August 1, 2010

• My Eyeballs

  I had lasik yesterday, it was quite the experience.

  My appointment was at 9:30, and my dad drove me. I finished filling out the paperwork for the procedure and also for the financing. Which, cost $3,998.30 at Lasik Plus. I got financed for the entire operation through their financing, CareCredit. Up to 2 years interest free. You could go up to 5 years for a low interest rate, but I don’t want to spend that much time paying this off.

  Anyway, after that, they take me back and explain all the aftercare. 1 drop in each eye 4 times daily of an antibiotic eye drop and some other eye drop, I forgot what it’s for. Also, some drops in each eye 4 or 5 times a day to lubricate. I had to wear some goggles for the first day, and every night when I sleep to prevent rubbing my eyes. I was then offered a valium to help me relax during the procedure, which I said YES!! I was very anxious about this whole thing, a laser at my eyeballs and all.

  Then my mother and sister arrived. After a few minutes, they took me in and put some drops in to numb my eyeballs. Then the surgeon came in and explained the entire procedure. They then led me into the operating room, which was quite dark. My family was able to watch because the one wall was made of glass, and they had a monitor that had a close up of my eyes.

  First they put more numbing drops in my eyes then laid my down at this machine. First they put this suction thing on my eye, then moved the table over to a spot where a laser cut the flap. Some places still use a blade, but more and more places are using a laser to cut the flap. Then they removed the suction. It’s weird, because it’s like you’re going blind. Even though your eyes are open, you can’t see for the short amount of time they have the suction on your eye.

  Then I got up and moved to the laser that re-shapes your cornea. They pulled the flap back and I had to star at a blinking green light. It was disorienting because the red light that was the laser was bigger and it was hard to see the green light. The doctor held my head so I didn’t move, and the laser started. There was like a burning smell, but the doctor said nothing was actually burning. They replaced the flaps, then it was over.

  I could see better right away, but it was foggy. Let me tell you, if I wouldn’t have had that valium, I would have been freaking out!!! But I handled it very well, and that really helped. Then the doctor made sure the flaps were correctly positioned and gave me a pair of sunglasses. My eyes will be sensitive to the light for a while.

  My eyes burned like a bastard afterwards. We went back to my house, my mother and sister included, where I just laid on the couch and had my eyes closed. I took a couple of Tylenol PMs and everyone else played on the Wii. My eyes hurt very badly. After a while, everyone wanted to go eat because they were hungry, so I put my sunglasses back on and we went to eat. I had my eyes closed almost the whole time, and eating was difficult.

  When we got back home, the Tylenol PMs finally kicked in and I slept for hours. My eyes felt better when I woke up, and the burning was gone. I watched my dad and sister play Wii for the rest of the evening. It was very entertaining to watch them figure out how to play the New Super Mario Bros. How the game works is similar to the original on the Nintendo, or Super Mario Bros 3 on Super Nintendo, so I told them a lot of things.

  Anyway, after waking up this morning, my eyes are better and I can see clearer than yesterday. It will take a while to see how much my vision is corrected, because it will continue to improve while my eyes are healing. It’s strange how things are now. I feel like things are so much bigger than I thought they were. Maybe my glasses reverse-magnified things to make them seem smaller or something. It’s also strange not having to wear glasses to see. I like it though!

  I can’t keep my eyes on the computer or TV for extended periods of time, so I will be in and out of Xanga today, I hope to see you around =]

  • 1:02 pm
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