At the age of 7, I had my first eye exam at school. It was a standard exam, all of the students had to complete it and I didn’t think much of it. A few days after the exam my mom told me we had to talk. I remember where we were standing, at the bottom of our staircase in the family room. She told me that I had failed the exam and needed to get classes. I was a sensitive child (who has grown into a sensitive woman) and immediately began to cry. I think my mom was holding me so she couldn’t see my face and asked if I was crying. I said no, I was laughing, I thought it was funny. I wasn’t willing to admit that I didn’t want glasses. Maybe I was afraid that I’d be teased, maybe I was worried about the unknown. Maybe I cried because it was the first time I failed an exam and the first time I found myself of the other side of “normal”. The truth is, before that day, I had no idea that I couldn’t see well. I thought everyone saw things blurry, that the fuzzy border around an object disappeared for everyone as they approached it.
The day we picked up my glasses is still fresh in my mind. I remember when we pulled out of the parking lot and I said to my mom, “I can read that sign!” It said “Mother Hubbard”, which I still think is a clever name for a convenience store, and my mom said “Well, good! You should be able to read that sign.” I read every sign aloud the rest of the way home. I was in awe. I could see. An amazing epiphany for a girl who hadn’t known she couldn’t.
And so, I became grateful to have glasses. They were a minor annoyance when I wanted to lay in bed to read, when it rained (I once “invented” tiny windshield wipers for glasses that I was sure would sell like hotcakes), that one time when I got hit in the face with a soccer ball and they cracked in half and of course I still couldn’t see during swim practice and got to be quite a pro at blind flip turns. By the time I was going into middle school, at the age of 11, I graduated to contact lenses, another revolutionary change for me. Sight without the limitations of glasses was a huge improvement and I’ve worn them ever since.
Then, a few weeks ago, Todd and I decided that it was feasible for me to have LASIK surgery. The procedure is simple, they use a laser to reshape your cornea so that you can see without glasses or contact lenses. I have been dreaming of having LASIK since I was 15 and my optometrist told me that I might be a candidate after I turned 16 and my eyes had stopped changing. Ten years later, on Thursday, I had LASIK surgery.
The procedure was fast. From the time I entered the surgical suite to the time I walked out, it was only about 15 minutes. The experience was so strange. You’re operated on while awake and can see what they’re doing the whole time. Of course my eyes were numbed before laying down and then, once in position, I spent the next fifteen minutes staring at a green light. They opened my eyes with a lid retractor and started the procedure by creating a flap with a laser that was placed directly on my eyeball. That part involved a lot of pressure and a few seconds of complete darkness. Thankfully, my doctor walked me through everything as he did it so I knew that the darkness was to be expected, that I wasn’t going blind. After that portion was complete, I could see not only the green light but a large red circle that was caused by the release of pressure on my eye. It looked like I was in a bad 80s music video. A second laser was used for the actual vision correction to reshape my cornea. The doctor counted down from 15 and it was done. Repeat on the left, and I was sitting up and seeing.
Everything was foggy as they walked me over to have my eyes examined. The doctor asked me to look at a wall that was about 20 feet away. Normally, without glasses or contacts, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that there were large letters on the wall. He asked if I could read it. I could.
I walked out of the office, glasses in hand, wearing nothing but the awesome sunglasses that they gave me to wear home.
I was also instructed to take a 4-5 hour long nap to sleep through any pain or discomfort I might experience. I gladly obliged.
Besides waking up once and feeling as if someone had poured a scoopful of sand into my eyes, I had no pain. After waking up from my nap, I’ve had no other discomfort apart from a little dryness.
I see now without any enhancements.
My follow-up appointment yesterday verified that one of my eyes was already at 20/20 vision. After LASIK, your vision is expected to continue to improve for the next 3 months to a year. I am already seeing just as clearly as I did with my contact lenses.
For someone like me who was once told that I could’ve gone blind if they hadn’t caught my eyesight problem when they did, this is hard to fathom. It still seems unreal that I can see, on my own. Last night, I grabbed my contact solution and started to take my contacts out. Then I realized I didn’t have to. I am so happy with the results and so blown away by the simplicity of it. I only took one afternoon off from work and was back at my desk the next day.
The whole process has left me feeling thankful for a generous and loving husband and supportive family, amazed by the wonders of modern science and blessed to have my vision restored.
Have you had LASIK or another procedure that changed the way you experience your world?
What are you thankful for today?
