Lasik Eye Surgery

I just had lasik, and am on my third day of recovery. I'm glad I did it. I had put the procedure off for several years. The first reason was price. I was waiting for it to come down as the technology improved. The second reason, which took up all of last year, was fear. I just couldn't bring myself to accept the fact that a laser would be cutting into my cornea, and I'd feel it.

But I needed to make a decision because my eyesight had changed for the worse. Since I'm no longer in my thirties, my glasses no longer held ground for both near and far vision. Traditionally near-sighted, I now found myself having to take off my glasses to read or crunch numbers, then put them back on if I had to look up at someone, or somewhere. My eyes would take a long moment to adjust which began dragging me down at work, and I'm an accountant. I also got tired of taking my glasses off at restaurants to read the menu and see my food, but not being able to see the person I was eating with. Blurry dates were no fun.

Progressive lenses were a less expensive option. I would be able to have the best of both worlds (visions) without the old fashioned line bisecting them in half. But having worn glasses for the last thirty years, I was ready for a new look. A better look, one where everyone told me I looked better "without my glasses."

So I called the long-postponed ophthalmologist and scheduled the appointment. Surprisingly, the surgery would only take about ten minutes; five per eye.

After a series of eye tests I was handed a tiny Valium to take. Then I was told to lie down on the bed, facing the ceiling. The room was dust free, as the doctor, her assistant, and I all wore shower caps and foot caps.

She covered my left eye with tape in order to operate on the right eye first. Having my eyelids taped open bothered a bit, and I feared when the tape would be pulled off, but it was just a hint of what soon was to come; an experience.

Several drops were put into my right eye, probably an anesthetic, because I did not feel at all when the doctor placed a metal clamp in my eye to keep it open. Then she adjusted it wider. Still staying with the experience, I felt like saying, "A Clockwork Orange."

But immediately after, I heard a buzzing, and a huge spaceship-like laser machine hovered over my face just inches from me. It looked just like the mother ship from "Close Encounters," complete with two panels of eight white lights each, with three spider-like lights dancing between them. Two red, with the center one green. I was told to focus on the green.

The green light soon blurred and things became dark. My eye felt like it was being sucked out. I found myself clutching my fists to endure the uncomfortable feeling. I heard the sound of a small drill working, which was actually the laser. Then the stench of something burnt entered my nose. I held my breath, not wanting to smell the cutting of my own cornea.

Soon the pain was over and I relaxed my fists. The doctor asked me how I felt while pulling out the clamp and tape. Trying to remain a good sport, I responded I was fine, only to be told we'd do the left eye next.

Following the same procedure again, I finally was helped off the operating table and lead to my ride home. Being forewarned, my eyes immediately shut as I placed my new "Terminator" sunglasses on, and stayed shut for the next six and a half hours.

Making a long story short for that day, taking Tylenol kept the pain at bay. Upon falling asleep with my new protective, ultra-geek goggles, I worried my eyes would be stuck shut the next morning. But they weren't, and I could see! A week's worth of three different types of drops in my eyes, combined with three weeks' worth of my brain accepting this surgery, and I'd have fine vision!

I'm now three days into recovery and so glad the procedure and moderate pain are long gone. I can't wait for week three when my brain tells my two eyes all is well and I can see close and far again. [This story was hand written three days after the surgery, but typed into this blog three weeks after].