LASIK

As long as I have any sort of memory of my life, I have had thick glasses or a strong contact prescription. It's just been part of my life. I got used to swimming blindly or not being able to see the clock in the middle of the night, or never being able to fall asleep during a movie at a slumber party because it would take a conscious effort to remove my glasses. Anyway, once I married my perfect-eyed husband. He kept asking if LASIK was appealing to me, mostly because he could not fathom the idea of being blind part-time, and how that must be so hindering. We checked into a couple LASIK places and asked if my eyes would even be eligible. (I'm super super super far sighted.) About 10 years ago, my eyes weren't eligible to be lasered. Technology was not ready to do eyes as far sighted as mine. Near sighted was fine but not my crazy eyes. I checked again throughout our marriage to see if technology had advanced enough. And Max and I had discussed that we would love to make that happen once the technology was available. After talking to so many friends and family about it and realizing that it is so much more common than we thought and the common consensus was "I'd wish I'd done it sooner," we decided to look more into it again. A couple years ago a friend of mine with equally horrible far-sightedness got his eyes done at Lasik-plus. I asked him all the questions and he gave me a ton of info but it just wasn't in the budget for us at that time. This year, we felt like it may be a possibility and I should go do some consultations at a couple Lasik places. I went to one and they were quick to tell me they could not fix my eyes with my extreme farsightedness. Then I went to the Lasik Plus office where my friend had gone. They felt confident that they could do my eyes, but it may take 2 procedures to get my vision perfect. This was the first time anyone was willing to work on my eyes . You can only correct so much at a time so since my eyes were so far from perfect, they could do one procedure to get my eyes close to perfect then re-evaluate to get them all the way to perfect if that makes sense...And oftentimes, people with my vision don't need the second procedure because our brains can compensate for the discrepancy. Anyway, they had availability before our trip and I almost did it, but decided I didn't want to worry about eye drops and less-than-perfect vision on my vacation. So we made an appointment for the Friday after we returned from our vacation. I was super worried since they couldn't "guarantee" i would have perfect vision after 1 or 2 procedures. I knew I would be disappointed if I couldn't get my vision as good as I see with contacts or glasses, after all, I've had contacts or glasses my whole life and I'm grateful for that technology that allowed me to see, and read, and graduate high school, and college, see my children, and enjoy the beautiful world we live in. If contacts or glasses didn't exist, I wouldn't be able to drive, or read, I doubt I would have  succeeded in school, and I'd have one heck of a lazy eye. Point is, I'm grateful that I've been able to see but loved the idea of not having to deal with contacts or glasses. The optometrist gave me a set of contacts that could closely simulate what my vision would be like after the first procedure. After trying out the contacts i was somewhat disappointed because it seemed to decrease my vision significantly, I couldn't read anything on my phone or books. I could still drive a see things in the distance. It was a little discouraging but I also realized that the surgery would work slightly better than the contacts and that that state of vision wouldn't be permanent. Anyway, after a lot of questions and e-mails with the doctor, i decided to go through with it.  I picked Max up from work and we went to the clinic. I had to wait for a bit so Max went for a walk with the boys then I called him when it was time for me to go in. The procedure was relatively quick and painless. There was some weird suctioning of my eye. Then I moved over to another machine and I just had to try my hardest to stare at a green light and worry that if I looked away, the laser would miss my eye. Only to find out later that the laser moves with my eye. haha! I came out of the room being able to read name tags and signs. Then Max drove me home and I got to do the part that I looked forward to the most, the 4 hour nap! Max dropped me off at home and got me all situated, then took the boys out to dinner and to get a movie. He did an amazing job keeping them quiet once he got home. One of my eyes started stinging so I didn't sleep super well but I got rest and I got to keep my eyes closed without worrying about my boys. Once Max put the kids to bed and then came to bed he helped me do my first round of eye drops and the stinging went away and I was able to sleep well all night. I have become a lot more proficient at eye drops through this all! Anyway, the next morning, I could see!!! Better than expected!! I drove my self to my follow up appointment. The healing has been relatively easy, and it will take up to 6 months for my eyes to be all the way better and for my vision to stabilize. Sometimes I need some light reading glasses and other times i can see my phone and computer screen just fine without glasses. After the 6 months, we will determine if I want to do the second procedure. as of now, I can tell my vision isn't as clear as it was when I wore my glasses but as it continues to recover it should become more clear, so sometime around November we will decide if the follow up procedure is necessary! And yes, that was a long elaborate post about my eyes, and I'm sure the only people that will find interest in it are those considering LASIK for themselves. haha. But really, Technology giving sight to the blind is a straight-up modern day miracle!

Rebecca with goggles-the early years

The morning before my surgery, Miles was still asleep when we took Charlie to the bus stop so we got a "3 blind mice" photo. Luckily my boys aren't nearly as far sighted as me so LASIK could be an easier option for them in the future. 

So overall, I'm super happy with the results, and I just recently had my first rafting and camping trip which involved lots of swimming. It was amazing to swim without worrying about losing a contact or being blind. It was incredible to not have to stick a dirty finger in my eye at the end of the day while camping. I love waking up and being able to see the clock, or my phone, or my husband! Probably not in that order! ha!