After a long-awaited, er, wait and much, much stress, I awoke today ready to head into the city for my initial laser eye surgery consultation. Why was I stressing, you ask? Well. The appointment was in Manly, which is north of Sydney. I live a fair way away from there. I drive, so that's not so bad, no? Except that it's one heck of a drive and I? I am not the calmest driver at the best of times.
Luckily for me, I convinced a workmate to come along for the drive. She had two roles; give me directions, and stop me from getting so panicked that I would crash my car into any oncoming traffic. I'm happy to inform you that she succeeded with both of those endeavours. We're alive and kicking, hoorah!
We followed directions from an internet print-out which ended up getting us totally lost; we drove across the Sydney Harbour Bridge twice (!) and eventually found our way after a driving time of 90 minutes. Did some "Thank God we're still alive" eating and shopping, wandered around a couple of malls, and eventually found the Eye Clinic. It was a gorgeous place, very relaxed and modern. I was called in after only waiting five minutes.
I started off with a lady, who measured my eyes and did the little puff-of-air test in each. Then I had to do a general optical exam with the letter/number/colour chart where she tested my prescription. Then she tested the moisture levels of my eyes (which are pretty dry, she informed me afterwards). Fast forward twenty minutes to some more measuring, after which she placed some stinging eye drops in and asked me to wait outside for 15 minutes to let the effects kick in.
I wandered back outside to sit with my friend, who kept on sneaking weird glances at me. Turns out the eye drops were to dilate the eyes, so my pupils were ginormous! She laughed, told me that I looked like I was on drugs, and we both agreed it would be best if we weren't pulled over by any police cars on the way home.
Fast forward again to even more tests and measurements, and that was it - I am a successful candidate for laser eye surgery! Next step will be checking some dates with Jase and my Dad (aka: The taxi drivers) and booking in the surgery.
I'm currently left with hugely dilated pupils that make me look as though I've been experimenting with all kinds of drugs, and one heck of a headache from squinting in the sunshine all the way home. But I'm also hugely satisified in the fact that I sort of know how to drive to Manly now, coming home only took 55 minutes. Squee!
I will be glasses and contact lens free in no time! (And also hugely poor, but that is absolutely not the point right now.) *shimmies*
Posts
21 comments:
Oh you're lucky. You'll have to write about how it went. Eye laser surgery is something I am considering as well, in a couple of years (when I can afford it).
Have your eyes changed in power lately or have they been constant? I think I remember reading that they have to be stable, min aren't yet completely.
Congratulations on being a successful candidate, Aly. I hope it goes well. :D
Yay for Aly!
Soon you will join me in the Land of the Seeing! you will love it.
I am glad there is a good (cheapish) place in Australia now. It's about time.
It was almost worthwhile paying for the fare to go to the States to get it done for 499 an eye!
Good luck with it all :)
ohmygods.
So jelus.
I really want to go, but I am so worried they will say NO.
And Aly?
Really, really trying understand how you go over the bridge... TWICE?
The last time I got my eyes dilated, I asked the eye doctor if it was okay to drive that way, and he said, "well, there aren't any rules against it per se..." Thankfully, I only live a few miles from the office. Crossing the harbor bridge (and driving on the left!) would be much more challenging.
Congrats! That's going to be so wonderful when it's all done. I'm waiting for my turn. My eyes have been bad because I've been bad and have worn my contacts for far too long, causing swelling and other awful messed up eye problems. Have I learned and quit wearing them..... No. So it'll probably be a while for me. :-)
Congrats! :)
YAY! My mom got all excited about lasar surgery a few years ago, but it turned out she was not a candidate. She was hugely disappointed!
I know it's a ton of money, but it's an "investment" -- think of all the money you'll save on contacts and solution and glasses over the rest of your life.
I can pretty much justify any purchase. If you ever need to be talked into buying something, you know where to come.
Yay! You're practically gonna be a Manly & Laser pro by the time this is all done. And done with glasses/contacts to boot! Hurray!
congrats, chica! much love to you and your soon-to-be-amazing eyes! :)
That's fantastic!! You're going to love it :) Had mine done almost two years ago now and haven't regretted a moment. Congrats, Congrats, Congrats!!
Congratulations! I'm so excited for you!
Yeah, yeah!!! Soon you will join the ranks of the LASER EYEBALLS!
Congratulations! You're going to love it.
Congrats!!! Laurel just had hers done and it went well so I hear. I can just imagine your eyes all dialated LOL They give me those drops at my eye check ups, which luckily only happen once every few years.
everyone is getting lasik!!!! oh it is so awesome, you will loooooooove it!
Can't wait to hear about the results!!
Good luck with everything! It seems like a lot of people are getting the laser surgery right around now... I'm totally afraid my eyes will fall out in ten years. BUT! I wish you a speedy recovery! :)
"I will be glasses and contact lens free in no time! (And also hugely poor, but that is absolutely not the point right now.)" - Fantastic. Getting rid of the glasses and the contact lens has been the dream of many people. Though it may cost you a bit more the freedom of good vision without glasses and lens is worth the money spent. What a Great Story!
Congrats please let us know if there were any serious complications.
Regards
The key to any successful procedure is patient expectation. As long as patient expectations are reasonable, and the surgeon has properly articulated the risks, and outcomes, LASIK surgery is indeed a very good option for permanent vision correction.
Post a Comment