Beyond the Books ~ On Lasik

Welcome to Beyond the Books. This post was inspired by Lexxie @Unconventional Bookviews' Up Close and (Un)conventional, who was inspired by Cuddlebuggery. It's meant to be a way for y'all to get to know me better on a personal level - Beyond the Books. ;)

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As y'all may or may not know, I recently had Lasik surgery...about 3.5 weeks ago now. And overall, I'm loving it! I thought I'd share a few things about my experience just in case you were curious. ;)

The science...the surgeon uses one laser to create a flap in your cornea and another to remove tissue, which reshapes your eyes - essentially creating your "prescription" on your eye. My prescription in my glasses was close to 20/600 in each eye.

First of all, I had myself really worked up over having Lasik done. I mean, they are my eyes after all. What I found was that I needn't have been so worked up. Yes, it's still a risky venture. But the risks are low. And a good doctor isn't going to perform the procedure on you if you aren't a good candidate. (I have thicker than average corneas and small pupils which, apparently, equaled *perfect* candidate!)

Second of all...y'all it's over in less than 2 minutes! Seriously! Here's the quick and dirty...They cover whichever eye they aren't working on, and the first laser gets to work creating the flap. When this is happening, you experience what it's like to be blind. You lose sight in the eye while the laser is working but it only lasts for 20 seconds. I kept hearing my boot camp instructor telling me I can do anything for 20 seconds. *ha* And then the second laser gets to work removing tissue. For me, this took 14 and 12 seconds per eye. Afterwards, I sat up and walked over to the 'eye machine' (like at the eye doctor) where the surgeon checked my vision. All was good! I could see but it was like looking through my glasses with oil smeared on them.

My husband watched the whole thing and was captivated by the technology (some of which was created by NASA!). 

They gave me a sedative prior to my procedure but not far enough in advance for it to really be working during my procedure - you have to be able to hold your eyes open after all. Anyway, I barely remember the hour drive home. I went straight to bed, with a lovely pair of goggles. I slept the rest of the day, only getting up for dinner. And when I awoke on Saturday morning, I could see. I went to the eye doctor that morning for a post-op check up and my vision was 20/15 in each eye.

I had to put antibiotic drops in my eyes 3 times a day for 4 days and sleep with the goggles on for close to 2 weeks. I also have to put 'tears' in my eyes several times a day, even now. But the need for this is tapering off. My last visit, my vision was still 20/15. 

The only drawback for me is this...I already wore progressives so I *knew* I'd need reading glasses. However, I wasn't expecting the reality that I really couldn't see up close anymore. With my glasses, I could take them off and holding an object, say my phone, really close, I could read it. I can't anymore. And I wasn't fully prepared for that. But the benefits of being free of glasses for anything not up close outweigh my need for reading glasses. (although I do have to laugh that my family teasing me about *still* wearing glasses 90% of the time after Lasik wasn't off the mark! I do read often. ;) 

So, after wearing glasses for 30+ years, I'm relatively free of them, can wear lots of cute, colored reading glasses, and I'm happy with my results! I only wish I'd done it sooner!! ;)