My Turn in the Lasik Chair
I wrote this story with friends and family in mind, to show them what my Lasik operation was like. I have tried to depict what the procedure entails by sharing my own thoughts on the subject and the experience of those colleagues at work who have had the procedure. Hopefully, I can shed some light on the types of Lasik procedures and which Lasik center to choose.
My Lasik operation was scheduled to be in the afternoon. I was given the usual advice that is given to all Lasik patients, to rest as much as possible after the procedure. This was fine by me because at the end of the afternoon, I was usual too tired from a long day’s work to stay up. Also, it helped to be too tired to be nervous, I usually am anyway.
After I was there for a few moments, they called me in for preparation. I got ready for the Lasik operation and I again received instructions on how to take care of my eyes after the surgery. They gave me a mild sedative called Ativan to keep me calm during the operation. The lasers have the built-in capability to detect any head or eye movement during surgery and shut themselves off if it happens so the sedative is only there for reassuring the patients, to keep them mentally relaxed. That was reason enough for me to take it anyway; everyone at work who had the surgery also took it. We didn’t feel any different after taking it, so it seems reality is a sort of mild sedative.
Eye numbing drops were applied to my eyes to ready them for the Lasik surgery, along with some other medication. Looking back, I cannot recall any other preparatory steps leading to the surgery. This was probably due to the fact that I was trying to keep my mind off my eyes and the Lasik. Who knows? Maybe the sedative did play a part.
Next, I was ushered to a waiting room, where I sat for a while, listening to music and relaxing until it was time for my procedure in the operating room. There were a couple of others waiting for their turn; my doctor had setup multiple appointments that day. This was different from my colleagues’ stories; both of them sat alone waiting for their turn in the operating chair.
We do have unified account of the actual Lasik operation. We all felt some pressure while the various Lasik tools were applied on our eyes. It should be noted that this was not discomforting or painful… just pressure. Although there was blurring of the vision in the eye being worked on, the main sensation was that of the ear, the machine assorted whizzing and clicking sounds. One colleague mentioned smelling something resembling burning hair. I might have smelt something similar during my operation but it wasn’t important enough to be impressionable.
It didn’t take long before it was all over and my Lasik physician remarked on what a good patient I was. Looking back, we all agree on one thing, the operation itself was the much easier part of the whole procedure, in contrast to all the worrying we did beforehand. I hope our collective experiences will make things easier for you when you decide to sit down in that Lasik chair.
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