I Can See Clearly Now ….

Yesterday I had Lasik surgery.  After a couple of years thinking about it and the cost, I finally decided a month ago to do it and it all happened quickly.  Which is how I wanted it.  I have many weeks of travel this summer and this will be so convienent. For those of you wondering about the process, here is a little testimony.

My surgery was performed by Dr. James Luetkemeyer at Capital Eye Care in Jefferson City. Luetkemeyer and his partner, Dr. Matt Lewis, have a great record with Lasik. Prior to my Lasik surgery, I scheduled an appointment to make sure I was still a good candidate for Lasik.  I had done this two years ago but things can change in two years. Dr. Luetkemeyer gave the all-clear and we set my appointment up for a few days later.  I had been wearing glasses for a couple of weeks so my corneas had plenty of time to get back to your normal shape.  If you wear gas permeable contacts, you need to leave them out for 3 weeks prior to surgery and if you wear soft contacts, they require 3 days out. 

I arrived at my appointment yesterday with no make-up ready to go. My dad came along with me to drive me home afterwards. I met with a nurse for the preliminary instructions and prepping – cleaning my lids, getting numbing drops, and going through all the instructions and care kit for after surgery.  Then Dr. Luetkemeyer came in and went through the actual surgery so I knew what to expect. No surprises. It was exactly as he described it.  He then took me to another room where two techs were waiting to assist him. 

After laying down on the table, they operate on one eye at a time. My lids are taped back so that I don’t have to worry about blinking.  A series of drops are put in to get the eye moist and to numb it.  The whole time there is a blinking red light that I focus on.  The laser has a pulsating feature which allows it to stay focused on what it needs to focus on even if I look somewhere else.  The doctor does a variety of things, cutting the cornea and moving the flap so that the laser can get to where it needs to get.  The actual lasering part takes about 30 secs.  You can hear it working and smell the gases.  It smells similar to a burning smell but it was a cold laser so it wasn’t burning anything.  Then, the doctor puts everything back into place and moves to the next eye.  All in all it takes about 30 minutes from start to finish for both eyes. Afterwards, things look foggy – kind of like you have film over your eyes which during allergy season is a common experience for me.

Afterwards, the doctor goes over the follow-up care again and takes a final look.  Then I’m ready to go.  I have protective glasses to wear the first day and night but I can see.  It is similar to what it looks like without my contacts.   When I get home, I’m suppose to take at least a two-hour nap since the first two hours are the most uncomfortable they say.  I had prescription medicine to help me sleep.  It took me a little bit to go to sleep and the eyes didn’t really hurt.  They just felt like they had some sand or irritation in them but you can’t rub them at all.  Finally I went to sleep and slept for 5 hours.  When I woke up, I could see clearly and sharp like I had contacts in.  No real pain or irritiation either. 

It is the day after and it is all good! It is wonderful to have great sight without the fuss of contacts or glasses.  I have drops to put in four times a day for a week.  I can’t swim or be near saunas for two weeks and no rubbing my eyes for four weeks.  I have a follow-up today but otherwise, I’m good to go!  I’m more than pleased and it has been a great decision that I would recommend to others.