I’m not shouting… it is an acronym: LASIK. Jim has been telling me I should get LASIK done ever since he did, twelve years ago. Finally, I decided to go get a consultation last September. I was tired of getting water under my contacts when splashing with the kids in the pool or lake, or not being able to see while I water ski, or switching my contacts early because my eyes are too dry, or forgetting saline when I travel and having to Uber to a CVS late at night to get some. Plus, recently the rules changed so people can use FSA money (pre-tax!) to pay for LASIK. When I got my consultation, I found that I was an excellent candidate. Apparently I have thicker than average corneas, which is good because LASIK basically shaves off some of the cornea to reshape it. They also look for a stable prescription. My prescription is the same in both eyes and hasn’t changed for about 15 years! I picked one of the two places where I received a consultation and booked it for January 3.
The big day arrived! Jim took a picture of me in my glasses before I went back. In about ten years or so I’ll need reading glasses, but until then –
It was simply a little uncomfortable for a grand total of 30 seconds per eye – two separate 15-second procedures per eye. I’ll spare you the details because I really didn’t care much for words like “cornea flap,” but Jim got to watch the whole thing on a monitor showing what was going on inside my eye so he can tell you all about it!
I went home and took a nap, doctor’s orders (how often does that happen?!). I used my special “comfort drops” every fifteen minutes for the rest of the night but was quite able to make dinner, pack lunches, and all of the usual evening work. I could tell that the slight fog was wearing off because I could see across the house by bedtime.
In the morning, I went to my follow-up appointment in Bellevue. On the ferry, I could see the details of all the trees on the water and I thought I was already around 20/20 vision, which is awesome. But at my appointment, I surprised the optometrist by reading the 20/15 lines in each eye – and 20/10 with both eyes. Apparently this is unusual and she was really excited for me because my vision should actually sharpen up a little in the next few weeks.
It was a great experience and I am sooooo happy. I can’t wait to swim and ski without contacts!
The Keene Family 