It’s been depressing here so I’m going to shake it up with something NOT depressing. However, it may be frustrating as I’m blogging on my droid which usually results in me accidentally deleting everything or the photos not posting.
Friday, I am getting LASIK on my left eye. I’ve been considering it for years now and there’s seems to be no point in delaying it longer. I am near-sighted, which means I can’t see far. Seems obvious, right? However I also need bifocals for the computer.
What makes my circumstances unusual in some ways is that mysuper near vision is very good. In fact I can easily work on the minuscule sliver as long as I am NOT wearing my contacts.
The dilemma I faced when consulting with the optometrist is if I fix my nearsightedness (so I will be able to see far away) it will negatively affect what I can see close up. This is a conumdrum.
That’s when my doc suggested I think about monovision correction, which is when they fix the nearsightedness in the dominant eye, and then fix the farsightedness (to help me see close) on the other eye. I could actually test this by wearing ONE contact for a few days. The surgeon confirmed but had this to add: since the correction to the eye for FARsightedness in my left eye would make it about as good as it is now in my RIGHT eye (my dominant) eye, I should also consider correcting only the left for nearsightedness and doing nothing with the right.
Now I’m sure I’ve lost you, right, I mean CORRECT?
The short of it was to experiment with the idea of monovision. So for a couple days I wore a contact in my left eye and then I wore one in my right eye. The affect is disconbobulating, to say the least, especially for night time driving. I couldn’t handle that for a drive for anything longer than a shot into town. I realized that if I corrected only one eye, I will have to get glasses for nightime driving. On the upside, I would no longer have to wear glasses during the day, specifically when I’m outside, whether doing yardwork or when I take the kids to the pool. This is actually a huge deal for me because I usually have to switch out the glasses for contacts anytime I want to wear sunglasses.
The downside is no matter what, my eyesight cannot be corrected enough or in any combination to avoid corrective glasses in some kind of capacity for nights and days spent in my office. I am fine with that. The other interesting discovery I made experimenting with only correcting one eye, specifically my left (remember, that is my non-dominant eye), is I will have to adjust how I use a camera (no more viewfinder), or shoot pool, or even if I decide to take up a hobby like archery. But as it is, I’m not a professional photographer nor do I participate in any activities routinely that I regret choosing my left eye over the right for LASIK.
And that’s where I am now. I’ve had my eyeballs measured and the topography mapped. I started a short list of topical treatments in preparation for Friday’s procedure. I have not worn my contacts for almost a week, which is required even before the consult so make sure you get the details from the office since it can affect vacations and social events if you are interested in LASIK.
And just in case you were curious about all the steps involved in the process, there have been a few.
1) consult with my routine eye physician. He did lots of measurements and mapping. Then he referred me to the specialist.
2) Consult specialist, who will have his grumpy and cheerless staff leave you forgotten in a darkened room forbidding you to use your smart phone because they want the eyes dilated. They will only remember you when you peek your head out the door into the glaringly white hallway and catch them gossiping with their friend and their new baby. I was also reprimanded for not being able to both open my eyes really, REALLY wide and go without blinking as she tried to get the machine focused on my eyeball. I confess that if the surgeon wasn’t so nice, I would have left and never returned. A million stinkeyes to the staff at the Eye Physicians, P.C. in Columbus, NE. Oh yes, I am calling them out. I was there for two hours, and 90% of that time was being shuffled from one machine to the next, including the wait in the dark room. Oh! And when the tech finally came into the dark room, she flipped the room’s light switch to full on. Dilated eyes? What dilated eyes!
Here’s a couple pictures I took of the machines I had to stick my face in. In thumbnails, they look like fancy toilets, don’t they? I didn’t get a picture of the Dark Room since I was told not to use my phone… Aren’t you impressed by the fact I obeyed?
3) Surgery (currently pending). I get a valium that morning. Whoot!
4) Next day post op check with my regular eye physician
Ok, so there aren’t a lot of steps, but since I originally started this process in January, it feels like it.
Punch Drunk 