So on May 27th I had my LASIK surgery! I'm going to write the great, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Day Of
The morning of the surgery I woke up very early to make the 1.5 hour drive the where the center was. They said to make sure to eat the morning of because they didn't want the valium to make my stomach upset. I managed to get some nuts, granola, and some other snacks down. I was really nervous so eating a bit was hard. If I could do it again I would have eaten an actual breakfast! I didn't eat enough and afterwards I was very nauseous.
When I finally got to the clinic I waited about a half an hour after my appointment time to be seen. I wasn't in a huge hurry just very anxious and the wait didn't help. I already new what to expect but I just wanted it done and over with. I was finally called in and we went over some paperwork that I had to sign, they made sure I knew about all the risks involved, I made the payment, and then they gave me a little happy pill that was supposed to relax me. They also gave me all the post-op information, explained everything, and then had me try on a pair of goggles and sized them to my head. These are for sleeping and to make sure you don't bump your eyes at night. I'm glad they had me do this before so I didn't have to do this afterwards. Then I was brought into the procedure room.
The had me lay down and they put some numbing drops in my eyes. How did it feel? Numb. After a few minutes (I think?) the moved a machine over my head. I couldn't feel too much what they were doing over my eye so I kept asking questions the whole time and trying to make jokes to calm myself down. They put what looked like a clear plastic circle around my eye and then put something else over the top. I think they were getting a suction? Not too for sure. They put the machine over my eye and told me to stare at the dot. The machine is very sensitive so it can't be messed up. I heard a whiring noise like it was moving in a circle and smelled something burning. I would have freaked out at the burning smell but my husband told me about it when he had his PRK. I wasn't told about this from them and probably would have freaked the fudge out if my husband hadn't told me about this. Then it felt like he moved the flap off to the side. That's when I realized that my cornea was basically off my eye. Then they moved the machine over to my right eye and proceeded to do the same thing. OMG. This is where it hurt. It isn't supposed to hurt because of the numbing drops, right? So the whole time I was like "That kind of hurts". Then it really hurt so I was like "Okay, yea that hurts. Ow, ow, ow, OW!" I clasped both of my hands together and stared at the light counting down the seconds. It wasn't that long but when you're having your cornea lasered off your eye those few seconds seem like forever. After that it didn't hurt. The Doctor said it was basically because my eye knew what to expect and that for some people the second eye hurts a little. It was a pain that didn't last long at all because after that they moved another machine over your eye and you stared at the light. It was kind of hard to see and really blurry (I'm assuming because the flap is removed). After the few seconds of staring at the light he moved the machine away, put the flap back in place, and wiped my eye with what looked like a teeny tiny brush. That didn't hurt and I didn't even feel it but it was weird knowing what he was doing. There were probably some other minor steps during the procedure that I don't remember. Afterwards we all clapped had a couple pictures and we walked back to the waiting room.
Right after the procedure I could see but it was hazy. In the waiting room I waited for my husband to come and get me and then was given the okay to go home. I was told to take my sleeping pill and go straight to sleep. I cannot stress this enough, go straight to sleep! If you don't live in the area I highly recommend spending the night in a hotel room there and then the next day going home. They really mean it when they say go straight to sleep. The hour and a half drive home was awful! About a half hour into it my eyes started burning like they never have before. It felt like someone was pouring cat litter into my eyes and rubbing it in with sandpaper. Thankfully, my husband was very kind and not taking what I was saying to heart in my moment of pain.
When I got home my husband somehow managed to put my eye drops in my eyes for me, gave me a sleeping pill, and tucked me into bed. When I woke up about seven hours later, the pain was gone AND I was able to see! In bright rooms everything was hazy and the lights hurt my eyes so I still wore sunglasses. I rested for a bit and then went back to bed.
One Week After
The next day I went to my post-op appointment and had 20/20 vision! I was cleared to drive and everything was looking great. My right eye (the one that hurt during the procedure) was extremely blood shot and I joked with my husband that I was half vampire. For the first few days I had to take three different kinds of medicated eye drops plus my preservative free eye drops. I took the medicated ones four times a day and had to take the other ones every two hours. However, my eyes were so dry that instead of every two hours I took them about every half hour and used almost a whole vial every time. I'll give you a pro tip: Stash some eye drops under your pillow so you don't have to get up in the night to put eye drops in. I would wake up and my eyes felt like Sponge Bob outside of water. I did have some weird vision changes as well such as seeing black spots, having my peripheral vision shake, and some more weird things. At my 5 day post-op appointment they said that vision changes would be normal. It's most likely from the dryness and will go away eventually.
Two Weeks After
My weird vision changes went away and I was able to use the eye drops about every one to two hours (even though after one week I only have to take them four times a day for a month). I also didn't feel the need to use an entire vial in one use. So you could say the dryness was starting to fade. During my 5 day post-op I asked if using too much eye drops would hurt them and they said that I should be bathing my eyes in them if I need to lol. After ten days I was able to get water in my eye, could do sports again, and am allowed to sleep without my sleeping goggles.
Three Weeks After
The dryness has significantly gone away even though it is still there. I am not allowed to rub my eyes yet so even though I'm allowed to wear make up I haven't for fear of rubbing my eyes too hard during makeup removal. I also move around in my sleep and am a habitual eye rubber so I still sleep with my goggles on. I still find myself waking up in the night trying to rub my eyes so I am very thankful for those goggles. I am still half vampire but the redness is starting to fade.
My next post-op appointment is June 30th. After this date I should be able to rub my eyes. If so, I will start sleeping without my goggles...maybe.
Was it slightly painful? For a short period of time.
Was it worth it? Yes.
Would I do it again? Definitely.
If LASIK is something you are interested in I would definitely look into it and talk to your Doctor.
The Day Of
The morning of the surgery I woke up very early to make the 1.5 hour drive the where the center was. They said to make sure to eat the morning of because they didn't want the valium to make my stomach upset. I managed to get some nuts, granola, and some other snacks down. I was really nervous so eating a bit was hard. If I could do it again I would have eaten an actual breakfast! I didn't eat enough and afterwards I was very nauseous.
When I finally got to the clinic I waited about a half an hour after my appointment time to be seen. I wasn't in a huge hurry just very anxious and the wait didn't help. I already new what to expect but I just wanted it done and over with. I was finally called in and we went over some paperwork that I had to sign, they made sure I knew about all the risks involved, I made the payment, and then they gave me a little happy pill that was supposed to relax me. They also gave me all the post-op information, explained everything, and then had me try on a pair of goggles and sized them to my head. These are for sleeping and to make sure you don't bump your eyes at night. I'm glad they had me do this before so I didn't have to do this afterwards. Then I was brought into the procedure room.
The had me lay down and they put some numbing drops in my eyes. How did it feel? Numb. After a few minutes (I think?) the moved a machine over my head. I couldn't feel too much what they were doing over my eye so I kept asking questions the whole time and trying to make jokes to calm myself down. They put what looked like a clear plastic circle around my eye and then put something else over the top. I think they were getting a suction? Not too for sure. They put the machine over my eye and told me to stare at the dot. The machine is very sensitive so it can't be messed up. I heard a whiring noise like it was moving in a circle and smelled something burning. I would have freaked out at the burning smell but my husband told me about it when he had his PRK. I wasn't told about this from them and probably would have freaked the fudge out if my husband hadn't told me about this. Then it felt like he moved the flap off to the side. That's when I realized that my cornea was basically off my eye. Then they moved the machine over to my right eye and proceeded to do the same thing. OMG. This is where it hurt. It isn't supposed to hurt because of the numbing drops, right? So the whole time I was like "That kind of hurts". Then it really hurt so I was like "Okay, yea that hurts. Ow, ow, ow, OW!" I clasped both of my hands together and stared at the light counting down the seconds. It wasn't that long but when you're having your cornea lasered off your eye those few seconds seem like forever. After that it didn't hurt. The Doctor said it was basically because my eye knew what to expect and that for some people the second eye hurts a little. It was a pain that didn't last long at all because after that they moved another machine over your eye and you stared at the light. It was kind of hard to see and really blurry (I'm assuming because the flap is removed). After the few seconds of staring at the light he moved the machine away, put the flap back in place, and wiped my eye with what looked like a teeny tiny brush. That didn't hurt and I didn't even feel it but it was weird knowing what he was doing. There were probably some other minor steps during the procedure that I don't remember. Afterwards we all clapped had a couple pictures and we walked back to the waiting room.
Right after the procedure I could see but it was hazy. In the waiting room I waited for my husband to come and get me and then was given the okay to go home. I was told to take my sleeping pill and go straight to sleep. I cannot stress this enough, go straight to sleep! If you don't live in the area I highly recommend spending the night in a hotel room there and then the next day going home. They really mean it when they say go straight to sleep. The hour and a half drive home was awful! About a half hour into it my eyes started burning like they never have before. It felt like someone was pouring cat litter into my eyes and rubbing it in with sandpaper. Thankfully, my husband was very kind and not taking what I was saying to heart in my moment of pain.
When I got home my husband somehow managed to put my eye drops in my eyes for me, gave me a sleeping pill, and tucked me into bed. When I woke up about seven hours later, the pain was gone AND I was able to see! In bright rooms everything was hazy and the lights hurt my eyes so I still wore sunglasses. I rested for a bit and then went back to bed.
One Week After
The next day I went to my post-op appointment and had 20/20 vision! I was cleared to drive and everything was looking great. My right eye (the one that hurt during the procedure) was extremely blood shot and I joked with my husband that I was half vampire. For the first few days I had to take three different kinds of medicated eye drops plus my preservative free eye drops. I took the medicated ones four times a day and had to take the other ones every two hours. However, my eyes were so dry that instead of every two hours I took them about every half hour and used almost a whole vial every time. I'll give you a pro tip: Stash some eye drops under your pillow so you don't have to get up in the night to put eye drops in. I would wake up and my eyes felt like Sponge Bob outside of water. I did have some weird vision changes as well such as seeing black spots, having my peripheral vision shake, and some more weird things. At my 5 day post-op appointment they said that vision changes would be normal. It's most likely from the dryness and will go away eventually.
Two Weeks After
My weird vision changes went away and I was able to use the eye drops about every one to two hours (even though after one week I only have to take them four times a day for a month). I also didn't feel the need to use an entire vial in one use. So you could say the dryness was starting to fade. During my 5 day post-op I asked if using too much eye drops would hurt them and they said that I should be bathing my eyes in them if I need to lol. After ten days I was able to get water in my eye, could do sports again, and am allowed to sleep without my sleeping goggles.
Three Weeks After
The dryness has significantly gone away even though it is still there. I am not allowed to rub my eyes yet so even though I'm allowed to wear make up I haven't for fear of rubbing my eyes too hard during makeup removal. I also move around in my sleep and am a habitual eye rubber so I still sleep with my goggles on. I still find myself waking up in the night trying to rub my eyes so I am very thankful for those goggles. I am still half vampire but the redness is starting to fade.
My next post-op appointment is June 30th. After this date I should be able to rub my eyes. If so, I will start sleeping without my goggles...maybe.
Was it slightly painful? For a short period of time.
Was it worth it? Yes.
Would I do it again? Definitely.
If LASIK is something you are interested in I would definitely look into it and talk to your Doctor.
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