Just a quick note about my surgery today... I went in this morning for Advanced Surface Ablation (ASA) eye surgery to get rid of the glasses I've worn since kindergarten. ASA is much safer than traditional Lasek as there is no need to cut into the cornea (which carries a higher risk of dryeye syndrome, blurry or haloed night vision and weakens the eye structurally.) Instead they peel back the thin skin layer on top of the cornea and use a laser on the exterior of the cornea. The results take a bit longer to realize due to the need for that skin layer to properly heal, but I was all for the safety.
The experience was pretty painless and fast. The longest part is waiting for your eyes to dialate fully after a series of eyedrops are administered. Then, more drops, this time to numb the eye. Finally they take you to an operating room and you lie down on a table. The doc lines you up ander the laser and asks you to stare at a red light, he then places a round metal ring on your eye and uses some kind of instument to perforate the skin layer I mentioned and another instrument to gently move it to one side. During this time I mostly felt the urge to blink (fortunately they clamp open your eyes) and a bit of pressure as if someone was pressing gently on my eyes when closed. The doc then positions the laser over you, turns on the premeasured tracking system to automatically follow your eye movements and starts up the laser. The laser takes a minute or two to run (depending on your prescription) and you smell a slight burning smell... similar to burning hair I would say. When that's done, the doc cleans the surface of the eye, drops in some water and what I guessed was aniticeptic drops and moves the skin layer back into position (it's still viable tissue.) A soft contact lens is placed over your cornea and the procedure is complete. Out you walk seeing pretty well already.
Was it painful? No. The operation itself was not painful in any way... But... (yes, there is a but) after the numbing drops wore off, I was accosted by a constant stinging pain from about hour 2 to hour 5. I'm told males in thier 20's are most likely to experience that (just my luck) but I imagine something similar is likely to hit most people. After that I have had moments of pain or irritation or lots of tears in one or both eyes about once per hour. I'm not used to wearing contacts so that some of my annoyances and pains might be just me getting used to the sliver of plastic in my eye.
So, did it work? My eyesite was 800 in one eye and 450 in the other. Now I can see distance as if I was wearing glasses... Close up is a bit blurry though. It's only about 12 hours after surgery though so I'm expecting things to get better as the skin heals. I'll report back as things progress. I go in for followup tomorrow morning and get the lens out on Monday.
Labels: Life
