I decided to take the leap. No time like January to avoid chilly night dives and 50 degree water temps to decide to be a land lubber for awhile. Who am I kidding? FIVE freaking weeks out of the water and it’s KILLING ME. Did I mention I’m only on week 2? *sigh* But this is something I’ve wanted to do for ages and I finally decided to suck it up and take that step.
Side note. I dive with contact lenses, not a prescription mask. While those of you who have like a -1.00 nearsighted problem I have a whopping -5.50 nearsighted problem. Like coke bottle glasses. Sexy right? 😀 For all I know they don’t make prescription masks that thick. So while the surface swim out might be fine for you, I might end up at the wrong decent point and maybe with the wrong buddy if I didn’t have my contacts in. LOL And wearing a mask on the swim out through waves in southern California is just asking for you to give it up to the diving gods. I’m just saying. You know what was really awesome? Wearing contact lenses in the pool doing a no mask swim underwater for my Divemaster requirements. And by awesome, I mean not. :/
First and foremost, I’d like to be totally honest and let you know I’m completely freaked out…. I was a dummy and made the mistake of watching an eye surgery in action on a monitor at the doctors office.
Rule #1: Don’t do that. HA
Rule #2: Do your research. I asked friends who had the surgery 2, 3, 5, and 10 years ago on who they used, what their experience was like, and how are their eyes now. I then took those doctors names and googled the hell out of them. Then met with them and interviewed them. It does also come down to who you personally feel comfortable with.
Rule #3: Ask questions. LOTS of them. ANYTHING you can think of. There is no dumb questions and if they act annoyed at your questions, I’d find a different doctor. Definitely ask about the difference of PRK and Custom Lasik and which options are best for you. Those are the main two but there is even more options than that. It matters, trust me. Custom Lasik is pretty standard now but PRK might be a better option for you depending on how thin your corneas are. PRK is more of a pain in the patootie because it requires more healing time. BUT it’s key in the lasting effects of your surgery years down the line if you happen to have thinner corneas. Find out your options and ask WHY. 🙂 My first immediate question was of course, how long am I out of the water??? 2-3 weeks after surgery to prevent infection. Ok fiiiiiiiiine. 🙁 And of course I had a lot of girly questions regarding makeup and washing my face too but I’m sure that won’t surprise you. :D)
Rule #4: As divers you know we are well versed in uh…antihistamines. LOL I especially have allergy and sinus issues. Guess what? Antihistamines dry the HELL out of your eyes not just your nasal canal and you need to lay off the meds before surgery. My eye scans were like night and day after I laid off the allergy meds for awhile. Side note, I look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer right now since I’ve been banned from Claritin for a few weeks. :/ I’m telling myself sounding like a muppet is sexy…..Who’s a smart girl and decided to pull the trigger on eye surgery right in the middle of cold and allergy season? This girl!!
Coolest thing they told me was the actual surgery only takes 10-15 minutes and I would be able to see IMMEDIATELY after. Sweet! And I have my super sexy after surgery glasses. I’ll be modeling those babies later. 😀 Then they make you go home and go to sleep for 4 hours to help generate the first layer of cell growth.
I’m now in my waiting period. I have to stay out of my contacts for two weeks prior to surgery and then a week before, I have a twice a day vitamin and 4 times a day eye drop regimen to implement for optimal results. I’m so freaked out, I’m following every doctor order to the max. I even set up alarms in my phone to remind me to take the vitamins and put in the drops at different times in the day. I know, HUGE nerd alert. I’m cool with it. 🙂 I have a week to go. My surgery date is Feb 2nd. I’ll keep you posted. If you are considering Lasik I’ll write another post soon on all my ridiculous questions so you have an idea on where to start with your question list. I’ll have TONS of time to blab on and on about things since I can’t be in the water…. Lucky you! 😀
Oh yea and….
Rule #76: NO EXCUSES! Play like a champion! 😀 (Sorry couldn’t help myself)
me and my red Rudolph nose with sexy coke bottle glasses and muppet voice are signing off for the night. xo
Leave a Reply