Lasers and Such (Upcoming Lasik Surgery)

So, I've decided in the wake of celebrating a year with Melvin, a permanent change to my body, to make two other permanent changes to my body.  One of which was my kickass tattoo.  The second, I'm gearing up for.

Old Memes FTW!

I've been cleared to get Lasik.

Andy and I have been working hard to build up our HSA, since we know that my life circumstances will always require this situation.  We will ALWAYS hit our high deductible.  We will continue to put the max amount into the HSA every year that we can.  With healthcare as it is currently in our country (additional opinions on that here), we will need it.  We've been able to pay for some additional dental work and glasses out of this account as well.  Through some small miracle and a lot of good planning, we have enough in this account to pay for Lasik as well as cover the full deductible for next year.  I'm so pleased and so saddened by this, that I'm grateful we're so prepared and sad that we have to be.

I've had glasses since second grade.  They would get bent and broken from time to time growing up, once lost to a lake, and always something that had to be maintained and worried about.  With my various medical experiences, giving my glasses over to a nurse or tech was that final part where I felt worried and truly vulnerable--the events were really real as soon as I couldn't see anymore.  Similarly, after they flew off in a car accident, I felt much more able to process what I needed to do once we found them again.  Going to a waterpark with my family always meant that we had to register a home base where we might leave our glasses, requiring a lot of walking back and forth.  I tried to get around this sometimes with goggles that had some prescription in them, but even that felt awkward and annoying to have to work around.  Showering with various medical appliances has been tricky at various points, where I couldn't really verify their condition with my glasses sitting by the bathroom sink.  These days, when I have a bag change day and Melvin is exposed in the shower, I can't see whether there's any...activity until it's a little too late to contain it.

Yeah, I think I might miss the look that I've come accustomed to think of as "my face" but there are many things to look forward to.

And of course I'm going to give you my perspective on the process of things.  :)

I started off with a consultation appointment a few months ago, to discuss the generalities, where I voiced my specific concerns with my medical conditions as they were, ensuring that there were no counterindications with my Crohn's history.  Flash-forward to last Friday, where I had a couple hours worth of testing.

First, we measured some components of both eyes in the Lasik center, measuring how light hits my eye and the general topography therein.  We were mapping out how light was processed in my eye.  This was a lot of "We're going to flash a light that I need to you stare at and not blink" for ten seconds at a time.  In fact, most of the day was in that camp.  They did a full eye exam, checking for overall health and verifying my prescription--I still can't see the big E without my glasses, but it's been years since I could.  Checked my eye pressure, checked in three different machines where I held my eye open as lights moved or stayed the same.

And, of course, in order to see elements of my eyes better, they had to dilate them.  When I was informed that this was a particular strong version that they needed to use, that might still show dilation into the next morning, I was even less excited and immediately had to question the wisdom of my original plan to go grocery shopping after the appointment.  I ended up calling Andy and having him read the list to me.  Thank goodness it was so foggy and grey out that day.

Something about those dilated eyes seemed familiar...

As a unique element to this appointment, they also stuck these tiny pieces of paper in the corners of my eyes to measure my tear production.  This was probably the worst five minutes, since I had the corner of these pieces of paper tucked under my eyelid in the outside corner of both eyes, waiting to see how the irritation and general tear production continued down the strip via capillary action.  I was very relieved to have those out.

In considering Lasik, we also needed to measure the thickness of my cornea.  This was nearly identical to the eye pressure test (no puffs of air here, just a pressure outside the eye after some numbing drops) but with a different tool.  This is important to the Lasik process, since based on how thick the cornea is, they might recommend a different way to go about it.  The Lasik process, as I understand it, does not involve a blade anymore, instead using a laser to cut some holes along the cornea, like the perforation on a tear-off part of a document.  This flap, then, is flipped back (by the machine) and the laser goes to work.  I'm told that part takes all of twenty minutes or so per eye.  If the cornea is too thin, then a method called PRK (photoreactive keratectomy) is used to move parts of the cornea so that the laser can do its thing--basically, a solution eats away at the top layer of cells.  On the plus side, definitely no blade and less touching involved, though the recovery is a bit slower, since the body has to regrow that layer afterwards.  I was told it felt like an eyelash stuck in your eye that you cannot get out.

I'm less wigged out by things touching my eye than others I've talked to, so the shorter healing time and less inflammatory response (compared to the body reacting to the dissolved epithelial cells in PRK, particularly with my Crohn's) from the Lasik sounds dandy to me, and my doctor as it happens.

Risk factors include the potential in 0.1% of patients for a corneal scar (which I've done some new reading on and found some [what I think are] cool YouTube videos) and dry eyes.   Dry eyes definitely seems to be the most common negative side effect.  I've looked at some worst case scenarios, too, and we discussed how about 95% of people get 20/20, but it's possible I may need a "touch-up" (my words, not his) in a couple months.  Hell, I'd be fine with readers even if it would just be better than Velma from Scooby-Doo.  

Day is set for Friday the 21st, mid afternoon.  Recovery period, not too bad, but I will be expected to put in eyedrops every fifteen minutes the first three days and then every thirty for the rest of the first month.  And we'll see where things go from there.  I'm hoping for "better," which seems like a feasible goal.  Updates as I have them!  Wish me luck.