After watching Justin's surgery, I mentioned to the doctor that I may be back for my own surgery. He said people don't typically return after watching someone else's procedure, so he would be surprised if he saw me. Watching Justin's surgery calmed me down since it wasn't at all like what I expected. After getting Justin to explain exactly what happened during the procedure, I scheduled an appointment for my own consultation. I made sure this appointment coincided with Justin's two week follow-up so he could be there with me.
They took me back to do a complete eye exam. This included staring into several machines so they could get a good look at my eyes, especially the cornea. They also numbed my eye and checked the pressure in my eye and the thickness of my cornea. The machine tests didn't hurt and weren't uncomfortable. They numbed my eyes for the pressure and cornea tests, so those didn't hurt either. Before I left, they dilated my eyes and got a really good look at the inside of each eye.
They determined I was a candidate for LASIK, so we scheduled surgery for the next week. After checking my calendar at work, I determined I needed to reschedule for another week. This became a little complicated due to us going on vacation, the fact that the doctor only operates one day each week, and working around Justin's and my work schedules. We decided on April 23 as the day!
One week out, I removed my contacts for the final time. I was kind of sad, but only because I hate wearing my glasses. I had to stop wearing contacts for a week before the surgery, so I was rocking my glasses during that time. I have to say, I was quite miserable during this time. My vision was fairly bad, so my peripheral vision was non-existent in glasses.
We got up the morning of surgery and got ready to head to the doctor's office. I had to refrain from using anything with fragrance the morning of surgery since fragrance particles can interfere with the lasers. I was prepared because we bought fragrance-free shampoo, soap, and deodorant before Justin's surgery. I also got fragrance-free conditioner and lotion. I also couldn't use any lotion or make-up on my face.
This is us on the way to the appointment:
We headed to Johns Creek for my 9:30 a.m. appointment. We arrived right at 9:30 a.m. and got checked-in. I was still happy at this point. Nervous, but happy.
Fast forward an hour. I was still waiting and was getting impatient. I just wanted it to be over. Justin scheduled a six week follow-up appointment for the same day as my surgery. They took him back, checked him, and sent him back out to wait with me. It was at this time that I finally heard what was going on. There was a problem with one of the machines. This fancy machine is very expensive, as you would expect. The manufacturer requires the doctor to pay a per use fee. This is monitored by the doctor having to put a card in the machine each time it is used. They were expecting cards to be delivered on the 22nd. They didn't arrive. They were to be delivered at 8:30 a.m. on the 23rd. They didn't arrive. They called the service technician who could override the card requirement. He didn't arrive. They said they didn't know when they would be able to start surgeries that day. They asked us to head home and wait for a call from them. As you can expect, I was disappointed. I lashed out at Justin and the doctor's staff. I was not happy because they didn't tell me what was going on.
We headed home and I got settled on the sofa. About the time I got to sleep, we got the call. We loaded up and headed back to Johns Creek. This time, I was taken back as soon as I got there. I signed the required forms and they put the initial drops in my eyes before sending me back for a final eye exam. They performed all the tests again with the exception of the pressure check, the cornea thickness test, and the dilation exam. I headed to an exam room and waited for the doctor. During this time, I was given a Valium to help calm me.
The doctor checked me one final time before the surgery. He explained what would happen and to just relax and let him and his staff do everything. All I had to do was just lie on the table. He left me in the exam room to chill while he performed a surgery. Justin joined me while I waited, which was nice.
At the time, I couldn't really tell the Valium was having any effect on me. I was singing and being a little obnoxious in the exam room, so I'm pretty sure something was happening. I also kept taking photos of the equipment in the exam room.
Much to Justin's delight, they came to get me after twenty minutes. They gave me a cap for my hair and put several numbing drops into my eyes. I removed my glasses and walked across the hallway to the surgery suite.
I got settled on the table and they began prepping me by covering my right eye. Before the doctor joined us, I asked the two ladies in the room to remind me of the miserable week I had in my glasses if I began panicking. They assured me they would and one of them handed me a squeeze ball to help channel my anxiety.
The doctor joined us and the procedure began. He put this suction ring on my left eye so the machine could make the flap. This was the most uncomfortable and scary part of the procedure to me. The ring holds your eye open, but it also puts pressure on your eye. This pressure flattens your cornea so the machine can make a nice, clean cut. Once they got the ring on my eye, they positioned me under the laser. I remember trying really hard to blink, but the ring prevented me from blinking. Justin said he could see on the screen that it was obvious I wanted to blink. Once Dr. Ashraf was satisfied with everything, he pressed the button to start the laser. The machine quickly crossed my eye and made a semi-circular cut in my cornea. I couldn't feel a thing other than the pressure from the suction ring and the ring being pressed up against the machine. During the cutting, the doctor counted down for me, which I liked. This helped me know how much longer I would have that suction ring on my eye. The ring was on my eye for about twenty or so seconds total. The cutting took about twelve to fourteen seconds. Once the left flap was made, they took off the ring and did the same procedure on my right eye. After the first flap was created, I panicked a little and they had to calm me. I kept moving my legs, so the doctor and two ladies in the room gently encouraged me to remain calm. The ladies reminded me of the week I had to wear my glasses. That really helped!
Once the flaps were made, they rotated the table to the correction machine. Dr. Ashraf put a metal device in my left eye to hold it open. He gently lifted the flap and moved it aside before positioning me under the machine. I've heard people say they panicked when the flap was moved because they couldn't see. I had so many drops in my eyes that my vision was blurred before that point. The flap moving was the part I was dreading the most only because of the pin-like device he used to move the flap. This scared me for some reason. Oddly enough, the flap moving didn't really bother me. Once he got me positioned under the machine, he started the correction part of the procedure. The correction laser is a cool laser, so there is no heat involved. What's odd about this is that the laser is removing tissue to reshape the inside of the eye, but there is a funky odor. It smells like singed hair. I would expect this with heat, but not a cold laser. I was expecting the odor, so it didn't surprise me. I made a comment to the doctor about the smell being stronger than I was expecting. Dr. Ashraf counted down for me during this part of the procedure, too. I really needed that.
The correction part of the surgery took about ten seconds per eye. Once the laser finished, Dr. Ashraf put some drops in my eye and moved the flap back into place and used a little squeegee device to smooth everything. He removed the metal device holding my eye open and I could blink again! He repeated this process with my right eye.
After everything was back in place, I sat up and walked back to the exam room where Justin joined me. Dr. Ashraf came in and did a quick check of my eyes to make sure everything was in place. He liked what he saw and told me I could head home as soon as I was ready. I grabbed my purse and Justin and I headed to the car. Look at the relief on my face:
Before we left, I dropped off my glasses in a vase.
Dr. Ashraf donates these glasses to a group who is able to reuse them for people who cannot afford glasses. I brought two pairs for him!
After getting settled on the couch, I asked Justin to play Bridesmaids for me while I kept my eyes closed. Dr. Ashraf told me to go home and sleep for two to three hours. He said to keep my eyes closed if I wasn't able to sleep. I slept and woke up as Bridesmaids was going off.
I started my drop regimen which is two drops three times per day. I do this for a week minimum, but continue until I run out of drops. It's two weeks after the procedure and I still have drops.
We have a monthly dinner club with four friends that was scheduled for the day of my surgery. I went there without any problems that night. Everyone asked me if I was tired because my eyes looked exhausted and tired. I told them about the LASIK procedure and all were surprised I was out and about. My recovery period was much smoother than Justin's. I think they put more numbing drops in my eyes than they did Justin's. They didn't wear off as quickly as Justin's did, so I had very little discomfort.
That night, I put on the protective glasses provided by Dr. Ashraf. I was to wear them to sleep and when I showered.
So pretty. I couldn't stand them, so I took them off as I was trying to fall asleep. I told Justin to stay on his side so he didn't accidentally touch my face while sleeping. This worked. I don't move much when I'm sleeping, so I wasn't concerned about touching my eyes while sleeping. I wore the glasses in the shower the next morning, but it was hard to wash my face and hair. When I went for my follow-up appointment that morning, I asked Dr. Ashraf about not wearing the glasses. He said it was ok as long as I didn't touch my eyes while sleeping and didn't rub my eyes if I got shampoo in them. I promised him I wouldn't.
Overall, I'm very satisfied with the results. My vision has fluctuated over the last two weeks. It got better, but I have bad days sometimes. I have a little dryness but it's managed with over the counter drops. I started wearing make-up again a few days ago, but not eye make-up. I have to wait for Dr. Ashraf to tell me eye make-up is ok. I'm also ready to head back to the gym. I was told to avoid strenuous activity, including exercise. I sweat a lot at the gym and I was told to not get sweat in my eyes. That meant no gym for a while.
I go for my two week follow-up tomorrow and hope to be released to return to normal activity. I won't be able to sky dive or scuba dive for a while, not that I was all that into those activities anyway.
Justin recorded the videos below. He stopped recording for a second which is why there are two videos.
