Eye Can See!!!!

This story begins in the summer of last year. I went to have my annual eye exam and my curiosity overcame me so I just happened to ask my wonderful doc about lasik eye surgery. Well little did I know, he informed me he had the surgery done 9 years prior when it first hit the market. He said it was the best thing he had ever done in his life and would have paid $50,000+ to have it done. He said life was wonderful to be able to see without glasses or contacts! That statement alone led me to make the call...

The call. The call to schedule the appointment to see if I was even a candidate for lasik. So I made the call and then visited the facility late last year. They needed to verify I was eligible for the surgery so I could take the financial plunge be able to see a million times better. So after my 4 hour appointment the good news was yes, I was a candidate and so then came the moment to schedule the big day.

So looking at the calendar, I had to do it schedule if for after the first of the year. And my office is fortunate enough to close on Martin Luther King Day so the decision was made. Monday, January 19 would be the day my eyes would be scared out of their mind permanently transformed.

Preparing for the big day... well I was not at all nervous on Surgery Eve. I knew I would be fine until I walked in the doors to the facility; then I would allow myself to be scared to death! Oh, but why should I be scared?!?! I was just having an operation on my EYES, no big deal. Not that I need them see or anything, no sweat off my back if something went haywire... Yep, sure.

So I arrived all confident and ready to battle the big scary machine that would permanently change my life! So after the nurse took one last final measurement of my eyes, then came the next step of giving me drugs to make me goofy like I already know I can be when I have a wine cooler or two taking the prescribed medication to calm my nerves and sedate my anxiety. So in went the pill down the throat and back to the waiting room to sit and wait. It must have kicked in quickly because 5 minutes later I became very sleepy and noticed how pretty the fake plants in the waiting area became. And the fact that the ceiling was also painted a pretty white color and it reminded me of a staircase in the corner the way it was shaped. Oh and all the meanwhile I'm still coherent enough to check my e-mail every couple minutes on my phone, read the news, or check out facebook updates as they are posted. Well I remember precisely that I informed my lovely chauffeur since I couldn't drive myself home mother that they had given me the medication to calm my nerves. So a few minutes later she looked at me and asked if they had given me medication. YES DUH, they already had me drugged up! Obviously I wouldn't normally talk about how pretty fake plants were and that the ceiling was just gorgeous if I wasn't on high potent meds! (At least I would hope I wouldn't talk about how beautiful the fake plants were even though they were extremely green and had the most wonderful shiny leaves...)

Then the next scary process arrived. The moment the nurse came over to me and said "Miss... come this way please." OMG but I wanted to plant my butt in the chair and continue to check my e-mail (even though I had no new messages) because this was a terrifying procedure and the thought of whatever could go wrong would was flowing like a flood through my brain at that second. But like the brave soul I am, I stood up like a trooper and marched down the hall to the surgery waiting area. To my surprise, there were other people in the waiting room! Wow. There were two ladies that just had the surgery done and one waiting for her turn.

Well the first thing the nurse handed me was a blue foam star, "the squeezie star" as she referred to my new toy as. She even told me I could take it through the procedure with me. Wow, I was excited (ha)! So obviously the point of the "squeezie star" is to take any agitated nerves out on the poor little foam friend I just gained. And it received some "squeezes" from me quite a few times I might add! Now I noticed something extremely interesting sitting on the counter of the waiting area. It was a small little television that had a picture of an eyeball. It looked as if the eye was being operated on so I had to ask the question... "What is that?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" The nurse calmly replied that it was what was happening in the surgery room right at the very moment! Oh wow, so not only are my nerves screaming at the top of their lungs, now I got to watch what the surgery actually did to someone's eye. That made me feel so much more comfortable, to watch the procedure I was about to have done live in progress. I informed the nurse I didn't know if that was such a great idea to have that on a television screen. A couple of times she stood in front of the TV so we couldn't see it! Well after watching the next person on the screen, it became interesting. Then the questions started rolling out of my mouth. I wonder where my youngest daughter gets the wonderful gift of gab and asking questions from... Anyway, so I watched how the suction cup went on the eye, how the flap was inserted, how the flap was moved and how the laser worked. It was very interesting to say the least. But scary knowing I would be the next victim on that screen! I think the worst part was watching the scalpel touching the eyeball. But no worries... the eyes are numb so people don't feel a thing!

By then, a young gentleman sat in the chair next to me who was scheduled to be the victim behind me. He asked me if I had just had the surgery done and tons of other questions (as if I was the expert at this procedure)! Then as I walked into the room he said to me "my eyes will be watching your eye" (you know on the cute little TV screen). I should have asked him if he was a stand up comedian LOL.

Well then came the moment I'd been waiting months for... the walk into the operating room. The walk that felt like a mile, but was only a few steps away. I walked in and the nice doctor asked me how I was doing. I informed him that I was a nervous wreck and his response was that he had seen a nervous wreck and I was NOT a nervous wreck. Ok so that made my brain shift focus for a moment's notice. Then it was time to lay on table of dread operating table and get this procedure over with!

The surgery was such a breeze and so easy that I didn't even realize I was done when it was over! I remember him telling me a couple of times to turn my head one way or another. And I distinctively remember him telling me to look at the flashing orange light. Oh and to hold completely still. My body became a statue when he said those words ~ I wasn't going to move a flinch! I became the perfectly little behaved patient and did exactly what he said. When I was done and the torture was over with, he told me I did "super" and that my eye doctor would have been proud of me! That put a smile on my face knowing the surgery was a success and I had been a good little patient.

So the next step was to stumble back to the waiting area and sit for a few minutes and KEEP MY EYES CLOSED. Do you know how hard that was? That is so much easier said than done. But not only did I have to keep my eyes closed right then; I had to keep them closed for the rest of the day and the rest of the evening. But the bright side (I always look at the positive spin on things) was that I had permission to open them the next morning! Now I could open them to walk or eat, but I was supposed to keep them closed as much as possible. Well let me just tell you that was a long night!

So after sitting for a few minutes and the nurse checked the flap to confirm my eyes looked fine, it was time to be escorted to my car waiting for me right out the front door. I remember being very tired and worried that something had went wrong and I wouldn't know it until the next day since I couldn't open my eyes. I remember talking my mom's ear off on the way home and her telling me to be quiet several times. I remember stopping to get caffeine on the way home because I wasn't allowed to have any that morning. I remember going home and then I crashed. I slept for a good while in the peace and quiet and woke up just enough to eat and get my eye drops in when I needed to use them. And I also remember I was supposed to keep my eyes closed. And I did fairly well with that concept. I did peek a few times to see what I was doing or to see if I could tell a difference in my vision yet but for the most part, I followed doc's orders!

Then came the next day. The moment of truth when I could finally open my eyes. So I woke up all geared up and excited to be able to see the world in a whole new light. Well to my surprise, I opened my eyes to find my vision was still kind of fuzzy and things weren't totally crisp and clear as I expected. And this was a realization that I had been told could happen. The fact is sometimes it takes a few days to get the total effects of the surgery. So as the day progressed, my vision became clearer and better and I could see perfect by nightfall. I went to my follow-up eye appointment with my eye doctor and he gave me the fabulous news that my vision was 20/20 and would get better each day.

So after waking up on the third morning after the surgery, my vision was finally clear and I was able to see perfectly crisp without waiting until later in the day. One thing I have learned with lasik surgery is that my vision can fluctuate from fuzzy to clear in the blink of an eye. So even if I have terrible vision in the morning, I should be ok by noon. I am still on the eye drops a few more days and then can resume wearing eye make-up next week. Yippee!

Anyone out there had lasik and loved it? Best thing you ever did? I can say it's almost the best thing I ever did. There a few others I won't mention on this blog but it tops the list pretty high. So I thank God everything turned out ok, I will be able to see perfectly clear without glasses or contacts, and that it's over with!!! It's really not as bad as people think. If you are thinking about having it done, it's by far one of the best investments a person can make. At least in my opinion. And hey, I can voice my opinion since this is my blog! LOL