Eye Surgery of Doom!!!

[Tbone]

Haha...I kept thinking of Minority Report as well.

So it's done! I must say, the results are astounding! In an hour and a half I go for my post-op check-up where they make sure they didn't screw up and give me permission to take these stupid goggles off. Ok, so I'll give you guys a play by play.

It was a three hour drive up to Memphis. I got there around 9:30 a.m. and waited for forever. They did a few tests (like the eye mapping thing). It was weird because it was like an assembly line. The surgery takes all of 5 minutes so they just line you up. They gave me a valium and a darvacil (sp?). I had to use a cupcake to eat it though, because I have trouble swalling pills. I bit into the darvacil, which was a mistake, b/c that is for pain, but I'll get to that later. I'm waiting in this recliner and they ask us if we want more valium. They were just handing it out like candy, so I had another half and then I felt REALLY good! Finally it was my turn and, after being told it was nothing, I wasn't too freaked out about it. I got in, they leaned me back, and put me under this machine with this blinky light.

Just to let you know how out of it I was, I said "OoOo...look! The blinky light of doom!!" The doctor cracked up and said "You've never had valium before, have you?" and I said "Nope!". Hehe...well, they put numbing drops in my eyes, but I'm quick to blink, so I don't think they got in there very well. They tell me to look at the blinky light of doom and start taping my right eye's eyelashes. Then they put this blueish disc in my eye! I didn't like that too much...especially when he said "suction on!". After that I think the laser started cutting on my eye, creating the "flap". The blinky light went away and was replaced by darkness. The scary thing is on the left eye, I cut feel the cuts being made towards the bottom of my eye - I shouldn't have chewed that pill and should have asked for more drops I guess. Once the blackness goes away, I see this instrument coming straight for my eye. It seems to simply take the top layer off of my eye and suddenly the blinky light of doom is a lot bigger (because it is blurred). They tell me to just look at it and then I hear this noise like a woodpecker. Luckily I don't feel anything here. After that, the instrument comes back into my eye, replacing the flap they had lifted. I'm then stuck with that suction thingy on my eye for another minute (I guess just to torture me). They take it out and voila! I can see!

Goggles are immediately placed on my head, and I'm taken back to my recliner. Things seem fine for a little bit, but then the itching/burning starts. It's still not too bad, though. They take me to another room where the doctor comes in to make sure he didn't screw up. Then they put my drops in (as if my eyes didn't hurt enough already by this point). After that, I'm free to go! I had a three hour drive home, and I was miserable the whole time. Still doped up on valium, I was constantly in a sleep state, though sleeping itself wasn't very easy. Despite the goggles, sunlight burnt my eyes like no tomorrow - I couldn't even lean my head back with my eyes closed. I was even slightly afraid something had gone wrong, because I couldn't open my eyes at all without it feeling something was jagging inside of it. I finally got home, and found that I could open my eyes a little indoors. I went straight to my bed (by this time it was 5 p.m.) and collapsed.

I awoke around 11 p.m. to find a lot of my brothers' friends at my house. Amazingly I could open my eyes for a long amount of time without too much discomfort and decided to test out my new capabilities. I went downstairs where everyone was and showed off my new eyewear. I found my eyesight was very well and got some food and even checked email before going back upstairs to attempt sleep (by this time the valium had worn off, though). I laid in bed for a while listening to music and was eventually able to go back to sleep.

Now it is 6:30 a.m. I woke up around 5 and just haven't been able to go back to sleep. They told me to keep my eyes closed as much as possible yesterday, and I think I did a fairly good job. I said bye to my brother, who woke up early this morning to go to Lions Band auditions. I still have these goofy goggles on, but as you can see, I'm able to stare at the screen for long amounts of time with little discomfort. My post-op appointment is at 8 here in town. I plan on driving there. My goggles should go off then (only have to wear them for a week when I sleep after that), and I'll start my drops (I have to take a MILLION drops in my eye a day -arg!).

I've taken my goggles off briefly this morning just to see how I saw without anything obstructing my vision. I completely understand why people usually say it's a "miracle". My vision is already excellent, and it was DEFINITELY worth the money and the trouble. The surgery seemed like 5 minutes of hell to me, but that's because I'm not even used to contacts. Contact-wearers should have nothing to fear at all. Thanks everybody for wishing me luck and checking up on my status. It was nice to see that I had a lot of friends online and in real life who were interested in how the surgery went. I'm not sure if I'm going to go back to school today or tomorrow - depends on if I feel like driving and if I can. Either way, I should be around and gaming! They said that after the post-op check-up I can return to my normal activities, which, of course, is MxO! Thanks again guys!

[Anonymous]

We're glad that all went well and that you're back T.

Enjoy the perfect vision now

[Anonymous]

Congrats on the successful surgery tbone

[Kosila]

Congratulations Tbone

[Anonymous]

Good to hear everything was successful!!

[Anonymous]

Good to hear everything was successful!!

Don't you mean good to 'see' everything was a success.

[ArchNemesis]

CONGRATS!!  Glad to see the Commander back and ready. Our faction bank is nice and fat just for you.

oh and sabre....i don't wanna hear none of that war on terror yum yum bullshit so can it.