My Laser Eye Surgery

It was quite an experience. One day, a nerve in my head ticked. I became sick of the nerdy look of my eye glasses, and I got fed up with the itchy sensation of wearing contact lenses. I could not take it anymore. I decided to have laser eye surgery.

After researching different doctors, I went to see the one with the best reputation and experience. After goggling at my eyes through different tools and machines, the doctor smiled and announced that I was a perfect candidate for the surgery. He explained to me how the surgery was going to be and answered all my questions.

He told me that he was going to use a laser beam to create a very thin flap in my cornea. After that, he was going to fold that flap back like the page of a book and another laser beam will enter my eye to correct my vision. I became a little bit nervous trying to picture a laser beam puncturing my eyes. I have to give the doctor credit though. I fired at him all sort of questions ranging from "What happens if I become blind?" to "What will happen if an earthquake hits while you are doing the surgery?" The corner of his right eye twitched, but he graciously answered all my questions.

My hand hovered over the signing papers specially after I read the page listing the risks involved. "Is it worth it?" I asked myself then I remembered how my eye glasses get foggy every time I drink tea, and I decided it was definitely worth it.

I had nightmares about all the worst possible scenarios the night before the surgery.

When I walked to the surgery center, I broke into a sweat. The nurse took one look at me and laughed. "You are not the first one who gets nervous," she said. She gave me a pill that made me relax. She wiped my face with disinfectants, placed a cap on my hair, and put numbing drops in my eyes. The doctor came in and greeted me. They both took me to a room and laid me down on a bed beneath a machine. "We are going to create the flap now," the doctor said. I gulped when he produced a weird-looking tweezers. He used them to pull my eye lids open and asked me to look at a telescope-like tube. "Don't move," he said. A smaller tube inside of the outer tube started moving toward my eye.

The tube came in contact with the surface of my eye and started pushing further. "Shit!" I thought. Before my eye ruptured, the tube stopped suddenly and started buzzing. I felt something scan my eye in a circular way. "Done!" the doctor said enthusiastically. He repeated the same thing to my left eye. He took my hand and guided me like a simpleton to the next room. The nurse laid me under another sophisticated-looking machine.

The doctor pulled my eye lids open again. He used surgical tools and started poking at my right eye. He asked me to look at a flickering red light in the tube facing me. The machine peeped and, to my amazement, I saw a red laser beam hit my eye. It felt like dripping water into my eyes. It did not hurt at all, but it was the strangest sensation ever. They did the same thing to my other eye and covered them both with plastic shields.

"Tada!...it's over...good job," the doctor said and patted my shoulder. He sent me home to rest.

Thank God, I was able to see after removing my eye shields. I still see halos around lights specially at night, but that is perfectly normal as I've been told.


Ahhh...isn't it amazing what medicine can do with technology these days?