Laser attack
Right, so the new plan is quick updates instead of the tomes I've been not-quite-finishing. We'll see if I can stick to that. (Unlikely.)
It's been a good week. I got back from my trip to Cleveland and, naturally, needed a lot of extra sleep to recover. I submitted my resignation at work, asking for a four-month hiatus instead a flat-out end. We'll see how they take that. They didn't seem keen on my plan to work for three months, only to take an extended vacation in Switzerland, then return for another two months or so before I start school.
The Portland crew and I celebrated my latest acceptance at Salvador Molly's happy hour last night. It was great to see everyone. We really do need to meet up more often. I'll have to get more acceptances, or the others will have to move nearby, ace med school exams, get interviews at hotshot grad schools, etc., more often.
I don't know where I want to go to med school yet. I will need to sit down and sort through the pros and cons, which might take all day. I'm leaning toward OHSU, of course, but it's not a sure thing, especially with that potential 19% tuition increase. I sure would like to live in Philadelphia for a while. Hmm.
In the meantime, I've been gathering data for my FAFSA. That and preliminary taxes took up my morning. It was unpleasant. I then ducked up to the community college--I get 250 free duplex pages per term as a student--to print out eight copies of my latest scholarship application, a twenty-page monstrosity before reproduction. I'll be happy to see this one in the mail.
After that, I clenched my fists and went in for corrective eye surgery. I thought about this a lot a few years ago, when I was playing three sports and staying up for ridiculously long hours. I weary of the weight of glasses perched on my nasal bones, and it's still difficult to get used to putting in contact lenses each morning. I'm good at it, can do it one-handed, but it's not a skill I want any part of. I made friends the other day with a young woman in the eye clinic across the hall from my work using a skill I can be proud of, the ability to read people. I'd only barely met her a couple of days before, but she just didn't look right somehow. And she looked like she was trying to cover that up. I stopped by and got her to unburden herself. She later offered me LASIK for half price, so I figured now was as good a time as any to go through with it.
It was odd, but it didn't hurt. They numb your eyes, then set a rubber ring in one and apply enough of a vacuum to temporarily blind you. That part's the worst right there. Then they slice a flap off the surface and release the suction. You stare at a red light while the laser shapes your lens: it buzzes softly in pulses and you smell burning hair. I asked questions throughout the process, trying to find out even more than they'd already explained. They do the other eye the same way and you're done. You sit up, and you can see. It's strange. I was eight or so before my vision started fading out, so I can't remember being able to see without corrective lenses. I've got antibiotic and anti-swelling eye drops to use for a week, then I'm done. I hope I'm still as pleased with the results in a couple of weeks. My vision is supposed to sharpen up a bit more over the next month, but I'm already at the same place I was with glasses.
It's been a good week. I got back from my trip to Cleveland and, naturally, needed a lot of extra sleep to recover. I submitted my resignation at work, asking for a four-month hiatus instead a flat-out end. We'll see how they take that. They didn't seem keen on my plan to work for three months, only to take an extended vacation in Switzerland, then return for another two months or so before I start school.
The Portland crew and I celebrated my latest acceptance at Salvador Molly's happy hour last night. It was great to see everyone. We really do need to meet up more often. I'll have to get more acceptances, or the others will have to move nearby, ace med school exams, get interviews at hotshot grad schools, etc., more often.
I don't know where I want to go to med school yet. I will need to sit down and sort through the pros and cons, which might take all day. I'm leaning toward OHSU, of course, but it's not a sure thing, especially with that potential 19% tuition increase. I sure would like to live in Philadelphia for a while. Hmm.
In the meantime, I've been gathering data for my FAFSA. That and preliminary taxes took up my morning. It was unpleasant. I then ducked up to the community college--I get 250 free duplex pages per term as a student--to print out eight copies of my latest scholarship application, a twenty-page monstrosity before reproduction. I'll be happy to see this one in the mail.
After that, I clenched my fists and went in for corrective eye surgery. I thought about this a lot a few years ago, when I was playing three sports and staying up for ridiculously long hours. I weary of the weight of glasses perched on my nasal bones, and it's still difficult to get used to putting in contact lenses each morning. I'm good at it, can do it one-handed, but it's not a skill I want any part of. I made friends the other day with a young woman in the eye clinic across the hall from my work using a skill I can be proud of, the ability to read people. I'd only barely met her a couple of days before, but she just didn't look right somehow. And she looked like she was trying to cover that up. I stopped by and got her to unburden herself. She later offered me LASIK for half price, so I figured now was as good a time as any to go through with it.
It was odd, but it didn't hurt. They numb your eyes, then set a rubber ring in one and apply enough of a vacuum to temporarily blind you. That part's the worst right there. Then they slice a flap off the surface and release the suction. You stare at a red light while the laser shapes your lens: it buzzes softly in pulses and you smell burning hair. I asked questions throughout the process, trying to find out even more than they'd already explained. They do the other eye the same way and you're done. You sit up, and you can see. It's strange. I was eight or so before my vision started fading out, so I can't remember being able to see without corrective lenses. I've got antibiotic and anti-swelling eye drops to use for a week, then I'm done. I hope I'm still as pleased with the results in a couple of weeks. My vision is supposed to sharpen up a bit more over the next month, but I'm already at the same place I was with glasses.