2 Eyes!

A couple months ago I was researching Michael and I's 20th Anniversary trip to Hawaii. We have changed our original plans of staying on Kauai to staying on Maui. I was looking at a particular VROB that is right on the water and has snorkeling right outside. I got to thinking that would be fun, but in order for me to see the fish they would have to swim 5 inches from my face since I'm so blind. Then I remembered that Michael has a Veba account and it has been accumulating money for almost 7 years. 

On Wednesday, December 6th I went in for a free consultation at King Lasik. While I was waiting for the Dr. to come in after I had my exam and they were waiting for my eyes to dilate I was talking with God and told him that I wanted it to be all or nothing. If I was meant to have this surgery I wanted to be cleared 100% to have it. No....you're a good candidate, but you might have this afterwards. Nope....all or nothing. When the Dr. came in she said that my eyes were the prettiest she'd seen all day and I was a perfect candidate for Lasik. 

My surgery happened on Friday, December 29th. My mom came up to watch the kids since Michael had to drive me. I was super nervous in the morning. 

I took these last two pictures in the bathroom prior to leaving for the surgery. I posted them on Instagram and FB. 

Once we got to the office they talked with me about which laser I wanted to use. I went with the less expensive one....conventional laser because I don't have issues with glare or halos. Then they gave me an anti-anxiety pill and we waited. There was another guy in the waiting room and he asked if I'd like him to take my picture. This is my last picture of me wearing my prescription glasses. 

The surgery was fine and only took about 10 - 15 minutes, but over that the laser time was probably around 2 minutes. It didn't hurt at all...they had put a ton of numbing drops in my eyes. The only gross part was when I could smell the burning smell from the laser burning my eyes. Afterwards Dr. put some drops in my eyes, examined them to make sure the flap was doing ok and then I put my googles on and we headed out. 

When we got home I went right to bed. I slept from 12:30pm - 5:30pm and then woke up put some of my RX eyedrops in, ate and then went back to sleep until around 10:30pm. Then I slept until the next morning around 6:30am. I had my 1 day follow-up appointment at 9:30 the next day. We just had the kids come with us since it was only going to take a few minutes. At this time my vision wasn't the best. It was really out of focus....especially in my right eye. The Dr. checked out my eyes and said that there were some cells out of place in my right eye. Here's where I wish I had asked Michael to come back with me. I still felt kind of out of it so I wasn't thinking clearly. I wish I had asked more questions. Later on I couldn't remember if she said the cells would move back into place or if they could move back into place. 

After my appointment we had to run a few errands. We went to Sam's Club and then Wal-Mart.   

I took my first selfie after surgery at Wal-Mart. 

My first order of business in regards to my eyes was to get sunglasses. My eyes are normally super light sensitive, but after surgery they want you to wear sunglasses for 7 days even if you are in a bright room. I found these pair for only $5. Yay for being able to buy normal cheap sunglasses! 

Later that night I had a mini breakdown. I was really concerned that my eyes were messed up. I felt like I didn't ask enough questions. I felt like I should have paid the extra money for the wavefront laser. I felt upset for getting myself into this and for not just being okay with having glasses. I felt a lot of things. Of course Michael was there and he got online and started researching things. He found out that the only reason I might have to have another surgery is if those cell that moved started to grow. There were a lot of friends on FB saying that this was normal and that I would heal. It was nice to hear and also nice that people were praying for me. 

This picture was 3 days post op and even though my eyes still weren't super good...especially my right eye...there had been some improvement. My left eye was actually doing really well so that gave me hope that my right eye would catch up. 

At my 1 week post op appointment the Dr. was really great and reassured me that my eyes were doing amazing. I can see 20/20....I even got 2 of the letters on the 20/15 line. They still aren't super crisp, but I can read them. He told me that I was honestly being too hard on myself and that my eyes would continue to heal. In reality it takes up to 3 months to fully heal. After that if my eyes are still not where I want them to be we will go through the whole consultation process again and discuss if I should have another procedure or not. 

8 days after surgery I was able to wear make-up for the first time. During that last week it was still odd seeing myself in the mirror with no glasses, but this was the day that I finally started to feel comfortable seeing that lady in the mirror.

As I'm writing this I'm 2 weeks and 3 days post op and my eyes are doing SO much better. My right eye is still the one that gives me trouble. Someday are great and it's totally in focus and others it decides to act up. I've mainly figured out that it all has to do with dryness. If my eyes are dry they don't focus well. I've been really good about using my Refresh tears drops. I have had to use them less and less so that's nice. I'm looking forward to not having to use them at all. I know that will come with time. My next appointment is at my 1 month post op. 

In regard to not wearing glasses....I still actually find myself either looking for my glass to put them on or trying to take them off. It's so funny how your body does so many things just from muscle memory. I love that I can see when I take a shower now! It's nice being able to see the makeup I'm putting on my face. The other day I was outside in the rain and I didn't have to deal with getting rain drops on my glasses. It's just a bunch of little things that all add up to freedom.