As I sit writing to you, I'm not wearing glasses or contacts. Well, yesterday I wore sunglasses. But they weren't prescription. My coworkers took this picture and laughed at me.
I had my LASIK procedure done Thursday morning (
click here to read about my initial exam and consultation). My wife came along so she could drive me home after the procedure. I was instructed to bring my prescription eye drops and the consent form.
Upon arrival, I was brought back to the room with the comfy chair, given numbing drops, offered a Valium (I took it), and told to watch another video. This one was about what to do after the procedure. I have four kinds of eye drops. The instructions are simple. I have four "eye drop sessions" a day.
After the video I was led to the operating room, where I took off my glasses for the last time. The surgeon made a final check of my eyes with the microscope, and I lay down on the table. I wasn't immobilized or anything, just instructed to focus on a red light. Some sort of apparatus gently held my eyelid open and a loose patch was placed over the eye not being worked on. Probably so I couldn't see what was happening to me.
I know what's involved in the procedure, but I really had no idea when they were doing what. They probably didn't announce the play-by-play because it would make most people more nervous. I mean, who wants to hear "Now we're cutting a flap in your cornea?"
I didn't realize the laser had begun sculpting until I smelled it (I was warned about a "faint acrid smell"). It wasn't until hours later I realized the clear, wet, plastic-looking object that passed over my vision was my corneal flap being put back into place. The entire procedure was totally painless, albeit bizarre. Just out-of-this world weird. I couldn't possibly describe the sensation. I don't know if it was the procedure or the Valium or both, but I felt very disoriented afterward.
When I stood up, I had what I'd estimate to be a 65 percent improvement in vision immediately. By morning I was seeing a little better than 20/20, which was confirmed by a next-day eye exam. They want to see me again in three weeks.
I do however see the "halos" around lights I was told about, which should fade over the next few months. If you've ever seen a streetlight on a foggy morning, it looks a lot like that. Which isn't to say my vision is foggy, lights just sort of "bleed" in the same way, as though they were illuminating all that water vapor.
