Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Eye Surgery

I finally went and had PRK laser vision correction done to my eyes! Most people will recognize it as LASIK. The difference between the two is the way they get through your cornia to do the actual lasering process. Unlike LASIK surgery, PRK does not require the creation of a corneal flap. Instead, the epithelium is gently removed and the laser is applied to reshape the surface of the cornea to fix your vision and get rid of the astigmatisms. Since an astigmatism (the front of the eye) is shaped like a football rather than a basketball, a clean circle cannot be cut and get the same result as with a normal shaped eye during LASIK. Therefore, they had to get rid of part of the top of my eyes that is no thicker than a piece of hair. It was a very painful recovery, since the healing is much more strained. But all is well. It has only been a week and a half since I had it done, so it is still healing, but it is an AMAZING thing, technology. From having very, very bad vision, to not needing any contacts or glasses, I would recommend it to anyone!

As a side note, I know most people get freaked out by the fact that you watch the whole process being done to your eyes. But this is how I saw it. For those of you who wear mascara, you might better understand it. When you put your mascara on, you watch yourself doing it in the mirror. If you look directly at the brush coming at you, that is a much more freaky process. But we don't get freaked out when we see it coming at our eye in the mirror. Well, that's how this vision correction is. They tell you to focus/stare at the blinking orange light, and not to move your eye at all, or the machine will shut down and it will have to start over again. You are so focused on not moving your eye, and focusing on that blinking orange light, you can't focus on what they are doing to you. And the thing they clamp your eye open with...you can't even tell it's there. You don't have the urge to blink because they keep your eye nice and moist. It's really not that scary.
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The benefits far out weigh any moment of any nerves you may have. It'll hurt for a few days, but I'll tell you it's worth it. Besides, it gives you a reason to hug a stuffed bunny like you did when you were little. (Yes, they provide a stuffed bunny for you to hug during the procedure). And it made me smile. :)

2 comments:

Jessica said...

Hooray for 20/20 vision! I'm glad you are feeling better!

Spencer S. said...

I am glad you were able to get the surgery. I think I would still be a pansy about having to have eye surgery.