So I've heard a lot of people describe the immediate effects of Lasik surgery as being 'uncomfortable'. You're eyes will feel like there's sand in there, they'll burn, they said, but you'll go home, sleep for a few hours, and feel like a new person! Mmmm...it sounded more pleasant than it was for me personally. They gave me a Valium at the office before the procedure. Let me start by saying how nice my doctor was. It's not often I consider a medical professional to be kind, but he really was. The greatest discomfort came at the start of the procedure, in which they pull your eyelids open. I didn't have that need to blink, but my poor skin! The discomfort was such that I almost started to cry. Following the stretching of skin into positions God never intended, I feel a suction on my eyeball, so uncomfortable...I'm not actually sure what they were doing, but it feel as though they had places a round piece of glass or plastic over my pupil, at which point my vision went away. It slowly comes back to the flashing red light they ask you to focus on. This is truly the most uncomfortable part of the whole procedure. Once the laser began, the pain didn't subside, but rather levelled off. What is that smell? Burning plastic? Why no! It's a corneal BBQ! The process repeats in the 2nd eye, and I walk out of that room in under 10 minutes. On the way home, I fall asleep, waking up to limited vision-I can't actually open my eyes. I got home and immediately crawled into bed while my sister went to fill the prescription antiobiotic eyedrops. Instead of falling back to sleep, I became very aware of my burning eyes (which I couldn't touch). The room is too cold. My feet are too cold. Nothing about this comfortable. I still can't open my eyes because of the burn, so I wander in to the bathroom in an attempt to take a hot bath. When my sister comes back, I'm sitting in a hot tub with no lights on in the bathroom (what's the point?). Eventually, with my fleece sleeping bag fixed on the sofa, I doze on and off for 4 hours. The burning did ease as the evening went on (and felt much better after my first dose of the eye drop cocktail). Despite spending the entire day on the sofa yesterday, I still slept like a log last night. It's amazing what the body does to preserve itself when it feels 'wounded'. I woke up this morning to vision I haven't had in over 20 years. It's not perfect, but it's not expected to be that way at first. I can drive. I can function. I can read my computer screen (obviously). For the first time in over 20 years, I can read the alarm clock by my bed, and not have to pull it within inches from my face. So far, despite a rough and uncomfortable day yesterday, this surgery has been worth it.
Image found here.
17 comments:
Did your insurance pay for it? How much out of pocket did it cost you?
I don't think I want to get it done. Right now, I don't have to see the disappointment in people's faces:)
Had I used my insurance company's preferred providers, they would have given me a discount, that ultimately was not saving me any money. It cost more to use their people than seek out a clinic myself. I set aside $1000 pre-tax dollars with my flexible spending account. Fortunately, Wageworks, the company that manages that account, gives you a credit card at the beginning of each year, and then the money is taken from your paycheck over the course of the year. The remaining $1500 I financed interest free for 18 months, but dear old Pop, the one who bequeathed me with horrendous vision, offered to pay the balance.
"Right now, I don't have to see the disappointment in people's faces." lol. Don't you have the right prescription on your glasses? ;-)
OMG, you are brave. I have never had enough nerve to do the surgery. I'm afraid I would freak out and jump at a critical moment!
Now you don't have to keep up with glasses or contacts anymore. Just in time for your trip!
It's hard to freak out when they've got you by the proverbial balls...eyeballs, that is. I really wanted to fly and not worry about contacts, glasses, saline, swimming in the sea w/ drying out my eyes...I felt the wind on my eyeball today for the first time in years. Usually it's a lens or eyeglass protecting it, but this was the first time my boys were free in a very long time!
Thanks or posting this. Now I know I will not be doing it. I have to get a valium shot to have my teeth cleaned, so I don't think this is for me ;-)))
LOL! Ya know, PM, I reread the take home sheet they gave me (the one I couldn't read for an entire day after having the procedure). It warns that the burning may continue for 4 hours. I went in to have my eyes checked today, and I have 20/15 vision in both eyes. I told her how I couldn't sleep, and she said some people were just like that (recommended Tylenol PM for that). I feel 100% better today than I did two days ago, if it's any consolation. The discomfort is more or less short-lived, and if you have really poor vision (like moi) then it seems worth it in the end.
splendid, all is well that ends well.
I had this lasik surgery in 2001. It was perfect on my right eye but there was a problem in my left eye and had to have surgery again. It was worth it, though. I used to need my glasses for EVERYTHING! The first thing I'd do in the morning is get my glasses or contact on. Couldn't distinguish a street lamp from a friend!
Nuri, that was my biggest fear. I'm travelling next week, and just didn't want to have to worry about getting a temporary pair of glasses. So far the vision in both eyes is almost equal, and now that it's day 4, I see even better. When does the dry eye feeling go away??!?! At night I feel like I've left my contacts in too long. I still grab for my glasses before looking at the alarm clock. Creature of habit.
Congrats!!
Thanks, Carmen! I'm staring at the monitor at work, and felt dust in my eye, and actually rubbed it. Big no-no in post lasik reality I'm in.Doesn't feel like i've damaged it, though!
De-lurking to say congrats on the LASIK. I got it before I moved to the Middle East for similar reasons, plus desert + contacts= dry discomfort! My eyes get tired more easily, especially from computer screens, and I have to use eyedrops more often, but otherwise I love it. The only side effect I wasn't expecting is when I chop onions, now my eyes tear. I thought it was an old wives' tale, but apparently before, my contacts protected me from the onion gasses or something!
De-lurking to say ongrats on the LASIK. I got it before I moved to the Middle East for similar reasons, plus desert + contacts= dry discomfort! My eyes get tired more easily, especially from computer screens, and I have to use eyedrops more often, but otherwise I love it. The only side effect I wasn't expecting is when I chop onions, now my eyes tear. I thought it was an old wives' tale, but apparently it was just my contacts protecting me from the onion gasses or something!
My right eye felt ok, but it felt like there was sand in my left eye. DONT RUB your eyes!! It turned out the cornea in my left eye was kind of "displaced", and the doctor told me it was my fault, that I had rubbed it. I didn't!
Anyway, it was a great decision.
Welcome former-blurker, Kuwaiting! My eyes were miserable, especially when I lived in Egypt. I think it was the pollution, dirt, and whatever they sprayed my classroom with in the morning to keep the mosquitoes down. In the last two days, my left eye has felt like there's perpetually dirt on my non-existent contact lens. Will this go away? How long ago did you get the procedure kuwaiting, and how often do you have to use eye drops?
Nuri, I caught myself rubbing the left eye, only for a moment yesterday. It's been kinda scratchy.
Oops, sorry, didn't see your response. I hope the weird not-really-there contact feeling has gone away. I got the procedure in May, and I'm supposed to use drops every few hours. Realistically, I use them in the morning, before bed and maybe once during the day. Don't follow my example!
It's pretty great-the flight to Dubai coupled w/ lack of sleep made my eyes feel scratchy, but other than that, I put the drops in as it feels uncomfortable. I find they're quite dry when I'm tired.
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