Part 1: The Wait
I thought I should write something about the LASIK procedure itself, and what happened, while it was still fresh in the memory.
Well, drove myself to InView Tuesday and took the elevator to the third floor. The third floor of the building is completely occupied by inview, split between the surgery suite and the clinic suite. I followed the arrow that said "surgery" and signed myself in. I attempted to pay the fee with my check card, which was rejected. I had the money in my account, but had never attempted a purchase that large, so it was automatically rejected. Rana, the receptionist, directed me toward a phone and told me that happened all the time because it was such a large amount. When I told her it was coming from my checking account, she told me that if I could write a check, I would get a 2% discount. So, I skipped the phone, wrote the check and saved almost $75. Score.
After waiting in the reception area for a few minutes, a nurse called my name and brought me back to recheck my vision. She had me sit in the chair and look through that thing they put in front of your face and changed all the settings, to verify their readings from my appointment in July. She then walked me directly across the hall and sat me in another chair with a microscope and light for the opthamologist.
I waited for about 15 minutes before the doctor came to see me and we again went over my numbers. Dr. Carr was dressed in dark blue screubs with matching hair-thing (no idea what those are called). In his very proper south England accent, he read my numbers - pupil size, astigmatism, corneal thickness and refractive error, which were all the measurements used to determine if you are a good candidate for LASIK. All my numbers were normal, except refractive error, which was higher than norm at -8.00 diopters in the left, and -7.25 in the right, but well within parameters.
One of the reasons I chose InView for my LASIK was that they often deal with really bad eyesight such as mine, and also, because they fix alot of other doctors' mistakes. Most places wont take anyone worse than -4.00 diopters. That's really dependent on the type of laser they use, as some are labelled for specific ranges of corrections. Dr. Carr has personally performed over 6000 LASIK procedures, and I felt pretty comfortable. He had once spoken at my company about LASIK, so I had alot of questions answered at that information session.
As Dr. Carr entered the room, I wiped my hand on my pants before shaking his hand (quite subconsiously). He teased me about it, that sweaty palms were his way of checking nervousness in his patients. After going through all the numbers mentioned above, he explained the procedure to me. It was a very fast and rote explaination, but I got the jist. Then he left and I was alone in the room.
I must have waited 1 1/2 hours before I was called in for surgery. I tried reading a magazine, but couldn't focus. I don't know what took so long, but I had enough time to take a little nap. My one true talent is the ability to sleep anywhere, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what my nerves. So I took about a 1/2 hour nap, then woke up to wait some more. I played with the opthomaligist chair and found three different switches to raise and lower it, played with all the instruments which shine light in your eyes, played with the microscope/light thing, and generally fucked up the whole assembly for the doctor and the next patient who came and sat in that chair.
After waiting for what seemed an eternity, a techician in scrubs came and retrieved me for the operating room.
Well, drove myself to InView Tuesday and took the elevator to the third floor. The third floor of the building is completely occupied by inview, split between the surgery suite and the clinic suite. I followed the arrow that said "surgery" and signed myself in. I attempted to pay the fee with my check card, which was rejected. I had the money in my account, but had never attempted a purchase that large, so it was automatically rejected. Rana, the receptionist, directed me toward a phone and told me that happened all the time because it was such a large amount. When I told her it was coming from my checking account, she told me that if I could write a check, I would get a 2% discount. So, I skipped the phone, wrote the check and saved almost $75. Score.
After waiting in the reception area for a few minutes, a nurse called my name and brought me back to recheck my vision. She had me sit in the chair and look through that thing they put in front of your face and changed all the settings, to verify their readings from my appointment in July. She then walked me directly across the hall and sat me in another chair with a microscope and light for the opthamologist.
I waited for about 15 minutes before the doctor came to see me and we again went over my numbers. Dr. Carr was dressed in dark blue screubs with matching hair-thing (no idea what those are called). In his very proper south England accent, he read my numbers - pupil size, astigmatism, corneal thickness and refractive error, which were all the measurements used to determine if you are a good candidate for LASIK. All my numbers were normal, except refractive error, which was higher than norm at -8.00 diopters in the left, and -7.25 in the right, but well within parameters.
One of the reasons I chose InView for my LASIK was that they often deal with really bad eyesight such as mine, and also, because they fix alot of other doctors' mistakes. Most places wont take anyone worse than -4.00 diopters. That's really dependent on the type of laser they use, as some are labelled for specific ranges of corrections. Dr. Carr has personally performed over 6000 LASIK procedures, and I felt pretty comfortable. He had once spoken at my company about LASIK, so I had alot of questions answered at that information session.
As Dr. Carr entered the room, I wiped my hand on my pants before shaking his hand (quite subconsiously). He teased me about it, that sweaty palms were his way of checking nervousness in his patients. After going through all the numbers mentioned above, he explained the procedure to me. It was a very fast and rote explaination, but I got the jist. Then he left and I was alone in the room.
I must have waited 1 1/2 hours before I was called in for surgery. I tried reading a magazine, but couldn't focus. I don't know what took so long, but I had enough time to take a little nap. My one true talent is the ability to sleep anywhere, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what my nerves. So I took about a 1/2 hour nap, then woke up to wait some more. I played with the opthomaligist chair and found three different switches to raise and lower it, played with all the instruments which shine light in your eyes, played with the microscope/light thing, and generally fucked up the whole assembly for the doctor and the next patient who came and sat in that chair.
After waiting for what seemed an eternity, a techician in scrubs came and retrieved me for the operating room.