I can see! (pretty well)

I just got back from my post-op check and the verdict is that everything is as expected today. At this stage of healing, I'm a bit over-corrected, meaning I'm slightly long-sighted and have a slight 'reverse' astigmatism (i.e in the opposite direction to what I had before) in the right eye, which will improve as there is always some regression as the eyes heal. It takes up to 3 months to know the final result. Obviously I can use the computer, and that was my main concern. Also, I can drive, and this is all good considering I'm less than 24 hours post-op. So far, impressed. Oh, I look a bit odd. I've got big, red suction blisters in each eye. No pain though. I might go out and scare people.

The surgery did not go so etirely to plan. The first step of Lasik involves making the corneal flaps on both eyes. Those flaps are lifted up and the laser reshapes the bit under the flap, then the flap is replaced and within a few hours is stuck like glue by the natural suction of the eye. Anyway, my flaps were made (this is the worst part of the procedure, involving suction cups on the eyeball - not exactly torture but not particularly comfortable either) and I was wheeled under the laser. Dr Kent looked through his microscope, or checked the computer, or however he was monitoring me and said the very thing you don't want to hear in that situation. "Ok Sara, there's a bit of a problem with your left eye and we won't be able to proceed with that one right now". Then he explained that I had a gas bubble buildup in the cornea that is a rare side-effect of the flap creation procedure. With gas in the cornea, the iris recognition software would not work and that's an important consideration. Without iris recognition, the machine cannot be sure which way up your eye is. I asked if this was a common problem and the nurse, Gabrielle, came and patted me on the head and said 'no.. you're just special'. In 14,000 surgeries they have had 4 cases that developed bubbles. The solution is to wait for the bubbles to dissipate...... with luck, that takes 2 or 3 hours. So, they Lasiked my right eye, taped an attractive protective goggle to my face and sent me home for 3 hours to see if the bubbles would evaporate away. Luckily the mild sedative kicked in about then and I fell asleep. At 6pm I went back and got my left eye done. After a good nights sleep I woke up, peeled off my goggles and for the first time ever, saw the time on the clock. I'm still a little bit blurry when looking at small print (like these letters have a slight 'ghost' effect) but it's not too annoying.

I should be good to get back to training on Monday, the weekend is devoted to lazing around and resting my eyes.