I can see clearly now

I started wearing glasses when I was 8 and contacts when I was 11. I despise glasses but I've never had any big issues with my contacts -- until last July. I was sitting in Kelly's mom's kitchen when we were visiting back home when my contacts started getting really dry and driving me crazy. I thought it was just a bad pair so I switched them out but the irritation persisted. When we got back to Texas, I tried different brands I had tucked away but those didn't help either. I suffered it out until October when I could go see my eye doctor. She checked me for dry eyes but I didn't seem to have that. She gave me a good 3-4 different brands of lenses to try but they all had the same problem. They felt dirty, no matter how much I cleaned them or used eye drops. I started to bring up LASIK with Kelly. He kept telling me to go for it but I still held back.

I have known several friends over the years who got LASIK done. Ten years ago, a few of the Yo Mamas we skydived with got LASIK. I was curious but I never thought that I would do it myself. Then a few friends from our small group at church had it done. Finally, when Kelly's brother got LASIK a few years ago, I started to think of it as more of a possibility of something I might do someday.

Finally in April, I had enough of the irritating contacts. Kelly and I talked about it and I scheduled a few consultations at different centers to find out more information. All of the information that I heard and read said that you couldn't be pregnant or nursing, and to wait at least 2 months after you are done nursing because the different hormones can change your eyesight. I came home from my consultation in April, bought some whole milk for Bryce, and started weaning him that same day. He was completely weaned in 2 weeks. I felt guilty at the time for weaning him for a selfish reason like that but he did great with it and we almost made it to a year anyway.

As soon as he was weaned, I scheduled my LASIK surgery. I then spent the next 2 months agonizing over the decision. I read a lot about it, talked to friends who had it done, and e-mailed people I barely knew, asking them questions. Kelly probably got so sick of me saying "I'm doing it" one day, only to say "I'm not doing it" the next day. I really had no clue if I would go through with it up until my pre-op appointment on Wednesday afternoon. The doctor made me feel better about my concerns and the staff was so great there that I just felt a huge sense of peace about the whole thing. From that point on, I let go of the fears and got really excited about it. Excited to give up my contacts and be free from glasses for the first time in 21 years.

The surgery itself doesn't take long at all. First I was led into a room with 4 other people waiting to get their eyes zapped. I was given a hair cap and some shoe covers and then had to put my glasses away. My eyelids were scrubbed with betadine. Then the four of us sat around blind and chatted for a few minutes until the surgeon came in and introduced himself. Not that we could see him or anything. He asked us if we liked the music choice and we all said sure. He said he was glad they finally got Sirius Satellite radio. They had just the radio playing in the past and had to listen to ads from another local LASIK surgeon all. day. long.

Of course I was the last to go so I had to wait and think about it while I listed to the laser going next door. Right before the nurse came to get me, the song I Can See Clearly Now came over the speakers. Funny, right? I'm led to a room and instructed to lay on a chair similar to a dentist chair.

*Warning* If you don't want to read about the actual process, skip a few paragraphs.

So the first thing they did was tape one eye shut. Then they pried open my eyelids and applied a suction ring to my eyeball, which is creepy and uncomfortable. Then they swiveled the chair so I was under the laser that cuts the corneal flap. Their laser takes 15 seconds to cut the flap. I had been given lots of numbing drops so I didn't feel a thing but it was a bit unnerving since I knew exactly what was happening. They told me to focus on a little red light but it got blurry as the laser cut my cornea. It was like I could see what was happening because the line that divided clear from blurry went up as the laser cut the flap. They did the next eye and then led me back to the waiting area while we waited for the other laser suite to be available. After the flaps were cut in my corneas, I could see but it was blurry like looking through wax paper or vaseline.

So I chilled out for a few minutes in the waiting area with my eyes closed. This time while I was waiting, A Whole New World from Aladin played on the satellite radio. When it was my turn to do the actual treatment, I was led into a second laser suite. They had a similar dentist chair looking thing here. I laid down on it and we started with my right eye. My left eye was taped shut and my eyelids were pried open. The creepy part is they had to lift the flap they cut in the first room. So I was looking up and saw the doctor with some little tools lifting the flap and then things went blurry when he got it up. The laser was cool heat and zapped my eye for 38 seconds. Again, I didn't feel a thing but I could hear the laser and smell some tissue being burned. Then the doctor had to replace the corneal flap and smooth it down with some little tools. I couldn't really feel this due to the numbing drops but I knew what he was doing and it totally creeped me out as he brushed my cornea repeatedly, making sure it was smooth. The left eye wasn't treated as long because my vision wasn't as bad in that eye, I think it was around 29 seconds.

*Graphic part over*

As soon as they were done, they sat me up and I was amazed that I could see the clock on the wall quite well. Things were blurry but I could already see better than before. I was given some big sunglasses to wear all day and told to keep my eyes closed and try to sleep for a couple hours. Kelly drove me home and took the kids and got out of the house for me. It took me an hour to fall asleep because my eyes were burning a bit. It really wasn't very painful, more just irritating. I took a couple Tylenol and was able to sleep for two hours. When I woke up at 1:15, I ate lunch and was pretty much normal from then on, no irritation or any other symptoms. I got on the computer like normal and felt totally fine. We even went to the CrossFit gym after dinner. I could see people and things close perfectly but had some trouble reading street signs and stuff like that until I got really close.

I have a ton of different eye drops that I need to use for five days. An antibiotic, a steroid, and some lubricant drops. I also need to sleep in eye shields for five nights to make sure I don't rub my eyes in my sleep. Other than that, I'm back to normal. Except it's better than normal because I don't have to worry about my contacts being dry or taking them out or any of that business. This morning I drove myself to my follow up appt, which took all of 3 minutes. The doctor checked out my cornea to make sure my flap looked great, then had me read the eye chart. I was already 20/20 and he said he would be surprised if I wasn't 20/15 by this afternoon. So there, Alissa, now I have rock star vision like you. Except you didn't have to pay $3500 for yours...

My LASIK experience was amazing. I have no regrets. Just like everyone had told me, it was the best money I've ever spent on myself and I wish I would have done it sooner.