I CAN SEE!!!

Yesterday will be marked on my list of best days ever. You might say it will go on my Greatest Hits (for all of you Lost fans out there!) At 3:00 yesterday afternoon, my 20/400 vision, as depicted above, was restored. So amazing.

After 24 years of needing visual correction, and being forced to wear my glasses for almost two weeks, which really weren't all that great to begin with, I couldn't have been more ready for this surgery. When I arrived at Loden Vision Center yesterday, they told me to leave my stuff, including my glasses, with Jeff. I went back to the prep room for what seemed like 20 different sets of eye drops, at least some of which were to dilate my eyes, a valium and the biggest ibuprofin I had ever seen.

After a few minutes, Dr. Loden marked my eyes to give the laser a reference point. I didn't really understand it, but by that point the valium was kicking in so I didn't really care either.

After going back for a few more measurements, they put me in the machine that makes the corneal flap. If you have a weak stomach, you may want to skip a few paragraphs. Dr. Loden inserted a suction cup thing in my eye, then pushed my head under the machine that makes the actual cut. I felt some pretty intense pressure as the machine pushed into my eyeball. It was like when you push on your eye and see those tiny little red dots. It lasted about a minute for each eye, and was probably the most unpleasant part of the whole ordeal.

After he had made my flaps, I walked over to the actual LASIK machine. This was like something out of a sci-fi movie. He inserted a vise-like contraption in my eye to keep it open, and then I was supposed to stare at a blinking red dot as best as I could throughout the procedure. This woman's voice, straight out of Alien, would say, "Procedure 35% complete, approximately 45 seconds remain," and so on, until it was over. Dr. Loden was very encouraging, telling me I was doing great and just reminding me to hold still. It didn't hurt, but the smell was similar to the dentist's drill when you are getting a cavity filled. A very odd sensation, indeed. Once the laser part was over, I could feel him putting the corneal flap back in place with what seemed like tweezers, and then it felt wet, like he was spraying it with saline or something. It was very hard to keep looking at the red light, but I did the best that I could.

After it was over, I laid there for a couple of minutes, and then they had me get up and walk back to the recovery room. I could tell immediately that I could see, but everything was still very hazy and the light was intense. Once in recovery I had a few more rounds of drops, then Dr. Loden checked out my eyes to make sure everything looked good. He gave me his blessing and I was free to leave.

When Jeff came back to get me I was decked out in a blue hairnet, blue footies and some really nice, thick, white-rimmed goggles. My instructions were to wear the goggles until the following morning when Dr. Loden would remove them. I had some eye drops to take every four hours yesterday and 4x a day for the next 5 days. Everything was very sensitive, and my eyes still feel a little bit scratchy, as if there's sand in them, but I can see. I just can't get over it.

We stayed in a hotel room next to the surgical center because it was north of town and about an hour away from our house. Once I got there I climbed straight in bed because the Valium was just knocking me out. I slept for a couple of hours, and Jeff came back and woke me up to see if I was okay and if I wanted dinner. He went out and got us something so I wouldn't have to dine in front of others wearing my classy eyewear. I had to wait until 8:30 to take my second set of drops, and then I was out again for the rest of the night.

This morning I woke up and I could SEE what time it was, and the alarm clock was on Jeff's side of the bed! It was unbelievable. My eyes were still really dilated, so light was still making me hurt, but the discomfort was significantly less than the night before. We went back to the Vision Center for my follow-up, and Dr. Loden said everything looked perfect. I could see 20/20 in my right eye and about 20/25 in my left. He said I was about 85% of what I will be in a few days as far as clarity goes. I just can't wait to see how things are going to look by Friday.

It literally feels like a miracle. I am so thankful that God gave his kids the ability to come up with this amazing procedure, and empowered some very wise people to figure out how to do it. What a blessing it will be to not have to wear contacts or glasses for the next several years until I get old enough to need reading glasses. I don't think my brain is fully wrapped around it yet.

But for today, I'm just going to enjoy the view.