On the day of my procedure I woke up at an ungodly 6:30am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I had that same butterflies in your stomach feeling in the pit of my stomach you used to have as a kid on Christmas morning.

That feeling that reminds you something exciting was happening today.

I spent the morning relaxing and writing an article which is a rare luxury I get to do in the AM what with fulltime work getting in the way and all. My surgery wasn’t until 2:45pm so I decided to go and do all my shopping and weekend errands on the off chance I’d be useless after the surgery and unable to do anything.

40km’s of cycling later and I met my dad back at my place and we drove off into the city. As I stood outside the building I took one last look around and took in the view of the street.

“Remember Oz, this might be the last time you see anything through two eyes ever again so make the most of it” I thought to myself.

After looking around just long enough so that my did didn’t wonder what on earth I was doing, I turned around and entered the building.

For better or worse, I was ready to have my life changed forever.

I checked myself in and took a seat. Normally I’d been seen within ten minutes but the clinic was a lot busier today then it had been on my consult days. Consequently I spent this time running over the worst case scenarios in my head.

It was something I found I couldn’t avoid doing although I think that’s what happens before any surgery. These thoughts were broken up by people leaving with black sunglasses on and the plastic covers over their eye. They’d obviously just had their procedures done and it was interesting to see what I’d look like post-op.

After about twenty minutes or so I was called up to the desk and we settled the payment. There was a slight hiccup in that Laser Sight didn’t have a swipey thing for health insurance but that just meant we had to take the bill there ourselves.

Be aware though, this means you have to cough up the full amount including the deduction before the surgery.

Once payment was settled I was given a Xanax tablet and returned to my seat. I’d never taken Xanax before so wasn’t sure what to expect. I found after about ten minutes or so I was smiling uncontrollably like an idiot and figured well at least I wasn’t thinking about the worst case scenarios anymore.

About ten minutes after taking the Xanax I was called in to one of the prep rooms in which an optometrist gave me a detailed run down of exactly what was going to happen as well as asking if I had any final questions.

He also put two sets of drops into my eye, I think one was antibacterial and the other one was an antiseptic of some kind.

We let this sit for about five minutes and then headed over to the operating theatre. I had to wear a blue gown thing and a headcap. My dad was allowed in and also had to wear the same.

Looking like an extra from a medical series I then took a seat in a massage chair couch whilst another round of drops were applied to my eyes, one of which I believe was the anesthesthetic.

Following this I had to shut my eyes and a paste was applied to my general eye area. I was told this was so that the surgeon could touch around my eyes if he needed to during the procedure.

I had to keep my eyes closed after this and sat there for about ten minutes or so. Whilst I had my eyes closed I started to hear windy noises and thought they were coming from the operating theatre. I asked my dad and he told me it was him playing with his massage chair settings.

I kind of regretted not playing around with mine before I had to keep my eyes closed. I wasn’t game enough to pickup the remote and start playing with it blind.

Once the theatre was ready one of the nurses came and got me and led me in. I didn’t get a good look at the theatre but from what I remember there was a big huge white thing in the centre and then a bench for me to lie on.

My dad sat nearby and got to watch the entire thing on a television link up which was kind of cool.

You lay down on the bench and there’s a sort of hammock bit for your head. You’re angled slightly downwards (think dentists chair fully reclined) and the two nurses and surgeon do their thing. One of the nurses handed me two stress balls to squeeze whilst I was lying down.

Dr. Bambery was pretty detailed in explaining to me what was going on. I don’t know if it was the Xanax or my own nerves but I was a little more relaxed then I felt comfortable with considering all I could see was a flurry of activity whilst the procedure was carried out.

There’s a red flashing dot you are required to stare at pretty much the entire time. I found this easy enough to do. Despite Dr. Bambery assuring me that the laser would shut off if I moved the knowledge of a laser going into my eye and cutting things up was enough motivation to ensure I kept my eyeball deathly still.

Firstly a suction clamp thing is placed over your eye, this is what stops you blinking and keeps the eye under pressure so that the flap is lifted and placed back down properly.

You feel it going on other then a bit of skull pressure however my vision did dim and then disappear momentarily whilst it was applied. I’d read (and was told by the optometrist) about this so I wasn’t worried, although it was a pretty weird sensation visually to have your vision just disappear like that.

Following this because I have long eye lashes Dr. Bambery decided to use some extra clamps to pin them back. This bit hurt like holy hell (I imagine because my eyelids weren’t under anaesthetic).

It was only for a fraction of a second as he applied the eyelash clamps but it felt like someone was jabbing a sharp needle into my eyelids. This was the only pain I felt during the procedure and was also the only time I squeezed on the stress balls.

Once the surgeon was happy with the operating area we then proceeded with the laser. I stared at the blinking red dot whilst the flap was cut and then watched him lift it up and over my eye. It kind of looked like someone turning a page of a book really, really close to your eye.

Then the big moment, the laser reshaping. It was only for a few seconds if not a minute or so but it does feel slightly longer whilst it’s happening. You can’t really see anything so you just focus on the red dot while it does it’s thing.

The only weird sensation is the burning smell (think the barbecue smell you get when a moth flies into one of those electric blue light traps) and then before you know it, it’s over.

The flap is then reapplied and then squeegeed over. The squeegee thing feels like a soothing cool gel being run across your eyeball. Whilst this is being done you get your first glimpse of vague eyesight through your new vision.

It’s truly amazing.

You’re good to walk after the procedure so you’re led back to the consulting room where a quick check is done through the microscope to make sure everything looks ok. If it is a clear lens (think crotch cup but for your eye) is then applied over your face with some tape and the optometrist runs over your pre-op care routine. After that you’re good to go home.

Upon leaving your given a little carry back with a bunch of lubricant drops, two bottles of eyedrops (Flarex and Ciloxan) as well as a few panadols and two Temazepam tablets to help you sleep.

The drive home was one of the most exciting things I can ever remember. I’ve worn glasses or contact since about the age of 7 or 8 and it was simply indescribable to be able to cover my left eye (the one that had the contact lens in it) and see what I could read with the lasik eye.

I spent practically the entire trip doing this, despite my dad telling me to stop potentially straining my eye.

I found the discomfort minimal if at all. It kind of felt like I had mild contact lens irritation in the eye but it was gone by the time I got home. I didn’t take the Temazepam but had a nap when I got home for a few hours and then wokeup and had dinner at around 11pm before going back to bed.

Here’s a photo I took of my eye after dinner, the redness you can see is minor bleeding from the suction clamp thing they put on during the surgery. Apparently it takes a few days to clear and doesn’t do any long term damage. I can’t feel it so I’m not too fussed.

Vision wise last night I had slight blurriness in the front of my field of vision (presumably from the flap) but could see relatively clearly out of the edges of my eye.

This morning went I woke up the blurriness was gone but my eyesight isn’t 100%. I had a pre-op check this morning (the day after surgery) and the surgeon confirmed my eyesight wasn’t 20/20, he said it might have been over corrected slightly.

He didn’t mention a touch up but I’m thinking I might need one. Together my eyes work great but if I cover the contact lens eye I can make out street sights and what not but have trouble focusing on my LCD monitor anything more then a foot away (I can make out words but they are blurry, similar effect to when you cross your eyes slightly).

I have a week checkup this coming Friday and I’m hoping my eye gets better during the week. As for now I’m still solidly in the ‘best money I’ve ever spent’ camp as even if I do need a touch up the sight I have now allows me to get around and read things (besides monitor text) comfortably.

If you’ve got the money and have straight forward short sightedness and have been thinking about it go and at least have a consult, I simply can’t recommend getting laser eye surgery highly enough.

It’s unbelievable how such a short procedure has just a drastically positive life-changing effect on your life, I still can’t get my head around it.

Related posts that might interest you:

1. My one week checkup after Lasik eye surgery
2. 5 things to ask your lasik eye surgeon before surgery
3. 10 must read blog posts on laser eye surgery
4. Claiming a laser eye surgery rebate on Medicare
5. Getting laser eye surgery done: The first consult