Let there be light... but can you turn it down?

I can see and I am very happy. The surgery was much more traumatic than I expected but it was also more successful. They do not sedate you or anything and the whole experience was very stressful, which was apparent when Elliott found a dazed and confused wife stumbling blindly out of the operating room.

For some reason it didn't translate to me that I would "see" everything they were doing to my eye. Up close and personal with tweezers, needles and lasers is not my idea of relaxing. I had a lot of anxiety while laying on the operating chair despite the stuffed animal they give you and I think feeling anxious surprised me and just made more more so. I have never been hesitant to stick things near my eyes, I touch them all the time and this experience cured me of that. I never want anything near my precious seeing orbs again. Poor Elliott wanted to tie me down to get the eye drops in because I couldn't hold still. Bad patient.

I wasn't able to open my eyes until 5pm the day of the surgery because they were crusty and the light was too intense. I spent the whole day on the couch curled up in a ball with a blanket over my head and a dog guarding me from inside my dark cavern.
Nurse Elliott would wake me up every 30 minutes,
peel my eye shields back to put the drops in, Kimball would get on my chest, crawl up and put his chin on mine and watch to make sure Elliott was doing it right. When the drops were in he would sniff my eyes and lick my cheeks to get the tears off. What a team my boys are.

When I was finally able to open my eyes on my own, I could see perfectly and it made me cry a little. Those of you who wake up blind in the morning or fear being stranded on a desert island and unable to survive because your eye wear went down on the plane (Mia!) you might have an idea of why this is emotional. It made it more poingnant after not being able to see at all that day and needing someone to cook for me, walk me to the bathroom and all those other things that slowly chip away at your dignity.

There are a few hurdles they don't tell you about until after the surgery: no eye make-up for 7 days, no hot tubs or swimming for 10 days, no eye rubbing EVER, eye drops every 30 minutes for the first 24 hours (yes, while you are sleeping), fluctuations in vision for about 1 month, sensitivity to light (this one is hard), eye shields for the first 24 hours and at night for one week (it makes for a sexy bed mate),
possible bleeding (please note the picture. It looks worse in person)

All things considered it is a really simple procedure and although a little uncomfortable and anxiety invoking it is worth it. Of the 4 surgeries I have had, this is by far the least painful with the best results. At my 24 hour check-up I had 20/10 vision in my right eye and 20/30 in my left. UNBELIEVABLE, since they were both about 20/50 before and as they heal it will only get better. Don't you want it now?

Another note, go to the Moran Eye Center if you are thinking of having it done. I shopped around and it is the only place I felt confident. Hoopes was a little like Wal-Mart and it turns out I don't shop for eyes at Wal-Mart. I got a screamin deal too because I let the intern do the surgery so I saved $1000 per eye and since a machine really does the work and the doctor is in the room I didn't have any hesitation about the intern. I kinda have a crush on her too. A professional crush, like I want to be her when I grow up. Pretty, smart, can fix eye balls, and very personable. Three cheers for Dr. Dave and Dr. Mifflin