Laser Surgery - the first 24 hours

Well I have done it and I am so glad that I did.

Monday afternoon was the pre-op just to check that my eyes were still OK and had not changed since my previous check. That was fine. Tuesday saw a trip into Glasgow where I spent a few hours shopping then went for the wavefront scan. This is where they scan the eyes and map them out so that the laser can be programmed to suit the individual eyes rather than just have a blanket prescription which might not be perfect for your eyes. That went well, and then I had a few hours to kill to wait for my pal to finish work so that we could go to her home in town. I got very fed up with shopping - not one of my favourite things! and my feet were sore from walking and walking and walking! I did get some Lush products and got a bargain pair of trousers though!
We went out for a meal and a few glasses of fermented grape juice! then an early night. I was woken in the morning by a JRT jumping onto the bed and tramping all over me - he was just checking that I was OK. Friend's hubby cooked me breakfast and then I set off for the train into town.
I got to the optician's on time, then came the wait. The waiting room was full of patients and their friends/partners/relations waiting for treatment. I then got called in for another pre-op check - still all OK. then back to the waiting room again. Eventually, about 75mins after my appointment time I got called in. A really nice male nurse explained the post op drop regime that I was to follow, then he cleaned my eyes and the surrounding area and told me not to touch them as they were now sterile. He came back a bit later and took my handbag off me - he did say to remind him to give it back as he had a habit of not returning them! LOL. He gave me a lovely hairnet to wear, then led me into the theatre. He introduced me to the team, but as I couldnt see them it was just voices that I was greeting. He then dropped some anaesthetic into my eyes and handed me over to the team.

If you are squeamish miss this bit out:
The next stage was to make the flaps in my corneas. The surgeon put a clamp in my eye to keep the eye open, then attached a contraption to my eye, the pressure was tough to stand, but this only lasted until the flap had been made which ended with a pop! then the same to the next eye. My head was then shifted under the laser machine. Again a contraption was put onto the eye being treated (the other eye was covered by a shield) and I was told to watch an orange light. Then the laser was put into action, there was a slight smell and cranky noises, and the light was quite strong, but this was soon over. Then the other eye was treated the same way. Anaesthetic eye drops were topped up throughout the procedure.

After the op I was told to sit up and was then led into another room where the surgeon checked my eyes and I picked up the eye drops and my handbag.

I then returned to the waiting room and called my pal. I immediately put my dark glasses on as the lights were very strong to my now sensitive eyes.

My pal picked me up and steered me towards the station, she had to lead me as my vision was like sitting in a steam room (not like Stobo though!). She gave me her return half of the rail ticket and put me on the train and told me that her hubby would be waiting for me on the platform which was 6 stops away. I dutifully counted the stops as by now I could not bear to open my eyes. It was as if I had been peeling onions all day and had wiped my eyes with onion hands. Every time I did open my eyes tears poured out and stung. Hubby picked me up and drove me back to their house and I immediately went to bed to try and sleep. The pain was getting worse and I topped up on ibruprofen! eventually I went to sleep and woke up 3 hours later no longer in pain! My vision was a wee bit blurry and I was sensitive even to low level lighting. I sat watching the news with sunglasses on! Hubby made me a cup of fruit tea and gave me a biccie (no lunch). About an hour later I could bear to take my sunglasses off, and my vision was good enough to read the BBC straplines on the news. I was very very tired and retired to bed after the England game!

This morning I woke up and could see. It was brilliant. I made sure I put my drops in - 1 I have to put in 6 times a day, 1 4 times a day, and 1 at least every hour.

I caught a train into Glasgow, then another into Stirling. Then to the optician (after buying a Jasper Conran handbag that I had seen on Monday and couldnt justify the expense, but today it was 20% off!! - must have been a sign). The optician first checked my sight for driving and said I was perfectly OK, then I went on to read ata greater level - that was less than 24 hours after the op! He then looked at the eyes thru his gadgets and was very pleased with what he saw.

My next appointment is a week today, then I will have one at a month, and I think 3 months.

If anyone is considering laser treatment please do ask me questions. I would recommend it, but would say that it would be better to have taken pain killers immediately after the op in hindsight. I had Intralase Lasik with Wavefront - the creme de la creme treatment but worth every penny.