I have been wanting laser eye surgery for what seems like forever.  For the last twenty-five years I have been wearing glasses and contact lenses.  After almost losing my contacts in the ocean during our last trip to Maui, I decided perhaps I could muster up the courage to finally have it done! My husband had a handful of coworkers who had all had the procedure done and were super happy with their results.  I booked a complimentary consult at the London Eye Centre in New Westminster, B.C.  This is where his friends had all had their surgeries performed. I don’t know about you, but I always feel more comfortable choosing a place to go based on referrals from people who I know. At my consult they explained the procedure to me and determined that I would be a candidate.  I appreciated that there was absolutely no pressure to book after my consult.

I took all of the information home and decided that I would go for the no touch PRK surgery.  “PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) is a method of refractive laser surgery to correct myopia(nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism to eliminate dependency on glasses or contact lenses.” (Explanation courtesy of the London Eye Centre website.)  To be honest, the though of anything actually cutting or touching my eye was too much for me to stomach, so I knew this no touch method would be the one for me, even though they explained the recovery would take a few more days.  Being as I already have light-sensitive eyes, I decided to wait until the Fall when the days were a bit darker to have my surgery done, as it was explained to me that I would have increased light sensitivity while my eyes healed.  For three days before the procedure I was not allowed to wear my contacts… thankfully I have been collecting cute glasses over the years… LOL!

The morning of my surgery I was super nervous… it is my eyes after all! It didn’t really matter how many people told me what an easy procedure it was and that I had nothing to worry about, I was a basket of nerves!  It was also ended up being one of the sunniest day in November of course…

My entire appointment was just over an hour.  Once I was taken into the operatory, my eyes were numbed with eye drops.  A tiny ring was placed around my eye and they explained not to force my eyes closed or the machine would shut itself off.  The procedure itself was honestly less than two minutes each eye.  It actually felt very quick and was not nearly as scary as I had built it up in my mind.  I felt nothing and just stared at a flashing light and listened to a clapping sound.  After the surgery, a bandage contact lens was placed on my eye.  This was actually the most irritating part for me personally, as the opening of my eyes are tiny.  They then gave me a super stylish pair of wrap around sunglasses (haha!) and sent me on my way!

My parents were kind enough to take my babies for a sleepover that first night so that I could just come home to rest and let my husband take care of me for a couple of days.  When they initially offered, I was trying to be super mom and kept arguing that I would be ok to look after them. I am SO GLAD I took them up on their offer! I am not going to lie, the first two days of recovery were not fun. I had been sent home with numbing drops for my eyes and a prescription for pain medication.  I like to think my pain tolerance is pretty decent (I have had babies after all!) but I definitely needed both of these for the first few days.  I basically slept the first 24 hours away.  I stayed in a dark room as my eyes were crazy light-sensitive, woke up to use my antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drops and then went back to sleep as it hurt too much to have my eyes open.  I also felt like the front of my forehead was going to split open from pain… but thankfully that only lasted the first day!  The next day I was able to get out of bed to move around my dimly lit house and I was amazed that I could already see!

I had to go for a 24 hour, 3 day and 5 day surgery post op. After my 5 day post op I was cleared to drive and returned to work.  I hadn’t realized that after this procedure your eyes actually overcorrect initially. I was unable to read my computer screen clearly and had to buy myself a pair of “cheater” glasses.  This is opposite to what my vision used to be.  I was always nearsighted and it was objects in the distance I had a problem seeing clearly.  I wore the cheaters at work for a couple of weeks post surgery and haven’t needed them since.

It has now almost been five months since my laser eye surgery and I am amazed how perfectly I can see!  It still feels funny climbing into bed at night without taking my contacts out first. We are heading back to Maui in a week and I cannot wait to go swimming in the ocean and actually put my face under the water and see!!!

Lastly, this is not a sponsored post in any way. I simply wanted to share my experience for anyone who has been considering having laser eye surgery performed.  I am so thrilled that I decided to have my vision corrected and now I only wish I hadn’t waited so long 🙂 Please feel free to directly message me or comment below if you have any questions regarding this procedure. It is honestly one of the best things I have ever done for myself!

 

Thank you for reading!

Shannon xx

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