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Lasik Surgery: My Final Thoughts

Over the past few weeks, I’ve chronicled my Lasik surgery that I had done in January. From making the decision, the weeks before surgery, the eye drops, etc – I’ve now come to my last post: my final thoughts on Lasik. Immediately after surgery, I had dry eye in both eyes. The multitude of eye drops helped, and eventually my left eye was deemed 20/20 and had no issues. My right eye was a different story. It took two months for the dry eye to clear up and for the doctor to announce is was finally at 20/20. I’ll admit – I was pretty scared for a while. I was getting tired of constantly having to put drops in my right eye, and wondered if the dry eye would never go away – which can happen. I was extremely relieved when I started noticing a difference, and when I was told that both eyes were at 20/20. I can’t remember the last time I used an eye drop, but I do have a bottle handy in my purse just in case.
Lasik surgery was one of the best decisions I’ve made. It’s pretty incredible not to deal not only with glasses and contacts and the hassle they bring, but also the money I save by not having to buy contacts every few months and cases and solution, etc. I love being able to wake up in the morning and not fumble for my glasses, or take a nap in the middle of the day without having to take my contacts out. Lasik surgery worked for me, and I am one happy customer.

Lasik Surgery: After the Laser

I’ve been looking back at my Lasik journey these past few weeks, talking about how I made the decision, the process leading up to it,…

Lasik Surgery: It’s Surgery Time!

All right, the time now has really, really come. I’ve signed the forms, I’ve taken the Tylenol PM, the doctor has markered my eyes, and I’m being led into the room where the Lasik surgery will take place. I say goodbye to Mitch, who is watching the surgery through a TV outside of the room, and head to the chair. After lying down and getting comfortable, my head is wedged between two large…things…that are supposed to keep my head from moving at any point in the surgery. I am handed two stress balls, drops are administered and….away we go!
Lasik surgery is actually done in two parts. The first part is creating the flap – that’s right, they peel back your cornea to reshape the tissue underneath. I went all bladeless, and with the numbing drops I didn’t feel a thing, no pain or anything, but it did get freaky at one point. I had a great doctor who talked to me the whole way through, which helped keep me calm and in the know, and also kept my mind focused on her words, so that was really nice. During this first part, she told me that eventually it would all go black – but only for a few seconds. So I’m in my chair, head wedged in, stress balls in hand, and one eye covered, the other under the laser that would create the flap. Sure enough, even though my eye is open (they used holders to keep the eyes open throughout) everything went black. That’s when I really started squeezing the stress balls, and a million terrible thoughts jumped in my mind – was it coming back? Would I ever see again? Would this work? Did I just go blind? As fast as it went out, my vision was back. I breathed a sigh relief –but then it was time for the next eye. Bring on the blackness and stress once again. It only took about 60 seconds in that chair, and then part one was over, and I was brought to a new chair.
The next chair was the actual Lasik surgery part, where the reshaping of tissue was happening. More drops were put in and the laser started. The doctor informed me that this part might be weird – I would hear what sounded like a chainsaw and smell burning hair. I’m sorry – what?! But sure enough, I thought Jason was running around lighting my hair on fire. That was freaky, possibly even more freaky than having a blackout moment. This part took a bit longer than the first chair, but no more than a 3 minutes. My head was wedged in again, stress balls were in hand, and I remember my doctor kept saying “And look at the green light. Go back to the green light. Find that green light. Green light!” If you couldn’t tell, I was supposed to be focusing my vision on this green light, and I don’t know if it was fear or question or what, but apparently my eyes kept drifting away. But I made it through! Less than ten minutes in the surgery room, and it was over. A few minutes of fear, of hesitancy, of who the hell is lighting my hair on fire, and it was done. A huge decision, a big leap of faith, and now it was over.
Check back next week for what happens after surgery!

Lasik Surgery: The Day is Here!

Lasik is paid for, forms are signed, contacts have been out, no makeup is on, fiancé is by my side…and I’m ready for Lasik surgery!…

Prepping For Lasik

After getting tested and approved for Lasik, consulting my bank account, and deciding I was going to go for it, I happily scheduled my surgery date for January 25, 2012. I had one week to prep – which included heading to my nearest pharmacy to stock up on eye drops. Oh, the eye drops. More on that later. For that week before, I used two eye drops to help prevent dry eye, and also one to help fight off infection. Also, I want to point out that if you wear contacts, these will have to be taken out at least two weeks before you go for your initial testing to make sure you are a good candidate for Lasik. If you decide to go ahead with the surgery, you cannot wear your contacts again.
So the week before surgery I was wearing my glasses and using Restasis and preservative-free tears to help keep my eyes moist. Restasis is something you will need a prescription for, and can be costly if you don’t have insurance. There are several types of preservative-free tears that you can buy without a prescription, are not as costly, and my eye doctor actually gave me quite a few samples to use first. The drops I used to fight infection was called Pred Forte, and a prescription is required for that. Your doctor will let you know how many drops/how many times a day to use each one. I was given a list that broke down before surgery, day of surgery, day after surgery, week after surgery, and then a more general after surgery schedule. KEEP THIS! I consulted it many times.
So all these drops helped get my eyes ready for this major surgery. Also before surgery I scheduled that day and the day after off work, and my fiancé was tapped to take me to my surgery and back, as you absolutely will need a driver after surgery. Now, I was just waiting anxiously for the surgery, and getting more nervous as each day passed, wishing for success.
Check back next week for my day of surgery experience!

Deciding to Get Lasik

Deciding to Get Lasik

I got my first pair of glasses in the fourth grade. Back then, I thought I was super cool with my spectacles. All my friends had glasses as well, and we loved getting bright colors and patterns – I remember my purple pair were my favorite glasses back then. I really didn’t even get the dreaded “four eyes” nickname, because so many people had glasses. I thought I just fit in.
But of course, the happiness wore off. I begged my mom for contacts for years, and I believe I was fifteen when I was finally granted my wish. It took me some time to get used to poking myself in the eye, but I eventually mastered the contacts. But then it was the annoying factor that cropped up – contacts being inside out when I tried putting them on, running out of contact solution, forgetting my case at sleepovers. As I got older, I grew tired of contacts, and was jealous when a handful of my family members got the Lasik surgery.
When I was twenty, I made some appointments around town to see if I would be a good fit for Lasik. In order to get the procedure, your prescription has to be the same for at least a year so they know your eyes are done changing and your eyes need to be considered healthy. At twenty, I passed the Lasik test –– then was told the price. At $2500 per eye, I knew it was just not in my cards to get the procedure at that time. I came up with a savings plan, and put that surgery on hold.
About four years later, I felt comfortable enough with my money situation to give Lasik another shot. In January 2012, I set up a consultation at my local LasikPlus, took my contacts out for two weeks straight per instructions, and went through test after test on my eyes. At the end – I was cleared for Lasik! The price was actually cheaper than it was years ago, and with a discount through my insurance provider, I was looking at $3500 for the whole thing. I scheduled my surgery appointment for two weeks after my testing, and was ecstatic to finally be getting Lasik.
Check out back next week for my post on prepping for Lasik!