So as many of you may or may not already know I had a Lasik procedure done on my eyes this week. Monday afternoon at about 12:00 pm I was in the chair looking up at some very bright lights after having had multiple numbing drops put in my eyes. My mother (who drove me home from my appt, thank you mom) was in a chair near by because she was interested in seeing the procedure first-hand.
As the doctors began the procedure I was a bit nervous of course, but the Valium they gave me helped to calm those nerves. After about 10 minutes the whole thing was done and I was given instructions for care and sent home.
Once home I did as told and slept from about 2pm till nearly 6pm with clear eye patches tapped to my face to keep from rubbing my eyes. the feeling right after surgery is similar to putting a contact in your eye that has a tear in it. Fairly annoying but not too uncomfortable. The tough part is that you are SUPER sensitive to light and the numbing drops makes it tough to really keep your eyes from watering.
Around 6:30pm Elise and the kids got home and I was awake enough to hang out with them and eat some dinner. At about 9 or so everyone was in bed and I took some Tylenol Simple Sleep since having a 3.5 hour nap was going to keep me from falling asleep again at 9:30pm. Woke up early Tuesday morning like any other day, helped Elise and the kids get off to school/work and I headed in to the doctor’s office for a 7:30am follow-up.
Driving down the highway in moderate traffic was a breeze and I was astonished by how incredibly clear everything was, even after only 16 or 17 hours since my surgery. Still a bit sensative to light I just made sure I had my sun glasses on and everything was great. My appointment took all of about 10 minutes and the doctor said I was currently seeing at 20/15 and that everything looked perfect. I scheduled my 1 week follow-up and was on my way home.
Since I had the day off I was able to really see how things in my new visual world (sans glasses or contacts) was like. I found myself looking around and trying to find signs far enough away that I couldn’t read them anymore and that was pretty tough. The rest of the day was like any other day with contacts and I felt completely normal.
I still have to sleep with the clear eye patches taped to my face. I find that the Tylenol Simply Sleep helps me sleep more comfortable with those on too but everything else is pretty much as it was before the surgery. The real advantage was when I realized I could put away my contact lens case and solution in the bathroom. Also, since my regular every-day glasses were originally Ray Ban sunglasses with clear prescription lenses in them I had the doctors office replace those lenses with the original sun glass lenses. I now have a very nice, brand-new pair of sun glasses too.
the lasting affects of the surgery are fairly minor. I have to put 3 sets of drops in my eyes for the next week 4 times a day. No physical exertion (no going to the gym or swimming) and no lifting more than 50 pounds (sorry Lily). After the first week I still can’t work out or go swimming but I can lift my little (big) girl again and I only have to continue with the regular artificial tears drops (down to 4 drops per day from 1 bottle). After 3 weeks I can again go to the gym, go swimming and do normal activities but still can’t rub my eyes, the last item on the check list. After 3-4 months my eyes should be fully healed and I can once again rub them (amazing how much such a simple activity like that is missed when you can’t do it).
Today (Wednesday) I was back at work sitting in front of a computer and just having to remind myself that the artificial tears are cheap compared to the priceless value of my eyes and to use them often. In addition I need to remember to step away form my monitors every 15-20 minutes and let my eyes focus on something other than the screens. Besides that, the light no longer bothers me, my sight is doing great and I tend to get less eye-ache since my vision isn’t being artificially corrected by contacts or glasses.
That’s about all there is to tell. I can’t wait to see how many other things I realize I was missing out on as the days, weeks and months progress with my new-found vision.
