put various drops in every 2 to 3 hours (Something I'm not good at), but the eyes are feeling pretty good so far. I'm allowed to drive tomorrow, which is good because I promised/bribed the little guy that if he behaved well we'd go to Australia Zoo We're gonna have fun, stopping every two hours to put eye drops in!!
Thanks so much to everyone who commented on my last post. Your supportive comments helped me a lot! :)
Now that my eyes aren't hurting and I can see - I've got to get moving and start writing all my owed fics...
I had the procedure yesterday at about 2.15 and here I am glassesless today. I'll be describing what they did cause ladytalon1 is interested in having it done, so I'm putting it behind a cut.
The assessment was that morning and I had several different tests where they measured my eyes and took pictures of them. The lady who did this gave me a few bad moments when she told me that my corneas were very thin and my prescription very large, the doctor would have to check them before I got the go ahead. Apparently it's more difficult the thinner your corneas are...
Anyway the doctor was very nice and checked everything a million times and said yes he could do it!!! Instead of the regular cutting of the cornea they would use a laser to do the job.
So then I had to make all the payment arrangements *gulp*(since I have no actual money at this time) and got a time to come back that afternoon for the actual procedure. Me and the little guy went for a walk to my favourite bookshop, where of course I bought books, and had lunch etc.
Then we were back at the theatre going through all the preparations. The girl doing that was very good, she explained everything in terms I could understand and arranged for the little guy to watch the television while I was gone.
First I had to put booties over my shoes and a dorky cap on my head. We went through the endless list of my allergies again and decided to paint my face with something other than iodine to keep it sterile. I got a valium to calm me down (my first ever and no reaction *dances*) and drops in my eyes to deaden the pain. They gave me two stress balls to hang on to during the surgery and off I went.
The first part of the procedure was to cut the cornea. They put a plastic ring thingy in my eyes and then fitted the laser on my eye. It sort of felt like it was sucking my eye, but didn't hurt or anything and probably took about 40 seconds on each eye. Then I was moved to the next bed and another different laser. This time they held my eye open with some sort of little retractors and I had to stare at a green dot while they did the laser thing and moved my cornea back. Again it didn't really hurt, though the retractor things were really uncomfortable and the hardest part of all was keeping the rest of my body still and calm.
The second part probably took about 5 - 10 minutes and I was led from there to another room where a technician looked at my eyes to check everything was ok and then put eye shields over my eyes and a pair of dorky sunglasses over that. I got a bag full of different eye drops complete with instructions and they called a taxi for me.
The little guy and I got back to where we're staying and I took the sleeping pill they gave me and fell asleep. He looked after me, till my neice's flatmate got back, got his own dinner and everything and answered the phone etc.
Today I went back for the post-op check and they said my vision was doing well. I've got to keep put various drops in every 2 to 3 hours (Something I'm not good at), but the eyes are feeling pretty good so far. I'm allowed to drive tomorrow, which is good because I promised/bribed the little guy that if he behaved well we'd go to Australia Zoo We're gonna have fun, stopping every two hours to put eye drops in!!
Thanks so much to everyone who commented on my last post. Your supportive comments helped me a lot! :)
Now that my eyes aren't hurting and I can see - I've got to get moving and start writing all my owed fics...