Me 2, Eyes 1

Ok, the eyes still have their point from our last encounter, but as of last Friday, I reign supreme.  (Over my eyes that is.)

Yep, I managed to successfully have lasik. And......I CAN SEE!!  Wow!  I haven't seen this well since I was a child.  In fairness, my very up-close vision (closer than a foot or so) is slightly blurrier, but my distance vision is awesome.  The procedure itself was, well, let's just say uncomfortable.  It didn't hurt, thanks to numbing drops, but I really hate my eyes being messed with so it was very hard for me to have this done.  My surgeon told David that is was challenging for both of us.  I really owe that man a thank you card for being patient and trying a second time.  In spite of the lid speculum, I was squeezing my eye so hard that he couldn't keep the corneal ring on to make the flap with the Intralase (laser).  After warning me again that he'd call it off if he couldn't do it, I managed to will my body into a more relaxed state and we got through it.  The amount of pressure you feel on your eye when the laser docks to make the flap is unreal!  They only do that for the flap though, the rest of the laser time is much easier.  The next 3-4 hours were not the most pleasant--my eyes did burn, and tear like crazy, but then they didn't feel any different than if I'd just not gotten quite enough sleep.

Although rather red, by the next morning they didn't really hurt at all.  I went to my first follow-up and tested at 20-20 vision in both eyes, so that's good.  It will still take 3-6 months for my eyes to stabilize, so we'll see what my final vision is, and how my close-up vision turns out.  I am seeing the halos around lights at night, but not too bad.  That will probably subside with time, although it's possible it won't.

For the next several days, I have drops for my eyes, each 4 times a day:  steroid, antibiotic, and lubricating.  I'm not fond of eye drops either but you can bet I'm making sure to do every last one.  I also have plastic eye shields I have to tape onto my face at night so I can't rub or bump my eyes during the night, but I'll only need those for a few more nights.

It's really quite funny.  I run around the house "Where are my glasses?"  "Wait, let me get my glasses on so I can see." "Oops, better take my glasses off so I don't bend them while I'm sleeping."  Years and years of habits really do die hard.

Best bang for the buck so far?  Being able to read the alarm clock at night out of the corner of EITHER eye, without squinting.  (My left eye used to be a lot worse than my right and I couldn't see the clock out of it no matter what.  I could squint hard and see it with my right eye.)  I haven't driven yet but will do so tomorrow.  I also have another eye check-up tomorrow afternoon although I'm sure it will go well.