So... I had my first LASIK consultation yesterday.
And it went pretty well. I really like that doctor I saw. There are four doctors in the practice and I've been seeing the same one - the one who's been there the longest - ever since I first got glasses when I was little. But this one was also really good.
Anyway, they did a lot of tests. The first one was just the little machine that we've all seen a thousand times - the one where you see a balloon or an airplane on a runway as it goes in and our of focus. Then they tested my vision to make sure that hadn't changed (still steady at -4.50 and -7.50) and then the pressure in my eyes (using drops, because I hate the machine that puffs air into your eyes - it feels like someone's poking me in the eye). I was given numbing drops for that because my eyes had to be touched with a probe (the description of which made my sister squirm and wrinkle her nose, but it wasn't bad - I didn't feel a thing). Next came the measure of corneal thickness, also something which requires the eye to be touched (and therefore numb). However, the drops which were supposed to keep me numb for 20 minutes apparently lasted only 5 minutes, because I definitely felt that probe when it touched my eyes (which surprised the aide). I have a high tolerance for medication, I've discovered over the years, and apparently that includes medicating drops. (I hope they use something different than that for the actual surgery!!!)
(And yes, Robin, he measured my pupil size - in normal light AND after being fully dilated - and I was told they were both normal.) :)
Anyway, the fly in the ointment - you knew there had to be one - is that I apparently have very thin corneas. That wouldn't be such a problem with my left eye, the doctor explained, because -4.50 isn't that bad. -7.50, however, is 'that bad', and requires almost twice as much cutting, which might cause a problem with a thin cornea.
He didn't say I couldn't have the surgery, but he used that little finding as a measure of which doctor to send me to - Dr. Maida, the one who's had the most experience with that sort of thing. I have to call him first thing Monday morning and set up a consult with him; they'll do the corneal measurements again and then look at all the other factors and tell me definitively whether or not I can do this. If I can, we'll set up a surgery date right then and there. If I can't, I will make my way home crying, because that will mean not just "no, you have to wait a year or two" - that will mean "your corneas are simply too thin and you cannot have this surgery at all". At least not with the current technology. And after imagining for weeks how great it would be to be independent from vision correction, that is not something I want to hear.
Cross your fingers for me.
And it went pretty well. I really like that doctor I saw. There are four doctors in the practice and I've been seeing the same one - the one who's been there the longest - ever since I first got glasses when I was little. But this one was also really good.
Anyway, they did a lot of tests. The first one was just the little machine that we've all seen a thousand times - the one where you see a balloon or an airplane on a runway as it goes in and our of focus. Then they tested my vision to make sure that hadn't changed (still steady at -4.50 and -7.50) and then the pressure in my eyes (using drops, because I hate the machine that puffs air into your eyes - it feels like someone's poking me in the eye). I was given numbing drops for that because my eyes had to be touched with a probe (the description of which made my sister squirm and wrinkle her nose, but it wasn't bad - I didn't feel a thing). Next came the measure of corneal thickness, also something which requires the eye to be touched (and therefore numb). However, the drops which were supposed to keep me numb for 20 minutes apparently lasted only 5 minutes, because I definitely felt that probe when it touched my eyes (which surprised the aide). I have a high tolerance for medication, I've discovered over the years, and apparently that includes medicating drops. (I hope they use something different than that for the actual surgery!!!)
(And yes, Robin, he measured my pupil size - in normal light AND after being fully dilated - and I was told they were both normal.) :)
Anyway, the fly in the ointment - you knew there had to be one - is that I apparently have very thin corneas. That wouldn't be such a problem with my left eye, the doctor explained, because -4.50 isn't that bad. -7.50, however, is 'that bad', and requires almost twice as much cutting, which might cause a problem with a thin cornea.
He didn't say I couldn't have the surgery, but he used that little finding as a measure of which doctor to send me to - Dr. Maida, the one who's had the most experience with that sort of thing. I have to call him first thing Monday morning and set up a consult with him; they'll do the corneal measurements again and then look at all the other factors and tell me definitively whether or not I can do this. If I can, we'll set up a surgery date right then and there. If I can't, I will make my way home crying, because that will mean not just "no, you have to wait a year or two" - that will mean "your corneas are simply too thin and you cannot have this surgery at all". At least not with the current technology. And after imagining for weeks how great it would be to be independent from vision correction, that is not something I want to hear.
Cross your fingers for me.
stormed at 02:03
2 Comments:
he jess, nou ik duim voor je. Klopt het trouwens dat je site het niet helemaal goed doet? Ik kon vorige week er helemaal niet op, en nu geeft hij hem niet helemaal weer. Maar misschien ligt het aan mijn internetverbinding???? Liefs, Marrit
nou je site doet het ook weer geheel op mijn computer, heel raadselachtig...Vandaag schijnt hier wel een heerlijk zonnetje, maar het is zo koud buiten dat je handen op de fiets alweer bijna afsterven. Maar ik hou altijd wel van dit frisse zonnige mooie herfstweer...Ik ken dat andere filmpje niet, ga ik eens ff bekijken. Adios! Liefs, Marrit
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