Lasik Doesn't Hurt At All

Hello everyone. Brian here. Many of you know that Saturday was the day of my Lasik surgery. I have worn glasses since about 4th grade, and I figured it was time to get rid of them. I talked to my sister and brother-in-law about it since they both had it done. They encouraged me to do it. Before I made the final decision, I went to 2 different places to be evaluated.

The first place was The Lasik Vision Institute. They said that my corneas were too thin, so I would have to have PRK instead of Lasik. PRK is a different type of laser surgery where they don't cut a flap in your cornea (gross). It is used for patients with thin corneas. It requires 4 - 5 days of healing, whereas Lasik only requires one day of healing. Next I went to Lasik Plus. They said that my corneas were indeed thin, but they were thick enough to have Lasik. They also worked with my vision insurance to get me a 15% discount. Sweet, less money AND less healing time. Lasik Plus was the place I chose, and Saturday July 21 was the day.

Nina took me there Saturday morning. First we stopped at Starbucks, where I ordered my first ever Starbucks decaf coffee. You see, you aren't allowed to have any caffeine before the surgery. I guess it makes your eyes go buggy and the laser can't follow them. We arrived at Lasik Plus, and they gave me two stickers to wear on my shirt, indicating that I was having both eyes done. Seems like a pretty low tech system for identifying which eyes are going to be hit with an extremely high tech laser device. First, they took me back to have my eyes scanned one last time before the surgery. Then they called me up to the front desk to sign the paperwork.

"Good morning Brian. Based on the doctor's final evaluation, you will be having PRK today," said the nice receptionist.

"That is unacceptable," I promptly replied.

Unwilling to deal with me, the receptionist sent me back to talk to the doctor. He said that based on my final eye scan, the corneas were reading thinner than the initial evaluation, and therefore it would not be safe to do Lasik. The only safe procedure was PRK. I explained to him that I would have needed to know that ahead of time so that I could take time off work. I understood his reasons for wanted to do PRK, and he understood my reasons for not being able to do it without prior notice. So that was it. That was the end of my visit. No laser surgery for me that day. Good thing I didn't get rid of my glasses.

So now I have to find a time that I can afford to be home for 5 days to recover. It looks like it won't be until the beginning of September, the weekend after the Sheaffers visit us. Until then, I will have to suck it up and continue to wear these stupid glasses. I've worn them for 20 years. I guess I can wear them for 6 more weeks.

-Brian