O.K., I did it. I had LASIK and they told me that I did a good job. Now what? Debbie then escorted me out of the operating room into a chair where my driver (you need to bring a driver on the day of your procedure) was waiting for me. I forgot to mention the Dr. Rothman has a viewing window so that friends or family can look through the window and watch the procedure if they want to. We went over my instructions for drops and the various things I should and should not do that night and then confirmed my appointment time for the next day. While I was walking through the office and into my car, I noticed that things were really bright and colorful and clear. Now I was really curious to see what my vision would look like the next day, because they told me it would be even sharper and clearer than this.
What would my night be like? Would I see clear or fuzzy? Would it be uncomfortable or comfortable? I went home and went to sleep as instructed, and when I woke up a few hours later (after a REALLY great sleep), my eyes were really quite comfortable. On the drive home, it almost felt like I had an eyelash floating around under my eyelid, but this feeling was no big deal and certainly not scratchy or uncomfortable or hurtful. In fact, it was a lot more comfortable than I used to feel when I slept in my contact lenses and took them out the next day after sleeping in them. I followed the instructions for the drops to the letter, including the artificial tears which really made my eyes feel much better when I put them in. Even though the instructions said that I wasn’t supposed to watch TV or read, once I woke up I couldn’t help but look around and see if things really were getting clearer (please don’t tell Dr. Rothman I did this, ha ha). Actually, I noticed that things were getting clearer and clearer throughout the day, and by the time I went to bed I would say my vision was as good as it’s ever been with my glasses or contacts even though it was a little bit fuzzy around the edges. When I woke up in the morning, I couldn’t believe it! At first, I thought I had left my contacts in overnight and had this queasy feeling like you had as a kid when you deliberately didn’t listen to something your mother told you to do. Once I woke up and realized that what I was seeing was without glasses or contacts and that this was going to be my “normal” vision from now on, I was ecstatic. I kept looking at all the details of things, especially the colors of things like leaves on faraway trees fluttering in the breeze, and for some reason the colors just seem brighter and more vivid than they ever had before. When we got to the office, we waited in the waiting room for about 20 minutes before my follow-up visit and this was great because I had a chance to compare notes with some of the other people in the waiting room. The best way to describe the energy in the room (sorry, we are in Vegas after all) was if you can imagine a room full of people who all just had a really great day at the blackjack table and were all walking up to the window to cash out their chips and walk out with their big wins. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was really excited. One guy told me that when he saw his girlfriends face the next morning, he almost didn’t recognize her. I guess he didn’t have a very large prescription and didn’t wear his glasses or contacts a lot and just kind of went around seeing everything a little fuzzy all the time. She was pretty good looking, so no problem there. This woman I talked to was a little older and said that she came in to get her vision fixed for distance and near so she wouldn’t need reading glasses anymore. She was sitting there in the waiting room reading this magazine like she had been doing that her entire life, and she told me she’d been wearing reading glasses constantly for the last seven years and could not even dream of reading a magazine like that without them just the day before her procedure. She said she really hated carrying around her reading glasses and being dependent on them, so of course I want to know how her faraway vision was. So I looked out the window at the next building over and there was a banner on it with a big letters and small letters and couple of small pictures on it – which I could read easily. I asked her if she could read anything on the banner as well as she could see up close – and she read the whole thing to me just like that. I thought this was pretty cool.
Now I wondered how my vision would measure up. When Dr. Rothman came in the room to see me on the day after my procedure, his staff had already checked out my vision and had let the cat out of the bag and told me that I was seeing great. He came into the room and asked me a few questions and told me the three little words that every patient wants to hear: “YOU SEE GREAT”. Actually, he told me my vision was 2020 in both eyes individually and even a little better than that with both eyes working together (20 15). What really made my day, though, was when he showed me what I could see the day before without my glasses on – literally, just the big “E” and truth be told, I could barely see the big “E” at all unless I was squinting. He told me that I was seeing and reading letters that were over 20 times smaller than I was able to see just the day before – which really was incredible. Even more incredible was the fact that he told me that the vision would get even sharper over the next couple of days than it was right now. Of course, I had to ask him if I would be able to see through walls, and he just laughed and said “pretty close to it”. He then examined my eyes and told me everything was healing perfectly. We went over my instructions for the drops and that was it. This has to be the most incredible thing I’ve ever done for myself in my life – and I really mean that. We’ve all had the toys, the trips, and the goodies, but all those things are temporary and eventually we want more of the same. Here’s something I did for myself that I can enjoy every hour of every day – make that every minute of every hour of every day – for the rest of my life. How can you beat that?
So, am I happy with my LASIK? How do I feel about everything now? I just finished my one-week visit at LASIK of Nevada, and everything is right on track. My eyes feel great, they see great, and I just can’t believe what a wonderful experience this has been from start to finish. Did I mention that I shopped around Las Vegas and online and found that LASIK of Nevada’s prices were super-competitive (actually, this was a great deal) and when you consider that they offer the absolute latest and greatest laser technology and the most experienced LASIK surgeon living in Nevada, they actually were the best value of anyone out there. I’m all done with my drops except for artificial tears and I am loving life. If any of you out there are even thinking about LASIK, I highly, highly, highly recommend that you check out Dr. Rothman and LASIK of Nevada (can you sense my enthusiasm?). They are a first-class operation and every single person I met there was friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. I’d give them a perfect “10”. Actually, I give them an “11” just because they went above and beyond the call of duty in making sure that my experience was top notch – not to mention my vision being so incredible. Seeing is believing. Thank you LASIK of Nevada, you gave me the gift of sight and it’s truly awesome!