Ve Haff Vays of Makink Hyu Talk

Apr 19, 2009 22:11

After a mechanical error put off Thursday's Lasik appointment, Nick had lasers fired into his eyes this past Saturday.  I got to watch.

It was fascinating.  The entire operation was projected up onto a TV screen (for the nurse's benefit, I think), so I was able to see the slicing and dicing.

First, they inserted the speculum.  In my opinion, that's the creepiest part.  Something about them reminds me of staples, as if your eyelids have been peeled back and stapled to your face.  They fixed his eyelashes out of the way with "sticky drapes", sheets of clear, tacky plastic that kept them out of the way of the laser.

Then they...I'm not sure, but it looked to me as if they were applying a stamp to his iris.  It reminded me of the way you often see anime eyes drawn; a large circle with two smaller, highlight circles drawn in white on opposing diagonal points of the large circle's diameter.  I'm not sure what the purpose of those was, except possibly as a guide for what came next.

After applying drops and swabbing any possible lint out of the way with a teeny sponge, they scalped his cornea.

THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO DESCRIBE THAT.  They took what looked like a bottle opener, or a pet nail clipper, basically a metal stick with a hole in it, and pressed the hole down over his iris.  Then a blade slid across the hole, effectively removing the lens from his eye.  They left a little hinge, and folded it back.

At this point I had stuffed a fist against my mouth.  I doubt flailing and squeaking on my part would have been helpful.

They swabbed off the exposed surface of his eye, lined up the lasers, and fired.  Nick felt nothing, due to some previously-applied numbing drops.  They burned, ironically the most painful part of the procedure.

Once the lasers did their arcane work, the surgeon flipped the lens flap back over Nick's eyeball.  Using a very tiny syringe, he injected some fluids under the flap (SQUIRM) and then squeegeed it into place with another sponge.  Like applying a decal, only way squickier.

Then they moved on to his left eye and repeated the process.  It went smoothly up until the scalping, when they...nicked something.  Blood welled up around the upper edge of Nick's iris, and I bit my lip to keep from asking if that was normal.  Nobody else seemed alarmed.  They left a little wad of sponge on his eyeball for the remainder of the job.  At the end of the procedure, he had some hemorrhaging in that same eye.  They said it was a result of the suction applied during the scalping, but I'm wondering if it's not a result of the actual slicing.  Whatever the case, IT'S FUCKING FREAKY:







I would like to say, in Nick's defense, that he had to stop taking his acne medication some time before the surgery.  It dries you out, and Lasik temporarily robs your eyes of their ability to produce their own moisture, it's not wise to take anything that dehydrates you around the procedure.

He has to wear these protective goggles while he sleeps, to prevent him from rubbing at his eyes (because THEY SCALPED HIS CORNEA, and all they did was smoothe it back into place!  There is some healing to be done there, and you can "wrinkle" the lenses if you rub at them during this period.  Eeeeew.)



After the surgery, we went out for lunch, picked up a birthday present for Leah and Will, and attended their party.  Because Nick is hardcore like that.  The doctors warned me not to let him sleep for several hours following the lasers, as your eyes dry out while you sleep, and we felt the easiest thing would be to stay active.  Just imagine him with dorky sunglasses on over those eye-cups, and you'll share my amusement.

He checked out of this afternoon's follow-up appointment with a clean bill of health.  I like listening to him exclaim about all the things he can see clearly now, like leaves and tree branches.  But I'll be happy when he doens't have to wear all the protective gear.

spazz, health

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