Good Bye Glasses and Contacts

I had my fist LASIK procedure scheduled for April 17, 2007 but cancelled it. Not because I chickened out, but between the date of the consult and when the surgery was scheduled, I received the happy news that I was pregnant with Owen. Instead of having perfect vision on that date, I had my first glimpse at the newest love in my life via ultrasound. Needless to say, my blindness had been placed on hold for the past year and a half. Jeremy has periodically mentioned that I needed to still have it done, but I kept putting it off until last week. His mom was visiting, so it was the perfect time for another go around.

On Monday I went in had all the pre-screening done and scheduled the procedure for the end of the week. The timing was perfect, Jeremy was already off work and Grandma Donna was here to watch the boys while he took me to the appointment. The day of the procedure, I was pretty relaxed. Several of my friends have had it done with no complications. I took the Valium that was offered to me before surgery was to begin and waited my turn. Unfortunately, where I waited was right outside the surgery suite and I got to see first hand what was to be done to my own eyes. I was a little freaked out by this and wondered who was the guinea pig that said, "yeah-go ahead and slice open my eye and use a laser to reshape my cornea". The procedure itself was painful but it wasn't long before it was all over. I opened my eyes, and I could read the clock on the wall! Even though it was blurry it was a good sign of things to come. Jeremy took me home and I tried to sleep as I was instructed to do. I took a nap while he took his mom and the kids to Costco. About two hours later, I woke up, couldn't return to sleep and my eyes hurt! When Jeremy got home I asked him to call my dear friend Kelly to ask her if it was supposed to be this painful when I opened my eyes. She told him to tell me to keep them shut. So taking her advice, I shut my eyes for the next few hours. By evening I was up and around and seeing wonderfully.

 I had an appointment the next morning and was told that I was already seeing 20/20 out of each eye and together 20/15. I almost cried!

I have been wearing glasses since I was a fourth grader. I remember the first time I left Dr. Smith's office with my new bifocals walking up invisible stairs hoping not to ever have to see anyone I knew again. As soon as that thought crossed my mind I ran into a boy from my school while picking up my brother from Ken's Barber Shop. (back then I guess it was OK to drop off kids to get hair cuts). Anyway I was horrified and swore I wasn't going to school the next day or any day after that. Flash forward a few years and a couple of sets of big plastic glasses and I was able to start wearing contacts. They were the hard lenses and weren't the most comfortable things to put in an eye. Added to that was the constant fear that Dr. Smith instilled into me and my mother that I would get a corneal abrasion if I rubbed my eyes.

After wearing glasses and contacts for most of my life, I traded them in for new eyesight and a fun pair of goggles to wear while in the shower this week. (I keep having dreams that I lose my new vision at the most inconvenient times, like driving through a construction zone at night in the rain. I guess I just think that it's too good to be true- I might keep my glasses handy for a while, just in case...) Anyway, here's to never having to say "Wait-I lost my contact" ever again.