So, finally, after deciding to go ahead with the LASIK retreatment, making my appointment for January 15, and then having that appointment delayed a week; the morning of my re-treat operation was finally here. The weather reports of the impending storm made me a little wary, but I hoped that the storm would either pass over us, or I would be indoors during the worst of it.
I arrived at the doctor’s office fifteen minutes early (per usual, darn military conditioning) and waited in the reception area for about an hour. It seems that everyone had moved their appointments earlier in the day to avoid the storm—not fair to those of us who already had 9 AM appointments, but “life” rarely shares the same sentence with “fair” without some negation.
The technician looked at my eyes, made measurements while I stared at the little farm scene that shifts in and out of focus, and then the doctor (Dr. Dello Russo, Jr.) came in for the eye chart reading. “Which is better? One? Or Two? One? Two? One?” “Uh, one I guess. I dunno.” “One or two? How about three? One? Two? Three?”
After the doctor left, I signed a consent form which was an addendum to the forms I signed last year. The technician also gave me my “goodie” bag, which provided my first bit of good news. They no longer required that patients go to the pharmacy to fill a prescription for the tremendously overpriced Lotemax and Vigamox ($120 saved, score!). Instead, they had switched to the cheaper Pred Forte (anti-inflammatory) and Zymar (antibiotic) drops and already had both bottles in the bag. Also, they replaced the adhesive bubble-shaped eye shields with an elastic-strapped clear plastic face shield (for use during the first two nights of sleep). Finally, the sunglasses, last worn by Diana in the mini-series V, were replaced by a slightly less ridiculous-looking pair.
Then Dr. Dello Russo, Sr., came in. He asked how my vision was, and I explained the blurriness and glare I experienced while night driving, etc. He then directed the technician to take me down to the Alcon LADARWave machine so that they could get my CustomCornea 3D wavefront map saved to disk (after dilating my eyes).
As I mentioned previously, all of the rooms with the laser equipment are COLD. This time, I came prepared with a thermal undershirt, a silkweight thermal undershirt, a long-sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, and a fleece pullover.
After a bit more waiting, it was time to pop my Valium and have anesthetic drops put into my eyes. I began to try to relax myself, preparing myself for the machine I dreaded—the IntraLase flap cutter. Last time my jittery head could not stop moving, and the capillary-bursting breaking of the suction led to this pretty picture. However, I soon found myself in the room with the cornea-shaping laser; we had skipped a step.
It seems that I had naïvely assumed that when the flap heals after LASIK, it completely reintegrates itself back into the surface of the cornea. Not true. The flap remains. Once healed, the flap cannot become dislodged by itself or by rubbing; however, a doctor can lift the flap back up with a spatula.
Once the doctor lased my cornea, he reset the flap, and placed the protective hard contact lenses over my eyes. The technician then said, “See you tomorrow around 5 PM.”
Surprised, I let her know that I was staying overnight in the nearby Clinton Inn, and my checkout was at noon, so I asked if they could see me in the morning. Instead, the doctor suggested that I wait around for an hour. If everything was still fine, he could remove the hard lenses right then and there, and I could drive home that afternoon.
Of course, everything was fine, and I could already see nearly as well as I could before the operation, with just a slight amount of blurriness. I still can’t believe how smoothly the operation went; there is not a spot of redness. I only feel a slight stinging, dry discomfort when I neglect to apply my eye drops every 15 minutes. Also, for two weeks or so, I should avoid any strenuous physical activity such as weightlifting or sex (<sarcasm>two whole weeks…how will I ever endure</sarcasm>).
So at 2 PM on Saturday, I walked out to my car, which was already covered with more than a foot of snow.
next: the nightmarish drive home…
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