My LASIK Experience: Eye Survived! (... get it??)

It's all over and Eye survived! ;)

The experience was better than I had hoped. There was no pain, a slight feeling of being uncomfortable (I'll get to that) and laughs all around. Everyone loved me there because I kept cracking jokes (slight nerves + excitement + Valium = I'm hysterical, apparently! Or, I *think* I'm hysterical!)

I got home from work around 2:15pm and met my mom who just got there herself. I was nervous with a capital "N." I couldn't wait to take the Valium but had to wait a bit. I was stressing. The time came to head out which meant I could take the pill ... phew! The place, Lens Doctors, was a 10-minute ride from my apartment so that was great. We rolled in around 3:10 and checked in, but not before taking a quick photo outside of me wearing my glasses for the LAST time! I was excited, but it was a little bittersweet. I know it sounds strange, but it was kind of weird to realize that I wouldn't see the way I've seen for my entire life in just a few minutes. Even though I was letting go of something negative, it was still something I had known all of my life ... it was kind of emotional!

While we were waiting in the lobby (and as I was freaking out), there was an elderly man sitting across from us who was very nice, but kept mumbling. It was making me (mom, too!) very nervous, haha. Luckily the Valium kicked in right in time and I was good to go! I think I said "I love Valium" 100 times during the course of this procedure. They all probably think I'm an addict.

I was taken over to a little desk and spoke with a really nice woman who went over all of my post-op care instructions. She also gave me a little backpack to keep everything in. I went back to sit with my mom for a bit and then got called into a room for a few moments before being led to a machine to measure my cornea one last time. I could hear someone else in the other room being treated and the woman explained to me what I was hearing (the laser warming up). My measurements were "perfect" according to her and I was led back into the room I came from originally. This time, I was given a b-e-a-utiful hairnet, a few eye drops and some lovely "makeup" to sterilize around my eyes. Dr. D. came in and told me he was "raring to go" for me and went over the procedure with me and what to expect. This was really helpful and comforting to hear. Also, I was so relaxed at this point that he could have told me he was draining out my life savings and I would have been okay with that!

I was brought into the operating room and put on a table/bed. I was given a pillow to go under my legs and chatted with the team for a bit. They were incredibly nice and I had a lot of fun with them. From what I can remember, there were probably 5 or so people in the room all wearing lovely surgical gear so I have no idea what they look like, haha. I was offered another pillow to hold on to but I opted to just hold on to the sides of the bed for dear life :)

***This is where things might get a little descriptive, so if you have a weak stomach :::cough, cough, John::: you might want to bypass this***

There were two locations I needed to be at during the surgery, one to create the flap in my cornea and one for the actual laser correction. The bed moved me to each spot which was awesome. They did one eye at a time. First, they covered my left eye with a shield. Then, I was given some numbing drops. Afterwards, they used something to kind of tape my eyelashes back and then put a suction cup-type thing around my right eye. This was the part that was the most uncomfortable because I felt pressure. It felt like something was hugging my eye and pushing on it. I can only imagine what it looked like, haha! At that point the bed moved me over to the machine that makes the incision. My vision at this point went pretty fuzzy (fine by me!) and also went a little black. This only took a few seconds but I was told to not move and not talk. Afterwards, I was moved back over to the spot where the actual laser correction would take place. I heard Dr. D. say it was a perfect incision, to which I replied, "That’s what I like to hear" (I could talk at this point), and made everyone laugh a bit. I was told that what I already went through was the worst of it and I couldn't believe it. It was SO easy! Dr. D. then used some tools to peel the flap back (I actually can't remember if this was done before or after the bed moved). This was probably the part I disliked the most because although I couldn't feel a thing, I knew what he was doing. I knew when he was done with that because my vision got funky. It was so strange. I then had the laser correction. I was told I would hear the laser warming up (like I had been told earlier) so I wouldn't be startled. The machine was moved over my face and I was told to look into the green light and BAM! The correction began. I could hear a woman saying "25%, 50%, 75%, 100%" and it was done. The team coached me through the entire thing. It was like having my own personal cheerleaders! I could smell a burning electrical smell which I was told was the smell of the machine, but, let's face it, my eye was basically frying under a laser. I expected the smell to be horrible, but it wasn't anything. Dr. D. then used some tools to smooth my corneal flap back to where it needed to be and took all the things holding my eye in place together, out. As they took the stuff out on my right eye, I had a quick glimpse of the machine and I could actually see it. I had a moment of "cool!" before they put a shield on. The shield covering my left eye was then moved to my right eye and the same thing was repeated on the left eye. After the right eye was done, Dr. D. said how perfectly it had turned out. He said, "You know how some people are just made for certain procedures? You were made for this." That made me feel really great.

The procedure was done before I knew it and they took everything off of my left eye and helped me up from the bed. They asked how I felt and I told them the Patriots' Super Bowl loss was worse than the procedure. They all laughed and agreed. I was led into the post-op room where the woman who helped me in the beginning came in to see how I was. My mom met me inside and Dr. D. came in as well to take a look at the incision. He said everything was great and he'd see me the next day at 2:10pm for my post-op appointment. I told him I could cry because I was so happy and after laughing, he told me not to because I would "float my flap", um, ew. I opted for smiling! I was given some more numbing drops, had lovely eye-shields and sunglasses put on, took a departing photo and went on my merry way!

All-in-all I was at Lens Doctors for maybe an hour and a half, in the operating room for 25 minutes and the actual laser correction was 25-seconds each eye. I had to be worked on a little more than usual because my astigmatism was "unique", haha ... aka horrible.

I called John and told him not to worry, only one of my eyeballs fell out.

Soon after, my eyes were feeling scratchy and as if I stared at the sun for a bit. They almost felt sunburned, or as if I had worn my contacts for days without rewetting drops (which I used to do, once upon a time ... shhh!), but nothing terrible. I could see, but it was a little foggy. We had to run back to my place to get Remmie and I bumped into one of my neighbors. The best part? She didn't even question why I was wearing these ridiculous shields and sunglasses over my eyes. I told her why I was looking ridiculous, but I don't think she would have asked or even really thought anything was out of the ordinary. Good to know my neighbors think I'm a whack job!

I headed to my mom and dad's and just lounged on the couch for the night. I was told to try to sleep, but that was not going to happen. Oh well! At that point I hardly felt any discomfort. Best decision of my life. Enjoy the photos we took to document the experience!