A new view

I am typing this without any contacts, glasses, or seeing implement of any kind. Hallelujah!

I went in for Lasik on Friday. They said to expect to be there for several hours. The doctors work at sites across the region and come in a few days a month and knock out 40 people. They were doing 22 that day. They called me in for another set of scans. I was just sure they were going to say, "Oh, I'm sorry. We were mistaken. You can't get this done!" I actually saw one woman turned away because her corneas were too thin. Why didn't they know that before?

I squared away the type of procedure I wanted and the financing. Then took a mild sedative and read my People magazine. The guy next to me was quite nervous. I said, "My eyes have been hurting for a decade, so I am just ready for this."

Then they finally called me in. I put on a blue hospital cap and little booties, and they numbed my eye with drops. They taped my eyelashes open and fit this odd thing onto my eye to keep it nice and wide. The doctor poked me directly in the eye a few times to make sure I couldn't feel anything (mercifully I couldn't), and then the procedure began. They peeled back a top layer and pressed down firmly on my eye. Everything went dark, and it really felt like my eye was closed, but it was wide open. Then all they told me to focus on the flashing red and green lights, and the laser went to work. It was very surreal. They counted down for a minute, and then it was finished. It is a cold laser, but I could smell a burning. A bit disconcerting to smell your eyeball burn. They carefully place the layer back over my corrected eye, untaped my eyelids and did the same thing on the other side. After the long wait, the whole procedure took five minutes.

I was sent home with sexy goggles to wear while sleeping and a multitude of eye drops to put in everyday. They told me to sleep as much as possible for the first day. When my eye-numbing drops wore off, my eyes burned. Quite a bit more than I expected really. They burn like you got a chemical in them, and you just want to give them a good rub, but you absolutely can not. By the evening, they felt much better.

The next morning, I could drive and watch TV and read. I went back in for my follow up, and I think my vision was about 20-25. It should improve over the next weeks though. My eyes are still pretty dry, and I will have to use artificial tears for awhile. Overall though, I am thrilled. I can't actually believe I am liberated from my glasses and contacts. I have relied on one or the other since pre-school. I just feel like I have my contacts in now. I keep my glasses on the dresser. I feel like this will wear off, and I will need them! It's a whole new outlook I have to get used to.

--MM