I love how my glasses always fall down my nose, fog up when I walk into someplace warm after being in the cold, and when they collect rain droplets – said no one! I couldn’t take the discomfort any longer so I had LASIK done last month 😀
What is LASIK?
If you have terrible eye sight, such as myself, you can be eligible for Lasik eye surgey which consists of reshaping your cornea through a flap the doctor will make in your eye. The laser itself reshapes the cornea and the flap goes back down. Don’t worry, the flap immediately gets sucked back down naturally. However, if you have poor eye sight along with other vision difficulties, such as astigmatism, you will probably be recommended to have PRK. PRK is essentially the same thing except no flap is made and this procedure takes a few more days of healing, whereas Lasik, you’re good to go the next day. If you’d like more details, you can click the link for Horizon Eye Care.
Shitty eyes
I have needed glasses since I was in third grade (9 years old). I can thank my dad for my terrible eye sight. He’s always had glasses or contacts, in fact, I can’t recall a time he didn’t need them. My parents kept me away from too much TV as they possibly could and never let me sit too close. Needless to say, they tried their best but it was just something they couldn’t avoid. Once I started high school (13/14 years old), I started to use contact lenses which came pretty easy to me. However, just because using contact lenses helped my eye sight, didn’t mean it would not come at a price. Every now and then, my eyes would go through this period where one or both eyes would become inflamed compelling me to use my glasses for several days allowing my eyes to rest.
Fast forward to last year. I was 29 years old and my eyes could no longer support contact lenses. These past few months had become aggravating wearing my glasses all the time because I could not see things standing a few feet away from me. I even bought a new phone with a bigger screen because looking at my tiny iPhone 5s began hurting my eyes. Don’t get me started on using that phone as a GPS while we dodged man holes! I came to the conclusion to get LASIK done.
I spoke to my husband about it and he also supported my idea since he saw how miserable I was. I started doing research this past February and asking around for info. With my luck, my neighbor, who also happens to be from New Jersey, recommended this doctor who did her procedure years ago. I had narrowed down my search to about 4 doctors and decided to go with the NJ doctor. I scheduled my appointment for May.
Day of LASIK
When I walked in, I had told the nurses I have anxiety. I guess they didn’t think it was that bad until one of them patted me on my back and said, “Wow, you’re really warm!”
Yes, I’m warm! In fact, I’m burning up from the inside because my anxiety is being triggered by the fact I will have a LASER COMING AT MY EYE BALLS! I told them to double me up on Ativan because I will freak out. As I sat on this hospital bed with my scrubs on and light blue cap on my head, I waited for the Ativan to kick in – it never did, well, it did but at the wrong time. After being asked several times if I was calm yet, I lied and said, “Yes.” It was a two hour ride back home so I just wanted to get it over with. I walked inside this operating room and they told me to lie down on this bed type thing and rest my head under this contraption. The Ativan finally kicked in midway through the second eye procedure and it was finally over.
Did it hurt?: No. TBH, I didn’t feel anything except when they used this suction cup that freaked me out.
Did you see the blade coming at you?: I didn’t see anything because I had to focus on this little red light. Everything went blurry, really blurry so I just saw shadows moving in front of me.
What happened when you needed to blink?: The numbing drops prevent you from doing so. You don’t get the sensation to blink, plus, they are flushing your eyes anyway.
How long did it take?: The laser itself had a count down from 25 seconds (which helped my anxiety so I counted along with the nurse). The whole thing was about 5 minutes, maybe less. The prepping took longer.
Were you able to see instantly?: By the time I left the O.R. and the office and walked into the elevator, I was able to see the signs by the buttons.
What was the worse part?: Them taping my eye lids open and using this small metallic object to keep my eyes open. It didn’t hurt, just felt uncomfortable.
The nurses escorted me to the previous hospital bed I was on and after a few minutes the doctor came to check my eyes. He gave me the thumbs up, I waddled my way in my parents car, threw back some Advil PMs (they recommend me taking them so I just sleep the rest of the day/night) and knocked out until dinner time. Oh, yeah, before I was able to go to sleep, I sent this picture to the hubs.
I was given those fancy shades to protect my eyes for about a month. Why these shades? Because these wrap around my eyes so I can avoid getting debris in my eyes. I was also given these shnazzy, clear goggles to sleep in. Apparently, when we sleep, we subconsciously rub our eyes. These goggles helped protect myself from my hands, pillow, and pet hair. I had to wear these for about 4 nights but I slept in them for about a week to be safe.
I wasn’t doing one of those “bae-caught-me-sleeping-even-though-I-clearly-took-this-photo-myself” shot. I forgot my phone had that bright ass flash on the front side of my screen so it order to take a picture, I had to shut my eyes so the light wouldn’t, you know, kill me. Why didn’t I just adjust the setting to my phone for no flash? I was supposed to be sleeping. I wasn’t supposed to be awake and watching TV, reading, much less, be on my phone. Finally, I had fallen asleep for the night.
The morning after
I woke up like a kid on Christmas day. To my surprise, I was able to see crystal clear. Nothing hurt, nothing itched but my eyes did feel dry. At this point, I had to put in wetting drops every couple of hours to ease the dryness along with my prescribed medication. There was some bruising inside my eyes but it was very minimal.
My eyes looked pretty glossy the next couple of days. According to my best friend, I looked stoned. I wish! Well, not really. My eyes were dry enough, I didn’t need them to get worse. The doctor told me I would feel a sensation in my eyes almost as if I had an eye lash inside. The sensation I felt was less annoying. It didn’t stop me from doing anything at all.
A month after LASIK
I am finally back home, on the island, with my little family. I could see everything without any assistance from eye wear. It’s like seeing everything for the first time. Now, I can wash my hair normally, wash my face, apply and remove make up, cook, go to the beach, walk my dogs, do everything comfortably and confidently.
I would highly recommend this if you can afford it, if you can stay calm, and if you’re just sick and tired of wearing glasses. It was quite possibly the best decision I have ever made. I would definitely avoid watching YouTube videos prior or else you might freak yourself out. Trust me, it looks a lot scarier than it is but it is completely worth it!
Organized Chaos 