Saturday, January 2, 2010

Lasik Surgery

I have wanted to get this done for a long time now. However, earlier I used to wonder if it was worth spending 25k on correcting what nature has given me and sometimes used to think that I would feel lost without my glasses - behind which I often hide. Well, my hubby is a really fantastic guy - he just has this do-or-die attitude sometimes and he was my strength all through. The date and time of the surgery were fixed just the day before the surgery on the 31st of December, 09. Yes, I was doing the most unthinkable - getting operated on the 1st day of the New Year :) We were asked to be at the hospital around 11am. Till I woke up on the 1st, I was still wondering whether I should really go in for the surgery or not. Well, as fate would have it, out of anxiety, I got my period earlier too. Now, for people who know me well, know what this means - I will be flat on the bed. But, hubby dear perked me up and off we went. My "know-it-all" uncle and cousin sister came over to give me moral support. This sister, Subbu, has undergone this surgery before too. So, it made me feel a lot better. There were a few last minute tests done to confirm my actual power. The doctor met me and gave me strict instructions - keep watching the green light at all times, it may however, disappear for 20 seconds, but don't get tense. I was shown my room and asked to change into a "LARGE" purple coloured outfit. I was a bit reluctant cause of the size but once I was in it, it felt like heaven - the cloth was so soft and wearable and the colour kind of soothed my nerves. Drops were inserted into my eyes two times - they were either antibiotic drops which also helped numb the nerve endings in the eye. Though I was told that the surgery would take place at around 12pm, I was called at around 12:45pm. A cap was placed over my head and I was given large gauzy shoes for my feet. I said a final good bye to my hubby dearest and went into the room, where I was seated and a last dose of drops was administered. Pras did sneak in and I did get a last glance at him before the nurse shooed him away :( I was really nervous. I wanted to just run back home.

I was taken into the surgery room and asked to lay on the bed. The nurse was a real darling - so warm and I could the warmth of her smile radiated out of the mask too. The doctor, then asked me to open my eyes wide, look up at him. He then placed a shield so that my eyes would stay open through the surgery. I asked the nurse to hold my hand. She was holding my left hand. Suddenly, there was cold water running down my face and I panicked and lifted my right hand to stop whatever it was that the doctor was doing. This really pissed off the doctor. He was just flushing my eye out. However, I have this fear of water going into my ear. But the doctor did not give me a chance to tell him of my fears :(. He always cut me short as soon as I had uttered "But doctor....". The doctor then attached a lens of sorts onto my eye. This time again, I got tense and started telling him that I could not see the green light . The doctor got really angry and told me that he had already informed me that the light will disappear for 20 seconds or so. I relaxed. Then, a light beam, like the one in the xerox copier which moves from one side to the other, went over my eye and once more the eye was flushed and cleaned and I was told that the right eye was done. And then, I started shivering. I wonder why I was shivering after the procedure was done.
Now, this doctor, he got on my nerves by telling me that the easier part was over and he was about to do the left eye which had more power and hence required more co-operation. The doctor kept contradicting himself - one moment he would tell me that I was co-operating well, following all instructions and the very next moment he said that I was not at all following his instructions. Now, amongst all this, the doctor had also moved aside the overhead green light and while my eye was searching for this, he shouted at me to stop searching and to look at the green light, which obviously was out of my line-of-sight. Then, when I told him that I could not see it, he asked me to at least look in the direction of the light, after which he realized that it was moved aside and corrected its alignment with a humph!! This time, they placed a ball of cotton in my left ear to prevent the water from going in. He did shout at me one more time for moving my eyeball from one side to another. At last, it was all over. As soon as I got out of the theatre, the doctor complained to Pras about how tense I was inside the theatre - obviously - my first surgery!!!
I was sent to my room, administered some drops and given the "Gola - Italy design" goggles and asked to wear those. We ordered lunch from the cateteria and were waiting, when we were asked to meet the doctor. There was another gentleman who had been operated before[luckily] me, cause he was mentioning some sort of issue in vision after the surgery. As soon as the doctor saw me - "Jyothiiiii, you made my life miserable in the theatre" to which I promptly replied "Sorry Doc". I will never forget the accent and tone with which he said that. I also thanked the lord that I did not get operated before the other person - imagine what would have happened if the doctor had to operate the other chap, who had -7.5 power, after I had irritated him.
I was then told what I could do and could not do and was sent home. I was able to watch TV. I was able to read.
For 15 days, I can not splash water on my face - hence no face wash nor hair wash. I am not supposed to touch my eyes nor rub them.
I had a follow up check up yesterday and my power is nil now - though, the left eye is not 100% clear - but they had already told me that they can't guarantee a 100% correction. However, with both eyes, my vision is now a full 6/6. I was told that I need not wear the sunglasses anymore too.
This morning, I woke up and was watching SRK on "Lift Kara De" and guess what?? My hand went up to push my spectacles up my nose, only to realize that I wont be wearing any henceforth - fingers crossed :)

P.S. I got my surgery done at Sankara Eye Hospital, Kundalahalli Gate, Marathahalli, Bangalore.

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