So I went under the knife...

Most people probably don't know this because I didn't spread the news around much but last night I had Laser (well, more specifically 'Lasik') surgery on my eyes. Yes, the goal is to join the ranks of those annoying few who have immaculate vision and flaunt it for all of us 'glasses-wearin folk' to see.

I had some tests done last week, including the normal eye exam (three times with three separate doctors), an inner eye scan (very interesting... they take digital pictures of the inside of the eye), and what can only de described as an eye poke (done to test the thickness of the cornea... with topical anesthetic thankfully). The poke was just done with a little rubberized pencil like thing.

When the doctor who did the surgery (who speaks fluent english helpfully) was trying to get a second scan of the inside of my eye he was finding that my left eye was too deepset in the socket to get a good picture (thanks for the genetics Dad) so he actually needed to send back to the other lab for their pics.

My roomate Michael had his eyes done at the same time and so we hired a cab driver that we call a lot to come with us and hold our clothes, wallets, and dignity, while we got dressed up in the little throw-away scrubs. Actually I think Michael kept his dignity just fine. I with scrub pants that only came 2/3 of the way down my leg due to my distinctly un-Colombian height did not.

The actual surgery only took 10 minutes. Clamp the eye, get anesthetic drops, the thin top flap gets cut open, and then I stare into the blinking light for about 30 seconds to a minute. Easy, painless, weird, and very very interesting. Last night after getting discharged everything was quite fuzzy. I couldn't read and my eyes felf very tired. At night I wore the clear facemask above to keep my from rubbing my eyes and during the day today I'm wearing the funky looking lab goggles for both stylish and functional purposes. Eight days before I can swim. Two months of lubricant drops. Two weeks of Antibiotic drops (I think that's what they are). No contact sports for a month (sadly this rules out basketball.... nearly 1/2 the reason that I got the surgery). And guess what.... it only cost me $600 Canadian!!!!

If you want some more information on Lasik (and if you'd like to read that I can't go swimming for three months and then fight with me about what my doctor told me) the following website is really good. Especially when you know that I've come out of it just fine.

www.fda.gov/cdrh/lasik/

Today I woke up and could see crystal clear just like I had my glasses on, and with no pain at all. This is looking like it's going to be one of the best descisions that I've made.

Back in Canada in a little over a month!!!!!

Bye for now,

-Matt