My new eyes

There is a scene in Minority Report - the one where Tom Cruise has a new set of eyes transplanted in his head. You remember: the dodgy 'doctor' gives him his old set back in a ziplock bag and tells him he'll be fine in 24 hours? Well, that was me on Friday afternoon...OK, I am exaggerating a lot here, but you get my drift!

I went under the laser last week to correct my really high negative prescription. I've worn glasses since I was 5, and without them, I was as much use as a flashlight in thick fog. You know the generic eye test board where you read the varying sizes of letters - without my glasses or contacts, I couldn't find the freaking board in the first place, let alone read it. So I decided it was about time to deal with the issue. I can't wear contacts anymore, so my last resort was PRK laser corrective surgery.

The actual procedure was OK, a little hardcore when the surface of my eye was effectively wiped away with alcohol, but the laser part was fine (aside from the burning smell). I opted to take the Adivan sedative, so I was pretty much floating the whole time anyway. Here is a photo of me during the operation - calm as a hindu cow:

(You may ask who took this picture, and why?! H was trying to remain calm in the waiting room!)

The recovery has been OK. (H will no doubt tell the story of me tripping out on Ativan for years to come). The first few days were painful, and I was living my life on a schedule of different eye drops, but today is the first day that I feel things are starting to heal. I have contacts in now to protect my eyes, and I think they are irritating me more than the healing. I've been working from home for the last few days, and I had to zoom my mac in like crazy yesterday, just to see the screen! Today is clearer though, and definitely much more comfortable. I'm going back to the clinic on Thursday to have the bandage lenses removed, and then I should be good to go (continuing with the eye drops until July).

The obvious question is now - was the surgery worth it? Hell yes. Despite the discomfort (and no eye make-up for a week...grrr!) I am really happy I have done this. I can see for the first time ever, and I love it - a lot. One last thing I wanted to share with you though - after the surgery, you have to protect your eyes from UVA and UVB...check out the sunnies the clinic made me wear! Wooooooooooow - hello 1986!