I had Lasik in January of 2009. As of June, 2010, we found that my vision had deteriorated. I went in for a follow up and they said that most likely I'd need a touch up. They had me wait a month, then come back in again. They wanted to make sure it wasn't changing radically. It didn't change between last month and this, so I am now scheduled for a repeat surgery on the 9th of August. Let's hope that this one is good. I don't want to go back to glasses yet. I lived with them for 33 years. Being without them for the past year has been so wonderful! I love not having to fight with glasses to see distances. Plus, in martial arts, it's hard to keep them from sliding down my nose!!
As I said, I had my follow up today. We scheduled the surgery for the 9th. I can't go to work that day and am wondering about the following day. They assured me that I'll be able to drive--I will have my left eye still. I will have a contact lens in the right eye that will stay there for about a week. I see the doctor on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I should have asked Dr. Boothe if I could go to Tai Chi on Monday. I think I will go anyway--it's non impact and I don't lean over at all during the movements. For Tang Soo Do, that's a question mark. I am not sure if I want to go or not. It will be "Pirate Tang Soo Do" if I do go...I'll have to talk to Master G about it.
Showing posts with label Lasik. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lasik. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Halfway there
Today I had my follow up appointment with Dr. Boothe. First of all, I think they were terribly packed. There were people waiting in any waiting room they had. It took the better part of an hour before I got to the back to see the doc.
They took measurements and looked at my eye, then sent me off to yet *another* waiting room. I forgot to bring my tears with me (you have to use artificial tears after Lasik because your eyes will be dryer than normal), so I had to bum some off the guy who examined me first. He measured my right eye first. Then he measured my left eye. That wasn't so bad. The bad thing was waiting another 30 minutes before I could see the doc.
They took me into an exam room and Dr. Boothe looked at both my eyes. He seemed a bit surprised that I was still wearing contacts. He checked my distance vision in my right eye first. I couldn't read anything. I've been a bit worried about my right eye anyway, so that pretty much verified that it wasn't right to me.
When he checked the left eye, it appeared to be fine. I still don't have the greatest vision, but I WAS able to read things with the left eye. He had me use both eyes and made a decision about taking out the contacts at that point. When he took the contacts out, I swear, it felt GOOD!! He checked my tear production and decided that I needed punctal occlusions (those block the tear drainage ducts so the tears stay on my eyes, not evaporate). They installed those, then put another contact back into my right eye. He said that the epithelial cells in my right eye weren't healing as well as the left eye. I asked him if it was age and he said no, it's heredity. I think he said that 1-2 out of 100 people would have this difficulty. Oh nice. Bear in mind that I've been a bit worried about my eye since Sunday. It hasn't been very comfortable, what with the itching. I have what appears to be a black eye right now, plus my right cheekbone is red. Kind of looks like someone whapped me!
I'm out of work for the rest of the week and have a doctor's note to give to my manager. I'm not pleased about using my personal time all at the beginning of the year, but at the same time, I can't control how fast or slow I heal. I tried to accomodate my employer by having the surgery on Saturday. The healing process has to be up to Nature.
Dr. Boothe wants me to come back on Thursday afternoon so that he can examine me again. I HOPE he'll give me clearance to drive again. Only time will tell. I"m not going to push that. What I find is really wicked is that right now, I can read my monitor without putting my nose up on the screen tonight. I have to use my artificial tears and that's fine. I'm able to see better. The really great thing?? I don't have to wear glasses!!!
They took measurements and looked at my eye, then sent me off to yet *another* waiting room. I forgot to bring my tears with me (you have to use artificial tears after Lasik because your eyes will be dryer than normal), so I had to bum some off the guy who examined me first. He measured my right eye first. Then he measured my left eye. That wasn't so bad. The bad thing was waiting another 30 minutes before I could see the doc.
They took me into an exam room and Dr. Boothe looked at both my eyes. He seemed a bit surprised that I was still wearing contacts. He checked my distance vision in my right eye first. I couldn't read anything. I've been a bit worried about my right eye anyway, so that pretty much verified that it wasn't right to me.
When he checked the left eye, it appeared to be fine. I still don't have the greatest vision, but I WAS able to read things with the left eye. He had me use both eyes and made a decision about taking out the contacts at that point. When he took the contacts out, I swear, it felt GOOD!! He checked my tear production and decided that I needed punctal occlusions (those block the tear drainage ducts so the tears stay on my eyes, not evaporate). They installed those, then put another contact back into my right eye. He said that the epithelial cells in my right eye weren't healing as well as the left eye. I asked him if it was age and he said no, it's heredity. I think he said that 1-2 out of 100 people would have this difficulty. Oh nice. Bear in mind that I've been a bit worried about my eye since Sunday. It hasn't been very comfortable, what with the itching. I have what appears to be a black eye right now, plus my right cheekbone is red. Kind of looks like someone whapped me!
I'm out of work for the rest of the week and have a doctor's note to give to my manager. I'm not pleased about using my personal time all at the beginning of the year, but at the same time, I can't control how fast or slow I heal. I tried to accomodate my employer by having the surgery on Saturday. The healing process has to be up to Nature.
Dr. Boothe wants me to come back on Thursday afternoon so that he can examine me again. I HOPE he'll give me clearance to drive again. Only time will tell. I"m not going to push that. What I find is really wicked is that right now, I can read my monitor without putting my nose up on the screen tonight. I have to use my artificial tears and that's fine. I'm able to see better. The really great thing?? I don't have to wear glasses!!!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
No Glasses!!
Okay, it's time to laugh at me. I can't see what I'm doing very well. I know I"m typing, but we'll have to hope that my knowledge of the keyboard is good enough to compensate for the fog I'm in.
Why a I in a fog? I had LASIK yesterday. I went in on Thursday and was told that my pre-tax dollars I put away out of my paychecks would cover it, so I jumped at the opportunity to get rid of my glasse. Now I'm sitting here, in a fog, not knowing when my vision will go back to normal.
I went in at 3:00 yesterday afternoon. My appointment was at 4:00 and they wanted me in an hour early. When they pulled me back, they asked the usual things like "how much do you weight" (for medicating purposes), had I eaten, blah, blah blah. You couldn't wear any jewelry because it would cause problems with the laser. It was okay-I left all my jewelry at home.
After they gave me the sedative, I went in and saw a doctor who marked my eyes for the laser. I asked him, being me, was he drawing a smiley face on my eyes. He had no sense of humor and said "no." Very flat. Did he not think that possibly his patient could have been a tad nervous?Oh well.
Once he had finished with teh lines, he sent me out to the waiting room (where, incidnetally I had frozen on Thursday). There were two other people in the room, waiting their turns. The one lady and I got into chatting about the surgery and about how we didn't shop around. Each of us knows someone else who went to Dr. Tylock, while we went to Dr. Boothe. We had a good chat, then they called her in the back. I sat in the waiting room again by myself for about another 30 minutes, then they came and got me. I was the last one in that run.
They took me back to the surgery room which had 3-4 beds or so in it. There were chairs off to the sides and they led me to one of those chairs, told me to sit down and close my eyes. They gave me a blanket too. I believe they wanted the eyes closed so that I woudln't look at the lasers.
They took me up to the first table (I was allowed to open my eyes then), put numbing drops in my eyes and then it was show time. They had me arrange myself on the bed, covered me up with my coat and a blanket to keep me warm. They let me cross my ankles, which was good, but once they got started, I was to sit absolutely still. The one guy talked to me and told me that I would feel some pressure, then it would go black. He wasn't joking. I saw the ring thingy they put on my eyes, felt a bit of pressure, then I saw "sparkles"--multicolored sparkles. After that, there was nothing. They did my right eye first, then my left. It was actually kind of neat, even though I went blind at that point.
They helped me off the bench, then took me to another chair where they covered me up with a blanket and I waited for part two. Then they came over and got me and took me to the next table. This was the one where they actually shaped the cornea. The first one was the incision, where they created the 'flap'.
I had to look at the laser while they did the procedure. The machine made a knocking noise as the laser pulsed. It was an orange light laser. I found it interesting.
When they finished that on both eyes, they put a contact lense in each one. Some people would be getting them out at their follow up appointment, but mine didn't come out. They had a problem with them on Saturday night, so they said that it MIGHT come out today. That didn't happen. Tony took me to the appointment. I am not cleared to drive. My vision has a "fog" quality. Sometimes it's sharp, but most of the time, it's very foggy. I have to use artificial tears every 30 minutes, and medicated drops every 3 hours. He gave me another medication that I have to put into my eyes once a day. That's another, more powerful antibiotic. I was also given some Vicodin, but I'm trying not to take it. I don't like taking drugs as a rule.
My eye doctor has a black belt in Taekwando, so when I consulted wiht him, I asked how long it would be before I could go back to practicing. He said, "You can do forms in a day, but no sparring for two weeks. After that, you must wear goggles for sparring for another month." Well, as I don't spar all that often, as I'm out of classes for a while, that's going to be good. I'm really looking forward to going back to class without my glasses. I'm excited about it.
I'm typing this with my nose practically on my screen, but intermittently, I can see what I'm doing without having to put it there. I hope that by tomorrow, I'll have a better view of the world.
Why a I in a fog? I had LASIK yesterday. I went in on Thursday and was told that my pre-tax dollars I put away out of my paychecks would cover it, so I jumped at the opportunity to get rid of my glasse. Now I'm sitting here, in a fog, not knowing when my vision will go back to normal.
I went in at 3:00 yesterday afternoon. My appointment was at 4:00 and they wanted me in an hour early. When they pulled me back, they asked the usual things like "how much do you weight" (for medicating purposes), had I eaten, blah, blah blah. You couldn't wear any jewelry because it would cause problems with the laser. It was okay-I left all my jewelry at home.
After they gave me the sedative, I went in and saw a doctor who marked my eyes for the laser. I asked him, being me, was he drawing a smiley face on my eyes. He had no sense of humor and said "no." Very flat. Did he not think that possibly his patient could have been a tad nervous?Oh well.
Once he had finished with teh lines, he sent me out to the waiting room (where, incidnetally I had frozen on Thursday). There were two other people in the room, waiting their turns. The one lady and I got into chatting about the surgery and about how we didn't shop around. Each of us knows someone else who went to Dr. Tylock, while we went to Dr. Boothe. We had a good chat, then they called her in the back. I sat in the waiting room again by myself for about another 30 minutes, then they came and got me. I was the last one in that run.
They took me back to the surgery room which had 3-4 beds or so in it. There were chairs off to the sides and they led me to one of those chairs, told me to sit down and close my eyes. They gave me a blanket too. I believe they wanted the eyes closed so that I woudln't look at the lasers.
They took me up to the first table (I was allowed to open my eyes then), put numbing drops in my eyes and then it was show time. They had me arrange myself on the bed, covered me up with my coat and a blanket to keep me warm. They let me cross my ankles, which was good, but once they got started, I was to sit absolutely still. The one guy talked to me and told me that I would feel some pressure, then it would go black. He wasn't joking. I saw the ring thingy they put on my eyes, felt a bit of pressure, then I saw "sparkles"--multicolored sparkles. After that, there was nothing. They did my right eye first, then my left. It was actually kind of neat, even though I went blind at that point.
They helped me off the bench, then took me to another chair where they covered me up with a blanket and I waited for part two. Then they came over and got me and took me to the next table. This was the one where they actually shaped the cornea. The first one was the incision, where they created the 'flap'.
I had to look at the laser while they did the procedure. The machine made a knocking noise as the laser pulsed. It was an orange light laser. I found it interesting.
When they finished that on both eyes, they put a contact lense in each one. Some people would be getting them out at their follow up appointment, but mine didn't come out. They had a problem with them on Saturday night, so they said that it MIGHT come out today. That didn't happen. Tony took me to the appointment. I am not cleared to drive. My vision has a "fog" quality. Sometimes it's sharp, but most of the time, it's very foggy. I have to use artificial tears every 30 minutes, and medicated drops every 3 hours. He gave me another medication that I have to put into my eyes once a day. That's another, more powerful antibiotic. I was also given some Vicodin, but I'm trying not to take it. I don't like taking drugs as a rule.
My eye doctor has a black belt in Taekwando, so when I consulted wiht him, I asked how long it would be before I could go back to practicing. He said, "You can do forms in a day, but no sparring for two weeks. After that, you must wear goggles for sparring for another month." Well, as I don't spar all that often, as I'm out of classes for a while, that's going to be good. I'm really looking forward to going back to class without my glasses. I'm excited about it.
I'm typing this with my nose practically on my screen, but intermittently, I can see what I'm doing without having to put it there. I hope that by tomorrow, I'll have a better view of the world.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Thursday
I'm leaving work early today. I'm going to go find out if I'm a candidate for Lasik surgery. Not sure when or IF I'll have it done, but it never hurts to find out if you're a candidate. Being a martial artist, it's a lot easier to do falls and rolls if you're not having to worry about your glasses. If you're in a street fight, would you stop fighting and ask your opponent, "Hold on while I take my glasses off"? I seriously don't think so! Anyway, if I AM a candidate, I get to get some information about the cost. If it's too much, I'll have to wait a year until I can get my flex spending to cover it. Not a biggie...I've been waiting 30+ years to lose the glasses already. What's one more year, right??
Being without glasses would be a marvelous thing. I have dreamed not wearing glasses since I started wearing them years ago. I've been in glasses since I was in the 7th grade. Unfortunately, I'm horribly nearsighted and it's hard to get glasses that don't look like Coke bottles when you're a kid and that nearsighted.
I can't wear contact lenses because I have dry eyes. I wore them for years and had to quit because my eyes got progressively worse.
I'm excited and apprehensive at the same time. I want them to say, "Yes, you're a candidate, we'll do it tomorrow." I want the price to be right (free would be nice!!) but I'm sure that's a big stumbling point. I'm worried that they'll say, "You're a candidate, but it'll cost you 10,000.00." That would put it on the "whenever I win the lottery" wish list only.
Being without glasses would be a marvelous thing. I have dreamed not wearing glasses since I started wearing them years ago. I've been in glasses since I was in the 7th grade. Unfortunately, I'm horribly nearsighted and it's hard to get glasses that don't look like Coke bottles when you're a kid and that nearsighted.
I can't wear contact lenses because I have dry eyes. I wore them for years and had to quit because my eyes got progressively worse.
I'm excited and apprehensive at the same time. I want them to say, "Yes, you're a candidate, we'll do it tomorrow." I want the price to be right (free would be nice!!) but I'm sure that's a big stumbling point. I'm worried that they'll say, "You're a candidate, but it'll cost you 10,000.00." That would put it on the "whenever I win the lottery" wish list only.
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