LASIK Report

I know several of you are curious about how things went yesterday. Since I have now passed the 24 hour window of not reading or working on the computer, it’s time to blog! (Sorry, no pictures.)

First of all, Debra, thanks for covering for me. I hope my students didn’t have too many “emergencies.” I guess I’ll find out on Monday. Let me know when you re-reschedule your Murphy’s Law trip. I’ll be happy to cover! Second, Kathy, thanks for the referral. They were awesome!

My appointment was for 10:30, and they told me to expect to be there approximately 2 to 2 ½ hours. They said my actual surgery would probably be at about noon. I went through all of the paperwork (medical releases, etc.) with them, and then had a brief meeting with the surgeon. She was great to talk me through every step of the procedure – what I would see, hear, feel, smell, etc. You all know that I like to be fully prepared and know everything to expect, so I really appreciated that. She gave me a Valium, some numbing drops, and some dilating drops, and then I waited in the waiting room for my eyes to dilate.

(Kristin, you may want to skip the next three paragraphs. Although, I’m going to say that after all of the nasty medical things you’ve endured, I think this would be a piece of cake for you. How did your sister’s go on Thursday?) When my eyes had numbed and dilated, one of the medical assistants came to get me. She had me sit on the little operating-table-thingy, and she drew on my eyes. Yep, drew right on my eyeballs. I, being me, asked exactly what, why, how, and with what she was drawing. She said they make little marks at “three-o-clock” and “nine-o-clock” on your eyeballs, and then draw a line connecting those marks. There is a corresponding line on the machine that they line up with the line on your eye. Oh, and just in case any of you are wondering, they use the same kind of marker that other surgeons use for marking body parts before surgery.

They actually used two different machines for me. The tables and machines are really interesting. You lie on the table, and then it moves into position under the machine. They put a pillow under my knees, and had me hold a stuffed monkey named Seymour (Get it? See-more.) So, first they put this ring thing around my eye, and it kind of pressed down against my eye socket. Then they put the machine over my eye that did this weird suction thing. (Kristin, if you’re being brave and still reading, I admit, this part was kind of freaky.) It seriously felt like they were going to suck my eyeball right out of the socket! It is at that point that they cut the cornea to make a little flap to lift up. Then they did the same thing on the other eye.

After they made the “cornea flaps,” they had to put more numbing drops and dilating drops in, and had to wait a few minutes for those to take effect. Then they had me lie on the other table, and it moved into position under the other machine. I appreciated that they all talked to me the whole entire time. Just like with my meeting with the surgeon, they told me everything they were going to do, everything I would see and feel, etc. It was pretty comforting to know what was going to happen and when to expect it. So, at this point, they actually started doing the work with the laser. It was kind of a weird sound, and there was kind of a weird smell. I tried not to think about it, and tried really hard to picture myself on a beach on Kauai. When it was done, they put my cornea back in place with a little spatula thing. I could see it running across my eye, and as they ran it across my eye, I could start to see things a little bit. Then they did the same thing on the other eye. When that one was done, they had me sit up and look at the clock. It was five minutes to noon. I was done quite a bit before I expected.

Kristin, you can come back. :) They taped “shields” over my eyes, which are like the lenses from glasses, but with little vent holes all over. They also gave me three sets of eye drops – one to do every 20 minutes, one to do every hour, and another one to do every four hours.

I went to my parents’ house and rested for a few hours. I was supposed to sleep for about four hours, but I only slept for about an hour. (Thanks for calling to check on me, Rick!) When I got home to my house, I wasn’t supposed to read or work on the computer. That was extremely difficult. So I cleaned out the fridge & freezer. Hey, Syd, I kept thinking about the day I had my wisdom teeth pulled – and we went dancing that night! I was impressed when the surgeon called to check on me - to make sure I was doing ok and to see if I had any questions or concerns. I thought that was cool.

I had my check up this morning at 8:30. Things were still kind of cloudy, but not blurry. Both the O.D. and the surgeon said that’s normal, and that my vision should continue to improve for another couple of weeks. Yea!

So…in case anyone is interested in having your own little LASIK adventure, I have discount coupons that I can pass along! I’ll continue to give you updates. But, so far, so good!