I got glasses in second grade, and one of the clearest memories I have (ironically) was looking up at the tree branches on the car ride home from my annual eye doctor appointment, and seeing how much clearer they were than a few hours prior. Every year, I got a new prescription, and my eyes kept getting worse, even though no one in my family even had glasses.
It was always something I really hated about myself, didn’t really understand and felt like a barrier. But, with nearsightedness and -7.5 prescription, glasses and contacts meant being able to do … well, anything and everything. Not to mention the annual eye doctor visits and the price for new lenses and contacts, solutions, etc. almost every year.
Over a week ago, I finally got iLasik surgery, something I’d been dreaming of since I knew it existed, and I keep looking at the trees. They’re clearer than ever, and it’s insane to wake up every day, open my eyes and just… see everything. In the beginning, it just felt like I’d gone to sleep with my contacts in, but now, it’s slowly settling in that I don’t need anything to see now, I can just … see.
The procedure took no more than about twenty minutes, though the preparation seemed nearly eternal. iLasik means that they only use lasers – no blades or (microkeratome blades, as they’re officially called). Either way, a flap is created on the eye, flipped open so that the laser can reshape the cornea, and then the flap is returned to its place after the laser does its thing.
Me the day before surgery
I had to wear my glasses two weeks before my pre-surgery check, which was a week before the actual iLasik surgery and turned out to be two weeks before since our appointment was moved. This meant wearing my glasses for about a month before the actual surgery, on January 7th, making being able to see all the more bittersweet when it did come around.
For those who are wondering, the surgery was completely painless, albeit uncomfortable at times. For those who get squeamish, I might skip the next three paragraphs. Two nurses led me into the operating room, literally because they took my glasses off and I couldn’t see anything, and laid me down with my hair in a net and stress ball in hand. I wasn’t nervous, to my complete surprise, because I knew that any pain would be over quickly and would be absolutely worth a lifetime of sight.
Last time wearing glasses! Right in front of the building where it went down
The doctor came in and questioned my sweatshirt – I was told to dress comfortably, so I wore my “I Wish I Were Blogging RN” sweatshirt from Her Campus (is this a sponsored post? Jokes), and he asked me what “RN” meant, adding that soon I can do all the blogging I want without glasses or contacts. I smiled.
He put some drops in my eyes and my vision went black for about thirty seconds. That was terrifying. I was suddenly beside-myself anxious and so thankful this lady gave me a stress ball, which was definitely being suffocated in my hands. It all happened very quickly, but I felt what felt like a plastic disc slip onto my eyes (everything was done eye by eye), and then immense pressure made it feel like my eyeball was going to pop in my skull. I winced out loud during the second eye – if one of the women hadn’t been talking to me in her soft, soothing voice, I might have exploded (with fear). Next, the doctor told me to stare into the orange light, which I could barely see half the time anyway.
In the end, my world was glossy and everything looked like it was underwater. My vision was still blurry, but already an improvement. To finish things off, as if I were looking through the dome of a glazed snow globe, being painted over by a small brush with a cool liquid on the surface of my eyes. Now that was a weird sensation.
After the surgery was over, I was given three Nyquil and told to take a nap, to which I happily obliged. I had to these very strange plastic disks when sleeping then and the first night, which protected me from rubbing my eyes while asleep. I looked like a fly, and it was extremely flattering.
Your girl could never. I mean she could, if your girl was part bug. Then she probably could.
After I woke up, I began to take antibiotics (which I had also taken the week leading up to the surgery) along with steroid drops every four hours I was awake. Every three hours between this, I was to take preservative-free artificial tears to keep my eyes lubricated. I’m still using the tears a lot, at least every two hours as my eyes continue to heal.
Everything is so much easier now and I could not be more thankful. It’s so surreal to be able to wake up in the morning and be able to see the world around me, with 20/20 vision I might add. The first thing I saw when I woke up the next day, aside from my mom sitting at my bedside, was the staircase past the hallway outside my door. It was the smallest thing, but an insane feeling.
As of now, it’s still hard to look at screens for extended periods of time, and lights, especially at night, are extremely bright and I have to keep driving to daytime. I use tears all the time, and even though I’ve had trouble putting in eye drops for my entire life, putting them in now is second-nature.
I feel so incredibly happy and blessed to have been able to get this surgery. Even though it is considered cosmetic surgery, it’s already proven to be life-changing for me in this short period of time, especially since my eyesight was so poor beforehand. We went through the Corneal Associates of New Jersey, who had a discount in the summer when we initially made the appointment and my vision insurance also covered some of it to reduce the cost of the surgery.
Happy to be blogging rn!
All photos in article courtesy of Melanie Haid