Monday, April 14, 2008

Life Changing Surgery!!

I should have posted a long time ago about a surgery that changed my life forever! In October, I drove up to Canada with my Mom and had Laser Eye Surgery. I finally realized that I didn't know what I was waiting for, and also I was worried about wearing contacts so much for the snowboard season. So, I did some investigation and found a surgeon in Vancouver, BC who had already done 35,000 procedures with no lawsuits or complications. Most people thought it was peculiar to head north of the border to have surgery, but the truth is that the Canadians have been performing this surgery for 7 years longer than the eye specialists in the states... Not to mention their technology is more advanced. So I set my date, and just did it.


The procedure itself, was not painful. I was terribly nervous and requested Ativan. This helped mildly. The office ran in a very professional manner, so when it was my turn, I went into the room and positioned myself on the table. He talked me through it, and it didn't cause any pain. The two things I remember were 1) the saline running down my scalp and 2) the burning smell of my eyeballs. One might think I'm crazy after reading that (the burning eyeball part), but the truth is that I left the operating room into the recovery room and watched without my glasses the person after me having the same procedure on the television monitor. It was RAD!


I had the PRK procedure, not the Lasik procedure. This meant that the overall integrity of my eye was better over time, but the recovery was more painful. This was confirmed as we left Vancouver and the sun shining into the car made my eyes start to weep. This didn't stop for about 3 days. Now I can safely say that had I not to driven back to Portland from Seattle and worked immediately after the procedure, it would have been a breeze. But, unfortunately, I had to collect data, go to work and drive the car. This was not advised by my Doc. Sorry Dr. Kirshner!

I recovered though and wish I had done it 10 years ago!


The picture is of the Madre and I having a dinner and wine after the surgery. Yeah, I know....

"I wear my sunglasses at night"... I looked like a dork, but I was feeeeelinggggg goood!

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