The Nielsens: A New Pair of Eyes

Last Friday Peter went in for Lasik eye surgery!! This has been something he's wanted done for years and the time was finally right! He went in last Monday for a consultation appointment to see if he was a candidate for the surgery, and walked away with a surgery appointment that Friday. When surgery day finally came, he was so nervous. Each time a person walked out into the waiting room, he asked that person how surgery went, what it felt like and if they could see (others ended up doing the same to him lol). The longest part of the entire thing was just sitting in the waiting room. After what felt like a long wait, Peter was called back. I was able to join him and watch the procedure. It was CRAZY! It's so amazing how advance technology has come and what can be done. They put Pete in a reclining chair (think of the dentist) and swivel him under a microscope next to the laser machine. Above the machine was a tv where I could watch what was being done to his eye.One eye at a time is done. They put a device on his eye to keep his eye propped open (think of the movie A Clockwork Orange), and they insert some sort of tube-looking thing into his tear duct. Then some sort of suction device is put on before they cut his eye. And here is where I start to squirm. A flap of his eye is literally folded over. The doctor swabs his eyeball dry (looks like clear gelatin!). Then basically they laser his eye!! I was trying to look very close to see if I could see anything. The best way to describe what I saw was steam or air quickly coming off his eye. I'm guessing this is the burning of eye material (???). This part of the procedure lasted only 15 seconds!! Then on to the next eye and repeat. When it was all done, the doctor sat him up and examined his eyes one last time before saying he was good to go. And we were on our way home!! Peter said his vision was slightly blurred but yet he could see so much better than before when he'd take his glasses off. He was as giddy as a schoolkid. It's been about 5 days now since the surgery and he's doing great. He has three sets of different eye drops he needs to take, can't touch/rub his eyes whatsoever, and has to wear goggles when he sleeps (or any other time where "danger" is present, such as when the boys are rough housing with toy swords or at Clifford's basketball games). This next coming Monday I take Pete back for a two week post-op appt to make sure he's healing properly. All in all, it'll be 6 months before he's healed. According to Pete this is one of the best decisions he's ever made. Definitely money well worth spent :)