Well, I'm back from being out, so will elaborate on my eye surgery as promised - but first of all Mette, I'm so sorry your expectations were not realized, but as you say, it's early days yet. I know you hate to wear glasses and think that you may have to, but if your're allowed to drive without correction, maybe you'll only wear them for reading etc. Let's hope so, anyway.
Before I describe my procedure, let me explain that my surgery was completely different from Mette's, because I had Intra Occular Lens Replacement. This is the same as they do for patients with cataracts, although I didn't have any. It's just recently that eye surgeons in the US have been allowed to do this surgery purely for vision correction. They now have bi-focal replacement lens as well, but my vision was too poor for them to be successfully implanted. That was disappointing, but I'm not complaining because, as you know -
I can see Also, I will never develop cataracts in the future
Actually, any one who is contemplating any eye surgery, and is given the choice, as I was, this is a major consideration. As my Dr told me - after doing the Lasix, I might then need a lens replacement anyway in a few years time. There was no doubt in my mind that it was the operation of choice.
We went to a clinic in Houston where the Drs do both Lasix and replacements. They have different surgery suites for each procedure. I went into a pre-surgery room where I lay on an operating room bed and they put many different drops in my eyes, four different times. These were to dilate the eye(pupil) and also to anesthetise it. I had a blood pressure cuff on my arm, heart monitor pads stuck on my chest, a blood oxygen monitor clipped to one of my fingers and little oxygen tubes slipped into my nostrils. I was very impressed with all the preparation for what I thought was just to be simple "office surgery". I had a cap over my hair and shoes and was bundled up in nice warm blankets. They then started an I.V. that would be used to administer a mild sort of sedation. I was never asleep, but looking back, now, my memory of everything is becoming a little fuzzy round the edges.
When they actually took me into the operating room a light strap was placed over my head to hold it still and a very light weight plastic sheet, folded up into a pack was placed on my eye. They opened this up and it was suck onto my face just around my eye. This was the surgical cloth like the green ones you see on TV. The clip to hold my eye open was then slipped on, but it wasn't really uncomfortable, just took a few minutes to get used too. I could keep my other eye open if I wanted to, but as I could only see blurry light through the cover, it wasn't worth the effort. The other eye couldn't see much either - after all, that was why I was there ! ! ! When the surgeon came in, they started the I.V. sedation, and I can only really remember some blurry sort of lights, and then he asked me to look up, and then down. I had very severe astigmatism. and he had to make two laser cuts to correct some of that. He was more successful in one eye than the other. It all took about 15 minutes I think, and then I went to a recovery room, my husband came in, they gave me juice to drink and when everything was OK, they took me back to our car by wheelchair.
I had to wear a clear plastic patch over my eye, and take it off every two hours to put eye drops in it - which did sting a bit, but not too bad. We were staying in a hotel close to the clinic, and I had to go back the next morning to be checked out before returning home. After that I only had to wear the patch to sleep in for the next five nights. I had to continue three different types of eye drops, one of which was every two hours for the first two days, and one that I have had to continue for a month, on a diminishing schedule. We went back two weeks later for the second eye.
The whole experience was amazingly simple, very well orchestrated (the Drs, technicians and nurses) and was totally pain free. Let me say again - for all you wimps out there -
there wasn't any pain, it didn't hurt - so Kaz, if you decide to have this type of surgery, you won't need those plane tickets ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Also, the thought of no cataracts in the future, along with being able to see for the first time in my life, all 64 years, is wonderful recommendation to anyone else who might be thinking of having some sort of corrective surgery.
Down side - cost. Yes, it's expensive, and no insurance to pay for it. If I had waited until I was 65, and I had cataracts, then Medicare would have paid up, but as "cosmetic" surgery, a description I'll never understand, we had to foot the whole bill. In the UK, with the severity of of myopia and astigmatism that I had, it would probably have been covered, but that's "pie in the sky" as I now live over here.
Final results? The Dr had only though to get about 20/70 vision in the worst eye, due to the astigmatism, but it looks as though both will end up 20/30 or 20/40. I don't know how that compares with Mette's 60-65%, but I started with a -8.75 in one eye and -10.50 in the other. Again, I've never understood how all these different numbers correlate with each other, but that's OK because the results have been fantastic.
There you are - there wasn't any
gross in my description, because there really wasn't any. It was straight forward, simple, quick and pain free. What could be better. Hopefully on July 25th I'll get my first prescription for new glasses - and guess what, I've already got the frames picked out -
and quess what Auntie Mo - they've got a bit of purple Mrs. Annie Purple Hat
And there was no pain 
Thanks to Kymmie.
