Laser Eyes!

Alright, so here is the post I've been dreading to write, as my laser eye surgery isn't nearly as interesting as the results. Neither is is really that easy to convey to you the life-changing effect it has already had on me. I'll try to give you a little glimpse into the process and the results but be warned... this might be a very boring post.

As most of you know by now, because I've been talking about it for months and posting status updates about it on Facebook for the past few days, last Saturday I had laser eye surgery on both my eyes to correct my horrible vision. I have wanted this for years and finally took the plunge, both financially and physically. It is odd how much this decision effects your life in contrast to how relaxed and quick the actual surgery is.

From start the finish the whole surgery process took about 90 minutes on the day, I was physically 'in surgery' for about 10 minutes! In that time here is what happened: the nurse numbed my eyes, then using a plastic ring they spread my eyes open and cut a flap in my cornea using a laser. After each flap was cut the surgeon opened up my eye and then placed my gaping cornea and iris under the laser. I was asked to stare at a bright red light while a blue laser was shot in my eye in a circular patten. This took 41 seconds for my right eye and 43 for my left. The whole time I could smell the laser burning bits of my eye... gross. For your information, burning eye smells exactly like burning hair. Aside from the smell this process was completely painless and I'm happy to say all went 100% well!

Once I was out of surgery I was made to sit in a darkened room where the nurse went over my aftercare procedure. I have three drops I use four times a day for seven day, which is really no big deal at all but what they don't really tell you before hand is that you have to sleep in these RIDICULOUS goggles for seven nights after your surgery! They are not very comfortable but not as uncomfortable as you'd expect but they are certainly affecting my ability to sleep soundly for more than 2 or 3 hours. Oh well, seven days is worth the results. After I had been told about aftercare I was free to go!

I was feeling fantastic, my sight was already better, not perfectly clear but 100% better than before, I walked out of the surgery with only my sunglasses on... completely free of corrective lenses! Rob was with me and I was feeling so good I decided to take the bus home instead of spending £10 on a taxi. For the first 5 minutes this seemed like an alright idea then the numbing drops wore off and I thought I was going to die!!!!! Not only was the bus slow, it was just about the sunniest day in London since we've moved here, go figure! Every time the tiniest bit of light hit my eye or eyelid it felt like tiny hot daggers poking me. I was in real pain and completely unable to open my eyes! The bus took what felt like eternity to get home. Rob had to guide me with my eyes completely shut from the bus stop all the way home and once inside I went immediately to the completely dark bedroom and tried to sleep with my silly goggles for a few hours.

When I work up it was dark out and I could get up and walk around like normal as long as the lights were off. My vision was definitely improving and by 10pm that night I could watch TV and pretty much see everything almost perfectly!

Sunday morning I woke up and was completely blown away! Everything was instantly sharper my sight was better than it had ever been with contacts or glasses. I couldn't believe the things I could see! I could read book titles on our book shelves from eight feet away! I could see the digital clock numbers on our TV from nearly 10 feet away. Not only could I see and read these things, I could see them SO MUCH SHARPER. I couldn't wait to get out in the real world and go shopping. Outside in the sun the difference was breath-taking! Not only was everything sharper, everything was more vibrant too. I could see colours better, individual bricks on building or leaves on trees were all distinct. I kept testing Rob to see if I could see more clearly than him, and I think I can! It's absolutely incredible.

Sunday evening I had my 24hr check up with the optometrist and i had my first sight test. The check up went well and everything seems to be healing fine... good new. When I took my sight test I could see better than 20/20... GREAT NEWS! In fact, my right eye was 16/20 and my left was 18/20! The results were better than expected but still might change over the next week or so. I was thrilled.

Today is Tuesday, three days after my surgery, and I'm still noticing things that I could never see before. If you have never worn glasses or contacts you'll think I sound like a gushing lunatic, if you have worn them... don't hesitate any longer, if you can, go out and get this done as soon as humanly possible! I'm not exaggerating, the surgery really is this good!