For the Love of Africa: LASIK Eye Surgery

The thought of having instruments near my eye while I am awake has always scared me; what if I moved my eye and the surgeon slipped and something went wrong? I didn't want to be blind. In the end my desire to have perfect vision won out and I decided to go ahead with the consultation for LASIK at Hoopes Vision. I decided that this would be an ideal time to have the surgery so that I don't have to attempt to put contacts in or were glasses while I am in Africa.

My sister took me to Hoopes Vision for the consultation a couple weeks ago. When I got there I had to watch a fifteen minute video about the procedure and answer some questions. They showed me the room with the lasers, they have about six plus the intralase laser. I then had to undergo several different tests in order to check my eyes to make sure that they were healthy enough to have the surgery. I was there for about two hours and made an appointment to come in the next week for surgery. They gave me a prescription for two different eye drops and told me to get some artificial tears. I was instructed to bring all the eye drops with me on the day of surgery as well as a consent form that I had to sign.

My parents took me up to Sandy last Wednesday and I signed in for surgery. They gave me a valium, as well as post-op instructions. I was finally taken back to the surgery area, my dad was allowed to come with me and observe, my mom didn't want to. The first step was intralase where they created the corneal flap. In between the steps I had to sit in a massage chair for about twenty minutes with my eyes closed. The second step was the actual correction; the surgeon moved my flap, held my head and told me to stay very still while the laser reshaped my cornea which took a total of six seconds.

I went home and slept for three hours. When I woke up I could see clearly across the room. I can see things that I didn't even know I couldn't see!