New Eyes!

Well Roger officially has new eyes. His surgery last Thursday went very well. He had the blade less lasik eye surgery which meant the corneal flap was cut by a laser instead of a metal blade. Most complications of lasik eye surgery are with the metal blade. Roger's only complication during the surgery was the laser which cut the corneal flap on his eyes did not cut completely on the right eye. So it took a little more effort for Dr. Wong to separate the flap from his eye and pull it back. The only result of that was an extra minute which felt like an eternity to Roger. It felt like forever to me also because they let me sit in on the surgery. (Yes, I took pictures and even a video of the last eye.) I was getting nervous at how long it was taking him but of course I wouldn't dare say anything during a surgery. He's an expert and knows what he's doing. I did start to feel like I was getting nauseous so I knelt down to prevent myself from falling if I passed out. I just did some slow, deep breathes and the butterflies went away. The struggle with the right eye flap only meant a little tenderness for Roger after the surgery but would not effect his vision. His left eye was a breeze to get the flap pulled back. The left eye took longer than the right with the actual laser. The right eye took about 52 seconds and the left eye took over one minute. It went by very fast over all. As soon as they were done, Dr. Wong put a low power contact lens over each eye to protect the flap.

He immediately sat Roger up and asked him to read a chart of letters. He had some difficulty at first but was able to read them and a sign Dr. Wong has on the wall that all patients read after their surgery. It reads, "I will NOT rub my eyes or squeeze my eye lids." Roger was able to read it with no problem. It is completely unbelievable that this procedure even exists. It is truly amazing that God gives man the wisdom and knowledge to figure out how to reconstruct the shape of the cornea with a laser to make it possible for people to have better vision. He was very tired after the surgery thanks to a Valium and lots of numbing drops. So he went straight home to nap as instructed by Dr. Wong with four different bottles of eye drops. He slept for about three and a half hours and felt very good after ward. He was able to watch the NCAA football championship game clearly but his eyes got tired a little bit and there were moments of blurriness. He was not as impressed with his results as he had hoped. What you see on TV is not accurate. They leave a lot out.

The next morning, after not sleeping well due to the lovely goggles he has to wear to sleep for the next four days, he felt a lot better than the evening before. He could see a little better but not super clear. They told him his vision would improve every day. I drove him to his follow-up appointment with Dr. Wong. He could have driven himself but felt more comfortable with me driving since his vision was not exact. Dr. Wong removed the contact lenses from his eyes and he could immediately see completely clear. He was so happy. He forgot the contact lenses had a little bit of power. Dr. Wong examined his eyes and tested his vision again. His vision is now 20/20. I asked Dr. Wong if Roger's vision before the surgery was in his records so we could compare as Roger couldn't remember it exactly but maybe one eye was 20/200 or something like that. Dr. Wong did not have those records with him but said they didn't have letters big enough on the wall for Roger to see before. So his vision wasn't very good before. I knew that but having the numbers to compare would be neat. Oh well, we'll just have to live with the fact he has perfect vision now.

He is really loving his new eyes. On the drive to breakfast Friday he kept commenting about what he could see. He would just start laughing for no reason. I'd look over at him and he had a huge smile across his face. I think he was just shocked. We had a great breakfast at La Reyna on South First then we headed home so he could jump in his truck and go to work. He worked a super, long day Friday putting in his eye drops every four hours. And every morning his vision is better and more clear. He said he keeps feeling like he should be taking out his contacts at night when we are getting ready for bed or washing his hands to get ready to put in his contacts in the morning. He has worn glasses since 4th grade and contacts around 5th grade so it's going to take him a while to get used to not having to do those tasks anymore. But it was a great surgery and worth every penny. Thank God for cafeteria plans and Dr. Wong. We really enjoyed him as Roger's surgeon and his staff were so nice. What a true blessing lasik is for those who have had it.