One of the things I wanted to do with the proceeds from this really great job (besides buy a house) was to have my eyes fixed. They weren’t terrible, but I definitely needed glasses outside. Farting around with contacts while hunting was just a huge pain in the ass. I didn’t want to go up to camp and sleep in the back of the truck just because putting contacts in and out was horrendous. What if I had my annual case of poison oak on my hands? I shudder to think of the fallout of that one.

So when my eye appointment came up early this month, I talked to my new eye doctor about it. Turns out he worked with a laser center. They’d do the work and he’d do all of the follow-up checks so I didn’t have to drive an hour. Since I don’t mess around, I went for my evaluation the very next week.

They said I was a good candidate, so I booked an appointment for the next week. I had to shed my contacts and wear glasses until the appointment. Man, did I hate that. Switching from regular glasses to my out-of-date prescription sunglasses every time I went in or out, and working in the rain, what a hassle!

By Wednesday, I was getting pretty anxious about the thought of lasers shooting into my eyes. I was worried that the mechanism to hold them open would hurt, and I had no idea what the actual procedure would feel like. Thursday morning, they gave me a valium to take the edge off and Junior and I cooled our heels until it took effect and the doctor arrived. I was still feeling unsettled when I got the final talking-to, so he loaded me up with another one. Good thing too.

When they laid me down under the laser, I was really getting nervous. I’ve never known myself to be claustrophobic, but sure was getting that way with the bright lights and my eye taped open and having to hold really still. Once they started, it was totally creepy. I had to stare at a green dot, but I couldn’t always see the green dot. The suction device stuck to my eyeball gave me the heebie-jeebies, even though I couldn’t feel it really, but I could see it.

When he sliced open the flap on my eye, everything went dark. That was the only time I felt a little relief, since it was like my eye was shut and my brain could stop freaking out for a minute. When the laser went off and I could smell that burning-hair odor, the mental freak-out began again. When they were done and the doctor started squeegeeing the flap of my eye back where it belonged, I had to keep chanting to myself, “he’s wiping glasses, he’s wiping glasses.” I couldn’t feel it at all, but knowing what it was had me on the verge of leaping up from the table and running for my freedom. Junior was watching through a window and knew I was scared. The worst part was knowing that I had one more eye to go.

I’d always heard stories of people getting up from the table and instantly seeing clearly, but that wasn’t the case for me. Everything was foggy, the close-up stuff was way fuzzier than it had been before the procedure, and the lights all had halos. My left eye was really bad. The doctor brought me up from the table and wanted to snap a picture, but I had a hard time smiling. He pointed out the window, and things were clear out there.

Junior took me home and gave me the drugs and put me to bed. I have to wear funky goggles to keep my from rubbing my eyes in my sleep (although I still tried a couple of times last night).  I was still feeling the drugs when I woke up, and mostly lost Friday sleeping, but it seemed to do the trick. Today, I can see. My close vision isn’t so great, but they warned me it wouldn’t be. I’ll probably have to get reading glasses as I age, but that’s a small price to pay for clear distance vision. It’s much easier to wear glasses inside than to mess with them at work. My distance vision is great; every bit as clear as it was with my contacts. I don’t even seem to have any halos around lights at night. People say it just gets better over the next few months. I threw out all of my solutions and cases, and donated my glasses, and I’m glad to be rid of them. It was expensive, but totally worth it.

On a side note, Jamie gave me my first blog award the other day:

Thank you Jamie! Now I’m supposed to list five addictions and award five other bloggers, so here we go.

• I adore Hope in a Jar. It’s the only moisturizer that I will consistently use
• As well, Bare Minerals is about the only makeup I’ll use
• I can’t stand canned chicken soup and love to make my own
• I’m deep into a short-term addiction into the show Nip/Tuck. I’m starting Season 2 at the moment.
• I will be a hunter for the rest of my life

As far as bloggers go, I know a lot of fabulous bloggers. I’m going to count Jamie as already taken, but also fabulous are Nance, Sarah, Cowgirl, Sue, and WickedJaw.