How the LASIK Surgery Went

Several weeks ago, I posted a prayer request regarding an appointment I made for upcoming LASIK vision correction surgery. It has now been over a month since I had the surgery, and I owe a bit of an explanation of how things went. Thanks to all of you who prayed for me. I do apologize for not filling you in on the details sooner.

Everything went quite well. My uncorrected eyes were not that bad. My right eye was the worst, requiring a perscription of just over -4 diopters. The surgeon's office had me eating flax oil and using lubricant eye drops for a few weeks before the surgery, to make sure my eyes were not dry. The surgeon informed me that he had done LASIK for some members of the Portland Trailblazers. They advanced to the first round of this last season's NBA playoffs (although they lost the first round), so I figured they must be able to see well enough to hit the basket. My confidence in my surgeon was helped by this news.

On the day of the surgery, I was given a few eye tests, then a dose of Valium. It wasn't enough to knock me out or even to diminish consciousness that much. Instead, it just made me a bit apathetic. I was glad when it wore off. (Prescription drug addiction isn't one of my besetting sins, I guess.) After the Valium, they led me into a rather ordinary looking room with some sort of apparatus whose details I didn't bother to notice. They laid me into a reclining chair, put a suction cup device on my right eye, and did their business. Then they switched to the left eye. I noticed a profound difference in my vision after they were done.

The first afternoon was the most uncomfortable, although by evening my eyes felt normal. I had to sleep with an eye shield for the first week, and I was told to refrain from rubbing my eyes for the first month. I did notice both glare and haloes around lights at night, although this has gotten quite a bit better.

My left eye seems picture-perfect right now, with vision of 20/15. The vision in my right eye is still settling down, and fluctuates between 20/20 and 20/15, with occasional days where my vision is slightly worse than 20/20. Using lubricating eye drops definitely seems to help. I've been told that the complete healing process takes around three months.

All in all, it's quite liberating to not have to find my glasses when I wake up in the morning, to be free from the terror of losing my glasses should I ever have to travel, and to be free from having to stock up on contact lenses and cleaning solution. Thanks again for your prayers!