20/15 Baby!!!!

For my birthday this year, I got one of the best presents possible!!

LASIK!!!!!!!!!!!



My baby blues that now see beautifully!

I have been wearing glasses and/or contacts since I was 9 years old. That's one year short of being 20 of my 28 years of life being in contacts and glasses. I remember getting my first pair of glasses - light blue rimmed glasses with big thick lenses. I was so excited because having glasses was actually "cool" then. Haha yeah.

When I was a freshman in high school, I finally got my first pair of contacts, and since then, only wore glasses at night or when my eyes needed a break from contacts. I never thought I would ever be able to wake up in the morning and be able to see!

Thanks to my job, and my flex spending account, this year I got something I've been wanting for a REALLY long time! NEW EYES! Eyes that can see at any time of the day, and not just see, but see perfectly clear! Lasik took my vision from 20/400 to 20/15 in a matter of SECONDS. No, seriously. Seconds. For anyone who is interested in knowing what the process of lasik is like, here is a brief rundown of my experience.

I arrived at Hoopes Vision nervous and excited. They brought me back to a small waiting room, where they promptly gave me a Valium and a checklist of exactly what I would go through. They covered my head and feet in surgical cap and booties, and washed my eyelids with iodine. Then they put numbing drops in my eyes, and took me into the room where the Intralase laser was ready to create the flaps in my corneas! This was the worst part. I lay under a big machine, seeing a circle of lights that reminded me of a tiny UFO. Dr Hoopes placed a suction ring on my eye, and my vision went black. There was no pain, simply some pressure while I focused on keeping my eye still. It took about 10 seconds to put the little bubbles in the cornea to create the flap. Then the same process for the next eye. After the bubbles are inserted, it takes about 20 minutes for them to dissipate, so they put me in a big comfy massage chair where I sat with my eyes closed. Next they took me into the other room where I lay under another machine and focused on a green light while they lasered the flap back into place. It took about 15 seconds per eye. It didn't hurt, it wasn't uncomfortable, and it was over before I knew it. Afterward I sat in a dark room for 10 minutes with my eyes closed. When I opened them, my vision was really foggy, like looking through a fogged up window, but I knew my vision was going to be amazingly clear! The next morning (yesterday) when I woke up, I saw more clearly than any contact could ever do. I felt like I was seeing the world in HD! And if you have ever watched tv in HD, you know you don't EVER want to go back!


Dr. Hoopes performing Lasik

Ok that wasn't so brief. But you get the idea! :)

I am SO glad I made the decision to get this done. No more glasses, no more contacts, no more worrying about not being able to see in the night if I have to get up, or when I have kids I won't have to deal with putting on glasses or contacts in tired eyes in the middle of the night....it's just one big obstacle eliminated from my life! I do have to wear my cheesy sunglasses for a week, and I have to tape up my eyes at night for a week, but it's SO very worth it. I am so happy!! If you're thinking of having it done, DO IT!!! You'll be VERY glad you did!!

www.hoopesvision.com