~~~LASIK LASER VISION CORRECTION SURGERY~~~SEEING THE WORLD CLEARLY NOW WITH MY OWN TWO EYES!!
Jun 04 '05
The Bottom Line Having Lasik Eye Surgery has been one of the best things I've done for myself in a very long time! I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone I know.
Ever since I can remember, I've always been nearsighted and got my very first pair of glasses when in the 4th grade. I hated them so much that I rarely wore them, even though I couldn't see the chalkboard at school without them. Once I turned 15 or 16, I was introduced to soft contact lenses and the world was a whole new place since I could really see again! Fast forward 20 years of daily contact lens wear, and my eyes were paying the price of having good vision without wearing glasses. For they were always dry, irritated, and red, especially after taking a course of Accutane a few years back, which not only dried out my acne once and for all, but my eyes as well! Enough was enough. I SO wanted to get Lasik Eye Surgery and be done with my contacts once and for all!
So back in January 2005, I scheduled an appointment with my eye doctor so that I could purchase a pair of glasses in preparation for surgery (yes, I'd went all those years wearing contacts and didn't even own a pair of glasses! That's how much I hated them). I had a friend at work that had this procedure done the year before and had been telling me how wonderful it was. So I already knew going in that wearing contacts changed the shape or the eye a bit and that I'd have to go without them for at least 2 weeks prior to the laser surgery to let my eyes return to their natural shape. I'd been told several times before by my eye doctor that I was a good candidate for the procedure, and this visit was no different. My prescription had remained constant over the years (-3.25 in one eye and -3.50 in the other) even though I did have an astigmatism in my right eye, which can easily be corrected along with the nearsightedness. I'd tried a specialized contact lens designed especially to correct the astigmatism, but ultimately it wasn't what I wanted long term. He said my eyes were in good shape and recommended that I have Lasik Eye Surgery whenever I was ready. I first had to wait for my glasses to come in, and then I'd be good to go.
My next step was to find a surgeon under our vision plan, which gave a slight discount for Lasik Eye Surgery (hey, every little bit helps!). The closest provider was approximately 45 minutes away from my house, and I chose the Campbell Cunningham Laser Center located in Knoxville, Tennessee. They'd done well over 5000 procedures, so they were definitely experienced in this area. I called for a consultation in February 2005 and even tentatively scheduled the surgery for two weeks later since that gave my eyes enough time to be contact free as required. The consultation went fine, which was basically a question/answer session where the person doing the consult (not the surgeon) told me all about the procedure: risks, benefits, etc. She analyzed my glasses and knew my prescription right away and said I was indeed a good candidate for their Custom Vue procedure, which is an individualized laser vision correction surgery designed especially for my own eyes. And of course even my astigmatism could be corrected when my Lasik Eye Surgery was performed. Here's a link to the center where I went:
http://www.ccteyes.com/lasik.htm
But before I go on, just what is this vision correction surgery I so desperately wanted? According to the fda.gov website: LASIK Eye Surgery is a surgical procedure intended to reduce a person's dependency on glasses or contact lenses. LASIK stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis and is a procedure that permanently changes the shape of the cornea, the clear covering of the front of the eye, using an excimer laser. A knife, called a microkeratome, is used to cut a flap in the cornea. A hinge is left at one end of this flap. The flap is folded back revealing the stroma, the middlesection of the cornea. Pulses from a computer-controlled laser vaporize a portion of the stroma and the flap is replaced. Find out more details, including the risks, benefits, realistic expectations, and who's a good candidate here:
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/lasik/
Once my consultation was complete, I returned a few weeks later for my pre-op tests that needed to be done two days before my surgery was scheduled. Only the optometrist (I've still not seen my surgeon yet) said my eyes were too irritated to have surgery this soon, so I was given a regimen of eye drops and ointments to use for two weeks and then we'd try again. I was also to go easy on the mascara (and if I used it at all, make sure I removed it well at the end of the day. So for someone that LOVES her make-up, this was truly the hardest part!) Naturally, I was very disappointed (after all, my eye doctor never said a word about this "irritation"!) but not totally surprised considering I'd worn contacts for so long and since I did have a problem with dry eyes anyway. So I did the eye drops and ointment faithfully as prescribed all while wearing my glasses (which was a big adjustment in itself after wearing contacts for so long!) and returned two weeks later. Again, I was told the same thing: my eyes were better but still the corneas showed more irritation than he would like to see. The main concern at this point was being able to make a good enough "flap" during the Lasik Eye Surgery itself, so I was sent back home to keep doing the same thing.
I was now 4 to 5 weeks into wearing my glasses and was getting quite frustrated with the whole process as I'd kept rearranging my work schedule and child care for my eye appointments as well as for my possible surgery dates. But this was my EYES we were talking about, so I had to learn how to be patient. I decided to wait 4 more weeks instead of 2 to return again, and adding all that extra time apparently paid off as my surgery was FINALLY a go on March 30, 2005. I still had SOME irritation, which had probably been there awhile and it was something they couldn't give me a definite cause for (was it the long term contact use, my dry eyes, or what? I'll probably never know for sure). I'd been wearing glasses a total of 9 weeks instead of just 2 (and here in the beginning I was wondering how in the world I'd manage them for the 2 weeks initially!). So I was given some antibiotic drops and was sent home after I passed all my pre-op workup passed with shining colors only to return two days later for the real thing. They do dilate your eyes for this, so having a driver might be nice even though they gave me special sunglasses and I drove myself home just fine. After all this time, my Lasik Eye Surgery was really going to happen! I finally met my surgeon, Dr. Campbell, who explained all the risks and benefits of the procedure I wanted and was a good candidate for.
Now on to the price: total cost for my Lasik Eye Surgery was right at $4000 for both eyes. My discount brought it down to $3800, so I used my credit card (which I'd gotten specifically for this procedure as it offered no interest until April 2006) to charge my bill to. This way I could pay it off over the next year without having any interest to accrue. Smart woman, huh? How nice it would have been to just pay cash, but this was the next best way for me. Of course they offered financing for those that need it, so many payment options were available. Once my surgery was complete, they sent me two free movie tickets as a "thank you" for choosing their office, which I thought was a really nice gesture considering how much the procedure cost!
Back to the Lasik Eye Surgery itself: my appointment time wasn't until 5PM in the afternoon, so I didn't have to arrive super early or anything. There was no special preparation other than using the antibiotic drops as prescribed the day before. Naturally no make-up of any kind is allowed the day of surgery, especially eye make-up for obvious reasons. And no perfume or cologne since it interferes with their equipment somehow. Several people were ahead of me as they apparently do several a day, but they were in out and very quickly. Of course it was only natural to be a bit nervous going in, but I was excited and ready to get the whole procedure over with at the same time, too. After signing the proper paperwork and paying with my credit card, it was my turn to go in. Having a driver the day of surgery is required, so my husband came with me. He even got to view the actual procedure, which kinda freaked him out a bit as he said he's have to be BLIND to do it himself (this coming from a person with good vision though who's never had to wear contacts or glasses a day in his life!). But hey, after having three C-sections, I figured this would be a piece of cake. And for the most part, it was, even though the thoughts of having my eyes cut on did freak me out slightly as well.
From start to finish, the Lasik Eye Surgery itself maybe lasted 10 minutes, most of which is preparation. I was placed in a chair much like the one used at the dentist and laid back and relaxed as much as I could. I'd been given 2mg of Ativan just prior (which is a major dose of this sedative, let me tell ya!), although it really wasn't given to relax me BEFORE but AFTER as I'd have to keep my eyes closed after the procedure was complete. They placed a cap over my hair and earrings (I'd just had my cartilage pierced and couldn't take them out!) and then cleaned my eye area before taping my eyelashes back. Then came the worst part of the whole procedure, which involved clamps that are used to keep the eyes open for the procedure. Naturally my eyes would be smaller than average and they really had to pry them apart to access my corneas properly, so I could actually feel the pressure from the clamps pressing downward into my facial bones. But other than that, I've only got one other unexpected "complaint" (if that's the best way to describe it) that doesn't involved pain but it more a "gross-out" side effect more than anything else that I wasn't at all prepared for.
They did my right eye first, so once the clamp was in place (thankfully they just put one on at a time!), some numbing drops were placed in my eye before the Lasik Eye Surgery actually began. Suction was then attached to my eye so that the "flap" of my cornea could be cut and then lifted off and over so the laser could do it's thing. Thankfully the local anesthetic worked, so I felt nothing as Dr. Campbell created the flap. Only it looked really weird from my end as it looked like that scene in The Ring where the lid of the well was put into place: I could see a dark round ring and then eventually everything went black, which is how it's supposed to be. Once this happens, the laser is activated, but all you have to do is lie there and keep your eye open and still, which involves little effort since that clamp is in place. The laser is noisy and creates alot of red light, but it's far from being unpleasant. Besides, it all happens so fast anyway. 30 seconds was all that was needed on my right eye, which is the one that had the astigmatism, so once the laser stopped, the surgeon replaced the flap while flushing my eye with some type of liquid solution. One down and one to go!
But only.......what was that BURNING smell?? Ack. I slowly realized that must have been the flesh of my eye lasered away that had been burned off during the procedure that created the unexpected aroma. Now I was slightly grossed out but that feeling quickly passed. Next up was my left eye, which turned out to be slightly more uncomfortable just because of how the equipment is set up (they tell you this afterward when it's all over with). The clamp seemed to cause even more pressure this time, but only for a brief moment, so all was eventually okay. This time the laser only needed 28 seconds to successfully correct the vision in my left eye, which did not have an astigmatism like the right one did. In approximately 10 minutes from the start, my surgery was complete, and I was immediately escorted to an exam room so that my vision could be evaluated right then. I could already notice a dramatic difference as I could SEE most of the letters on the wall!! How exciting to see such fast results from my Custom Vue Lasik Eye Surgery. Then they wrapped up my eyes with the shields in place that I were to use during sleep over the next week and was sent home to sleep. And sleep I did!
For during the 45 minute drive home, that Ativan started kicking in, and by the time we got home, my husband had to put me in bed as I was gone! That was around 7PM and I slept until 6:30 the next morning. And when those shields came off, I felt like I had perfect vision already. If this was as good as it gets, then I'd be happy with the results and would have no complaints whatsoever. My follow-up visit was scheduled for 8AM, so my husband drove me back although I could have confidently driven myself if I had to as my vision was that good already. My vision was already 20/20 after less than 24 hours since my Lasik Eye Surgery was performed, so I was estatic! Woo Hoo. No more contacts or glasses (although I know years from now I may eventually need reading glasses, which I can handle)!! I've not been back since although I'm past due a checkup. And I suspect my vision is now even better than the 20/20, so my procedure was definitely a success. But I'll get there eventually.
So the very day after having my Lasik Eye Surgery, I could have easily gone back to work if I had to. Only I did take the weekend off as my surgery was done on a Thursday afternoon and my follow up checkup was the next Friday morning. I went back to work the following Monday and have had no problems ever since. For the first several days after the surgery, I used both the antibiotic drops that were given to me in addition to a steroid drop to reduce any inflammation. Special care had to be taken so that I didn't rub my eyes (like when taking a shower, wiping away sweat during exercise, or by wearing the shields at night so I wouldn't rub them in my sleep). The flap could potentially be moved during the first week post-op and would have to be replaced by the surgeon, but thankfully this didn't happen to me even though it did my friend. I also used special lubricating eye drops since I had dry eyes to begin with, although I ended up having to use them less and less as time went by. So now over 2 months later, my reliance on eye drops has decreased significantly when compared to how much I used them while wearing my contacts. I mostly only use them now in the mornings when I get up and maybe a few times throughout the day and that's it. They warned me that having dry eyes might delay the healing process, but I did just fine and can't be happier with my recovery, which was very minimal and pain free.
Overall, even though I had lots of problems pre-op actually getting to the point to where my eyes were finally ready for the procedure, I still wholeheartedly recommend this Lasik Eye Surgery to anyone considering having it done to improve the quality of his/her vision. While it totally won't free you from wearing glasses forever (reading glasses will eventually be required, but at least now I can see far off indefinitely!), the benefits are certainly worth considering as I feel so much freer now that I don't have glasses or contacts to fool with anymore. I'd catch myself trying to take my contacts out or my glasses off at bedtime several times over those first few weeks as I was amazed that I could go straight to bed still being able to see! But as time wears on, I'm now used to having sharp and clear vision again although I'll never take it for granted. Now that summer vacation is just around the corner, I can now go swimming without having to worry about my contacts coming out anymore! And there are just a million other little things I've noticed that truly makes me appreciate how lucky I am to have my eye sight corrected so perfectly as I'm only now fully realizing the full extent of just how much glasses or contacts hinder your life until you no longer need them.
Good luck and I hope your Lasik Eye Surgery is just as successful as mine if this procedure is indeed the one for you. Of course I'm not a doctor myself, so please consider all the risks and benefits very seriously first before hand as this IS surgery and good results are never guaranteed. I can only share my positive experience in the hopes that others can learn from what happened during my Custom Vue procedure and partially base any informed consent on lots and lots of research that only minimally includes my testimonial. Enjoy your new eye sight as you see the world from a totally new perspective!! I know I am :-)
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