A few weeks ago I decided to research LASIK eye surgery. I was recommended the Pacific Vision Institute by my ophthalmologist because they have a great reputation and use the latest technology. I had a free consultation with them and decided to go ahead and book the operation.
For the next 5 days I wore my glasses instead of contact lenses, had a screening to make sure my eyes were good candidates, and kept my eyes well lubricated. Everything went well and so I had the LASIK surgery today at noon.
Here's what it was like.
First of all, they give you a mild sedative to calm your nerves. I was fairly relaxed already, but it definitely helped. Then they dab your eyes with an anesthetic and give it a few minutes to work. Then they move you to the first machine, which uses a laser to cut a circular flap in your cornea that will be pulled back to let the second machine do the main work.
The doctor (Dr. Faktorovich) has a great bedside manner and explained everything that she was about to do. She put a ring into my eye that prevented it from closing and then cleaned and lubricated the eye. Finally, she lowered the machine over the eye until it was bound to the eye (perhaps via some kind of connector; I couldn't see that much). They told me to look at the light and then the laser started to cut the flap.
At that point, your eye goes dark and you can see lots of pretty colored dots. I thought they might be caused by the laser, but apparently it's due to the pressure of the machine against the eye. There was no pain or discomfort during this process, and it took about 10-20 seconds per eye. At this point, each eye had a corneal flap that was ready to be lifted.
A nurse then guided me from the first machine to the second, and I was able to look out of my eyes. The world was very blurry because both of my corneas had been cut with the laser. Trippy but no pain at all.
I laid down onto the second machine and the doctor worked on the right eye, then the left. For each eye, she cleaned it, then put the ring back in to keep the eye open, lifted the corneal flap made by the first machine, then lowered the second machine and told me to look at the green laser patch in the center of my visual field. The lasers didn't look like dots, they looked like the kinds of lasers you'd see in a light show - a green light show in the center of my vision and red light shows all around the edges.
Once things were aligned, the main lasers were activated and it took about 30 seconds per eye for them to resuface the cornea. Apparently each eye receives thousands of tiny laser adjustments, which is necessary to get rid of the various imperfections on the surface of the cornea. You can smell a little burning during this phase; it's a bit like the smell when they drill a tooth in the dentist office. But as usual, no pain or discomfort. One the main laser finished its job on a particular eye, the doctor lowered the flap and cleaned the eye.
It took about 20 minutes for the second machine to do its job, and then I had some transparent "eye shields" taped over my eyes to prevent accidental scratching or rubbing. It's important not to dislodge the corneal flaps during the first few days, since they are busy healing.
The entire process took about 2 hours, and I drove home in a cab. When I already look out of my eyes the world looked fairly clear but with a fine mist around everything - a bit like your vision if you go swimming with your eyes open in a swimming pool with chlorine. I went to bed and kept my eyes closed as they recommended. I've been sleeping most of the day and will go to sleep again after I eat dinner.
I can see my vision already getting better. I had a coffee on my terrace and watched the sun go down, and the sunset was fairly clear. Apparently the mist takes just a couple of days to go away, but it can take 1-3 months to experience the final result.
So far, everything seems to be going well. I have a follow-up appointment tomorrow, then another in a week, then a month, just to make sure it continues to go well.
I know you have been considering Lasik for quite some time. Glad you finally had the chance to do it.
Posted by: Kytari | Jun 22, 2009 at 11:52 AM