UPDATE: 9 Months later………

I have Monovision

Initially, I reported that my vision was super clear and I was super happy.  Coming from coke bottle thick glasses, for which I have been wearing for over 27 years, it was a great feeling.  And it still is. 

After about a month though, my vision slowly slightly worsened and then plateaued.  I needed to squint for objects – tv, faces at long distances, etc.  I was able to get an enhancement as my cornea had sufficient thickness and the corneal flap was able to be lifted without a re-cut.  So, I decided to get an enhancement.  So, last Thursday, I went back to EyeQ and had my left eye re-lasered.  Lucky for me, I did not need to have my eyeball held in place and the 9 seconds of laser action went by quite quickly.  A funny comment by the surgical assistant, “you may smell the odor of burnt hair.”  Actually, that’s burnt eyeball!!    

A month ago I went in for a consultation and the doctor determined that my left eye was the worse of the two.  By doing the one eye, it leaves the right eye good for up close stuff and my left eye good for long distance sight – leaving me with Monovision.  My brain will takes both images and amalgamate them.  A week later, my vision is significantly crisper and I am happy.  Another reason for doing the one eye is so that I won’t require reading glasses too soon (mid 40s ish).

I am still recommending this procedure for anyone on the fence about it.

Glenn 

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I have been wearing glasses since I was 9 years old.  Holy shit did I hate them towards the end.  A few years ago, I started wearing contact lenses exclusively.  Mainly because I liked what I looked like without glasses, I could pretty much do anything without the glasses and I despised paying for new glasses every few years.  This prolonged use caused something happen to my eyelids though.  They formed small ulcers underneath the lid itself.  I was becoming allergic to the material of the contact lens.  So, my optometrist informed me I needed to take a break from the exclusive lens use.  So, I succumbed and purchased a nice, contemporary pair of glasses.  This “break” was good for my lids.  Occasionally, I still wore my lenses – for mountain biking, snowboarding, baseball, hockey, and any other activity.  It turned out I needed the use of the lenses quite regularly.  Prior to this allergy, I could go almost all day with the lenses in.  Over the last few months, however, I was getting comfortable use for close to 4 hours.  This was getting on my nerves and I decided to ask some questions about laser eye surgery.

 

The main questions needed to be asked are:-

–         How old are you?

–         Has your prescription changed in the last few years?

–         Is your cornea thick enough for the procedure?

 

Under 40?  YES!

 

My prescription had not changed in over 5 years.  WEEEE!

 

Thick cornea?  Don’t know.  I was referred to EyeQ Laser (www.eyeqlaser.com).  Their offices are very nice, modern and use the very best, state-of-the-art equipment and ultra high tech computerized aiming, measuring and targeting lasers.  Their website shows all you need to know about their facility and capabilities. 

 

It turns out you need a minimum thickness of cornea in order for the flap to be cut, moved out of the way for the laser to reshape your eye.  Luckily, I had that required thickness.

 

So, I decided to go ahead and book the procedure.

 

On the morning of the procedure, I was feeling great.  OR was I?  I slept well, yet my heartbeat may have been a few beats faster than normal, but still I was acting all cool.  My super wonderful girlfriend Shannon drove me to my appointment.  Upon getting seated to await the procedure, I did notice that I was a little more restless.  My fears were …. Would I lose my sight?  Cases are very, very rare.  Would I come out with worse vision?  Again, the cases are very rare.  What if I had to sneeze during the procedure and thus altering the trajectory of the beam?  The doctor made me feel very comfortable with all my questions.  The numbers he gave me for my current state of blindness were… 99.9% chance of coming out with 20/40 vision and a 94% chance of seeing at a 20/20 level.  Pretty good, I thought.  After all, my eyes were: -7.07 OD and -6.91 OS.  I knew the potential risks and signed off on them.

 

Time to get this over with.  I slip into booties, a funny mesh gown and a shower cap.  I then get ushered into the operating room. 

 

It is sterile and there is a lady in there all masked and gloved up.  Good stuff.  I lie down on a flat chair-bed.  And position myself as comfortable as I can.  There are two machines on either side of me.  Small talk ensues and I was given two foam eyeballs as stress squeezers.  How cute.  Fuck!  What do I need these for!  The doctor then comes in and he goes through what is to happen.  I am not stressing out, but I am nervous and he calms me down after telling me what will happen.   

 

First, my left eye will be taped shut so they can concentrate on the right eye.  Then they tape my lashes down and start the numbing drops.  With these drops I no longer feel the need to blink.  That is a weird feeling.  They were cold and dripped to the back on my neck.  Then a contraption is lowered to hold my eyelids open.  At this time I cannot feel it in my eye.  At this point, I am positioned under the machine that cuts the cornea.  It is tremendously bright.  Something else is lowered onto my head, but I do not know what this is.  At this point, the doctor says that they will be lowering a suction cup to my eye and to be ready but nothing is to worry.  He then positions my head a little better and off we go.  To better understand this procedure, click on the below link.

 

http://www.eyeqlaser.com/videos/IntralaseAnim.mpg

 

This was a very strange sensation.  The suction cup arm was lowered onto my right eye and it sat there and sucked down.  After a few seconds, my vision went dark.  I was then moved over to the other station.  This is where the cornea layer gets cut.  As the cup was lowered, you can see 7 distinct small lights in a circle.  If you are at all claustrophobic, this would be terrifying for you.  But the doctor and the techs were amazing at talking me through it.  I didn’t notice myself squeezing the foam balls at all.  I concentrated on slow, deep breaths and only swallowed when I had to.  This part only took 20 seconds at most.  See a real life video below.  Be prepared as it is a video of an actual eye getting cut.  

 

http://www.eyeqlaser.com/videos/Intralase_Flap_Creation.mpg

 

I was then moved over to the laser.  The laser was aimed at my eye and it did its readings.  It determined that it would need 51 seconds of ‘modifying’ time.  I am guessing this is because of my high nearsightedness.  I was to stare at a blinking, faded orange strobe.  I had to keep completely still for 51 seconds.  This was where I didn’t want to screw this up.  I kept slow, deep breaths and swallowed about 4 or 5 times but kept my head perfectly still.  Throughout this entire time, the doctor kept reassuring me that everything was perfect.  Perfect.  Perfect.  Perfect.

 

After the 51 seconds of clicking and clacking, it was done.  There was a half sniff of burned eyeball, but nothing I haven’t smelled before.  It was like burned hair.  The fuzzy orange strobe seemed clear.  I WAS NOT BLIND!!!  Whew!  The doctor now put the flap back, as the video shows, and readjusted it and smoothed the air out or whatever and sprinkled it with cooling liquid.  Onto the left eye.

 

The procedure was the exact same to the left eye, but I did notice some pain coming from my right eye from the bright lights being used.  Maybe black tape should be used for that eye.  Just sayin’.  The suction device seemed to cause more pain on this eye, which apparently is quite normal.  The left eye needed 49 seconds of zap time.  Once again, I was breathing deeply, knowing that it was less than a minute and I’d be a new person.  BEEP!  DONE!  I was then pulled up and walked myself to the post surgery room.  I had a cookie and a juice.  As the doctor said, my vision was cloudy (like looking through Vaseline).  But it was clear. I could read stuff across the room!  OH MAN!!  This is great. 

 

For a few hours afterward, the real pain was from light sensitivity when I was applying my eye drops.  Honestly though, the only pain part of the procedure was the procedure itself.  One other downside to the major trauma to the eyeball is some bruising on the white part (sclera) of my eyes.  Check the pic below.  This is supposed to clear up in 10 days or so.

 

 

A few other downsides….. I cannot touch my eyes for a week.  I cannot get sweat or water in my eyes.  I cannot play contact sports for two weeks.  I cannot swim for three weeks.  Once the 3 week time limit is up, and a few dr visits over the next half year, I am good to go.  I am so happy I did this.