July 25, 2008

EYEBALL UPDATE

So, the lasik, eh?

I went in and waited and waited; naturally they were behind schedule. There were two other ladies in the waiting room who had done the surgery a few years ago and who were in for a touch-up. They said that, even with having to have a touch-up, they would do it again in a heartbeat. They also said that there's no pain whatsoever.

Hmmm, I am not sure I agree with that.

I went in and they numbed my eye and drew marks on it with a marker. That's because of astigmatism; apparently when you sit up straight, your eyeball is in a different shape than when you lie down, so they have to mark you sitting up before they recline you. Then they took me in and cut the flaps in my cornea. Painful isn't really the right word, but it was uncomfortable as all get out. They put this suction cup thing on your eye and create a vacuum seal and then start cutting. It was blindingly awful. It was so hard to keep my eyes open, and the even had me in this Clockwork Orange contraption so I couldn't shut my eyes. Still, I would've given anything to close them. It was like my brain shut off and the only thought I had was get-it-off get-it-off get-it-off. They did my left eye first, prounounced it a success, and did the right eye. But no pronouncement after that one.

Then they walk me across the hall and put me under another machine. I hear lots of commotion from the doctor and nurses and get the vibe that something is wrong. Panic attack. I am trying not to freak out or cry for what feels like an eternity before some nurse pats me on the arm and assures me that there's nothing wrong with my eyes, just the machine. Turns out the machine was having trouble uploading my info, so someone had to go back downstairs and save my flie to a thumb drive and come back with it. But I seriously thought something had gone horribly wrong. It was entirely unnerving, lying there for interminable minutes thinking that I had just lost my right eye.

Then, by the time they came back with the thumb drive, I had been lying there with my eyes closed for several minutes. So when they turned on the machine and the light flooded my eye, I thought I was going to pass out it was so bright. Nothing like being in complete darkness for five minutes and then having a flashlight shined in your eye from six inches away.

The wild thing about this next part is that it's done on camera and broadcast into the waiting room, so my friend and her son watched them pull back the flap in my cornea, pulse the laser into it, and then replace the flap. She took pictures with her cell phone, heh. And then we were done.

I shut my eyes, got guided out of the office, into the car, into my house, and into bed. My friend then had to figure out how to tape the protective eyewear to my head before I went to sleep. I woke up three hours later and took the goggles off.

I can see...decently. I guess I was expecting this life-altering transformation already, but as of right now I see better than I did naturally but not nearly as good as I did with my glasses. They say the process can take up to 48 hours to really work, so I'm hoping I have better vision in the morning.

Oh, and I would never say the process was easy or painless, but whatever discomfort I experienced -- I spent a lot of the time with my toes curled and my fists clenched, wishing I could be anywhere but with a blinding light in my eyeball -- it will be worth one hour of discomfort if I can see. My eyes are still extremely itchy this evening, maddeningly so. I would give anything to rub them, but that's the biggest no-no. I hope the worst of that goes away by tomorrow.

Wish me luck that I wake up in the morning with better vision.

UPDATE:

As posted above...

If you're really squeamish, this might freak you out. But there's a youtube of a Lasik surgery, and it's exactly what they did to me. I must say, sitting in the waiting room watching these creeped me out at first, but after I'd watched three people go ahead of me, it wasn't that hard to watch. But still...not for those who get grossed out by eyeballs.

Posted by Sarah at July 25, 2008 12:26 AM | TrackBack
Comments

It's making my eyes itch just reading about it. Hope everything is much clearer in the morning!

Posted by: Anwyn at July 25, 2008 12:54 AM

Good luck, Sarah. You seem like a really nice and sensible person, so I'd wish you well anyway, but I think you deserve good things after some of your experiences in recent months.

Posted by: hiraethin at July 25, 2008 02:01 AM

Well doesn't that sound like my own personal idea of hell. I have horrible vision myself but I've never been tempted to have lasik... I seriously don't think that I could get through the procedure without a complete freak out.

Glad you made it through. And I wish you a speedy recovery!

Posted by: dutchgirl at July 25, 2008 09:16 AM

Just reading that makes me kinda want to puke. *shivers*

I hope you get your perfect eyesight!! :)

Posted by: Kasey at July 25, 2008 09:35 AM

I read with one eye closed, sadly I don't see very well with just one eye, but I wish you happy eyeballs and clear vision soon.

Here's hoping for perfect sight...

Posted by: Susan at July 25, 2008 10:12 AM

It's official. I will wear contact lenses for the rest of my life. Makes my eyes water just thinking about it. A teeny part of my brain always thought "maybe" even though most of my brain is completely freaked out by Lasik. Your post is the first honest account of the procedure I've heard. Everyone else always just says, "oh, it's not bad..." with no details. And after reading it I'm happy happy happy with my contacts! Wishing you clear vision, and to never have to go in for a touch-up!

Posted by: TK at July 25, 2008 11:02 AM

OK, I dont know if you've convinved me based on the description..I felt uncomfortable for you...A friend of mine, did tell me that it took some time to see crisp. But she said she does... Keep us posted!!! and I hope the itching goes away.

Posted by: keri at July 25, 2008 11:13 AM

Eek! This whole post gave me the heebee-jeebees!!! Yikes! No thank you.

Posted by: T at July 25, 2008 11:39 AM