Lasik surgery
So I haven't been on LJ in ages... although I think I lied in that last comment, I may have actually posted in the last year. But my paid account did expire.
Anyway. I started a facebook account. So much better than Myspace. I HAET Myspace.
I'm posting because I wanted to write about my Lasik eye surgery that I had last Friday. I figure maybe someday I'll want to come back and read about this. It's possible.
First, The Preparation.
I was so nervous that I was feeling kinda nauseous and starting to hyperventilate on the morning of and on the ride over to the place. Hunter kindly took the day off work to drive me around and be there with me. Luckily I didn't throw up or pass out. I made it through all the paperwork signing and then they finally gave me some valium. It was a little blue pill, I think 10mg. you just put it under your tongue and let it dissolve. It doesn't taste good, but I didn't really taste it much since it was under my tongue. But, I'll tell you what. That stuff works. I was calm and relaxed the rest of the time I was there, which was actually quite a while when you consider that the surgery itself takes less than 15 minutes. I got there at 11:00am, and the I think I was home around 3:oopm. Anyway, most of the time was spent waiting for the doctor. They gave me blue bootie things to go over my shoes and one to go over my hair, another 5mgs of valium for good measure and that was it. It was finally my turn for the surgery.
Next, The Procedure.
So they took me in to a big, echo-y room, kinda dimly lit with some fan noise and equipment, I didn't get too much of a chance to look around. They had me lie down on what looked to be a chair that was laid all the way out so that it was flat like a table. I was given drops that completely numbed my eyeballs. They squished a styrofoamy beanbag pillow around my head to keep me still. I closed my eyes, they put a pad over my right eye and taped it down, and taped my left eye open. They pulled a blurry thing over my face and told me to stare straight ahead... it was just a green/yellow neon glowing circle, black in the center except for a softly flashing orange/red light inside a lighter area in the very middle. It was kinda space-age. The doctor then had to put a ring thing on the surface of my left eye to keep my eye wide and align the machine or something. my vision faded completely out for a couple seconds (like when you stand up too fast) while they pushed the ring onto my eye. But my vision came back momentarily and the doc told me to just stare like a zombie at the softly flashing orange/red light. So I did. Then the laser machine started. I heard a loud click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-clicking sound and there were purple lights flashing vaguely around my eye. I also smelled a kind of a disconcerting burny smell like a mechanical wire burning. I absentmindedly wondered if it was the smell of part of my eye being burned away by lasers, but it didn't bother me. I didn't feel anything at all. just flashy lights and clicking. And then it was done. The clicking lasted maybe 20 seconds, not that I was counting. The doctor flushed some water through my eye and then kinda smoothed it over by drawing what looked like a little, soft, foam tipped paint brush over the surface of my eye in each direction, then put another drop in, took out the ring, let my eye close, put a pad on it and taped it down. then the exact same thing on the other eye.
Now, The Result.
When I got up from the table, they did not hand me my glasses. I could see. I walked over and sat on a little stool and let the doctor examine my eyes with a microscope. Then I walked back to my little room where Hunter was waiting for me. They told me to sit and keep my eyes closed for 10 minutes and then I was free to leave. They gave me some protective sunglasses and goggles to wear. I have to wear the goggles for 7 days and I have drops I have to put in 4 times a day for the better part of a week. On the way home, I hardly opened my eyes at all, for fear that they would burn, but whenever I did, they didn't hurt at all. The only thing was that when I got home I had a headache, so I took some Tylenol PM and slept for most of the afternoon/evening which was what they wanted me to do anyway. When I woke up for dinner, I was awake, didn't want to go back to sleep, but wasn't allowed to watch TV or do anything, so I was bored. Hunter downloaded an audio book for me to listen to while I was lying on the couch with nothing better to do until bedtime. It has been about 96 hours since the surgery. I have had no pain, dryness, scratchiness, or any form of eye discomfort at all which, to me, seems pretty amazing. I kept expecting the scratchiness like Hunter had, but haven't felt any at all. And also, I can see pretty much just as well without glasses now as I could with them. That is the really crazy part. The only thing that is bothering me is that I have this light haze surrounding everything, especially bright things like my computer screen. It looks like I've been swimming underwater in a chlorinated pool with my eyes open for a while. Kind of hazy, halos around lights, that kind of thing. I am disappointed that my eyesight is not completely perfect, but the doc said it can take 6 weeks for things to settle out, and he treated me pretty aggressively so maybe longer. So I guess I just have to wait it out and be happy that I can do regular life stuff with no glasses. Honestly, it is amazing. I haven't been able to do anything without my glasses basically since I started wearing them. I was about a -7.00 before and now I am just about 20/20. I can drive now, and after a month I can do whatever I want, like ride my motorcycle, fly to Australia, and swim. I only hope my eyes settle and this haze does go away before too long. I suppose even if it doesn't, I am still really well off. It could be worse. I could be seeing double or have no vision at all. And the doctor said that for being the most nervous, I was the best patient he had that day.
Anyway. I started a facebook account. So much better than Myspace. I HAET Myspace.
I'm posting because I wanted to write about my Lasik eye surgery that I had last Friday. I figure maybe someday I'll want to come back and read about this. It's possible.
First, The Preparation.
I was so nervous that I was feeling kinda nauseous and starting to hyperventilate on the morning of and on the ride over to the place. Hunter kindly took the day off work to drive me around and be there with me. Luckily I didn't throw up or pass out. I made it through all the paperwork signing and then they finally gave me some valium. It was a little blue pill, I think 10mg. you just put it under your tongue and let it dissolve. It doesn't taste good, but I didn't really taste it much since it was under my tongue. But, I'll tell you what. That stuff works. I was calm and relaxed the rest of the time I was there, which was actually quite a while when you consider that the surgery itself takes less than 15 minutes. I got there at 11:00am, and the I think I was home around 3:oopm. Anyway, most of the time was spent waiting for the doctor. They gave me blue bootie things to go over my shoes and one to go over my hair, another 5mgs of valium for good measure and that was it. It was finally my turn for the surgery.
Next, The Procedure.
So they took me in to a big, echo-y room, kinda dimly lit with some fan noise and equipment, I didn't get too much of a chance to look around. They had me lie down on what looked to be a chair that was laid all the way out so that it was flat like a table. I was given drops that completely numbed my eyeballs. They squished a styrofoamy beanbag pillow around my head to keep me still. I closed my eyes, they put a pad over my right eye and taped it down, and taped my left eye open. They pulled a blurry thing over my face and told me to stare straight ahead... it was just a green/yellow neon glowing circle, black in the center except for a softly flashing orange/red light inside a lighter area in the very middle. It was kinda space-age. The doctor then had to put a ring thing on the surface of my left eye to keep my eye wide and align the machine or something. my vision faded completely out for a couple seconds (like when you stand up too fast) while they pushed the ring onto my eye. But my vision came back momentarily and the doc told me to just stare like a zombie at the softly flashing orange/red light. So I did. Then the laser machine started. I heard a loud click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-clicking sound and there were purple lights flashing vaguely around my eye. I also smelled a kind of a disconcerting burny smell like a mechanical wire burning. I absentmindedly wondered if it was the smell of part of my eye being burned away by lasers, but it didn't bother me. I didn't feel anything at all. just flashy lights and clicking. And then it was done. The clicking lasted maybe 20 seconds, not that I was counting. The doctor flushed some water through my eye and then kinda smoothed it over by drawing what looked like a little, soft, foam tipped paint brush over the surface of my eye in each direction, then put another drop in, took out the ring, let my eye close, put a pad on it and taped it down. then the exact same thing on the other eye.
Now, The Result.
When I got up from the table, they did not hand me my glasses. I could see. I walked over and sat on a little stool and let the doctor examine my eyes with a microscope. Then I walked back to my little room where Hunter was waiting for me. They told me to sit and keep my eyes closed for 10 minutes and then I was free to leave. They gave me some protective sunglasses and goggles to wear. I have to wear the goggles for 7 days and I have drops I have to put in 4 times a day for the better part of a week. On the way home, I hardly opened my eyes at all, for fear that they would burn, but whenever I did, they didn't hurt at all. The only thing was that when I got home I had a headache, so I took some Tylenol PM and slept for most of the afternoon/evening which was what they wanted me to do anyway. When I woke up for dinner, I was awake, didn't want to go back to sleep, but wasn't allowed to watch TV or do anything, so I was bored. Hunter downloaded an audio book for me to listen to while I was lying on the couch with nothing better to do until bedtime. It has been about 96 hours since the surgery. I have had no pain, dryness, scratchiness, or any form of eye discomfort at all which, to me, seems pretty amazing. I kept expecting the scratchiness like Hunter had, but haven't felt any at all. And also, I can see pretty much just as well without glasses now as I could with them. That is the really crazy part. The only thing that is bothering me is that I have this light haze surrounding everything, especially bright things like my computer screen. It looks like I've been swimming underwater in a chlorinated pool with my eyes open for a while. Kind of hazy, halos around lights, that kind of thing. I am disappointed that my eyesight is not completely perfect, but the doc said it can take 6 weeks for things to settle out, and he treated me pretty aggressively so maybe longer. So I guess I just have to wait it out and be happy that I can do regular life stuff with no glasses. Honestly, it is amazing. I haven't been able to do anything without my glasses basically since I started wearing them. I was about a -7.00 before and now I am just about 20/20. I can drive now, and after a month I can do whatever I want, like ride my motorcycle, fly to Australia, and swim. I only hope my eyes settle and this haze does go away before too long. I suppose even if it doesn't, I am still really well off. It could be worse. I could be seeing double or have no vision at all. And the doctor said that for being the most nervous, I was the best patient he had that day.