I GOT IMPLANTS!

My entire life I have wanted perfect vision.  At the age of 8, I got my first pair of glasses.  At the age of 9, I had my first pair of glasses with bifocals.  At age 13, I got my first pair of gas permeable contacts.  Boy were they expensive...$375 back then!  At age 18, I went to toric soft contact lenses and switched to regular soft lenses around age 21.  Needless to say I have spent practically my entire life in either glasses or contacts and I was ready to stop.  I always wanted to have my vision corrected but always thought it would be out of my reach financially and I probably wouldn't be a candidate anyway due to my high prescription.  It is funny to me that I spend my whole day now dispelling this financial myth and giving patients the opportunity to see a whole new world!

One of the many perks of my job is majorly discounted vision correction with payroll deduction.  Around August, I decided I was ready.  I have a very strong prescription and am severely nearsighted.  I couldn't see anything unless it was about a foot in front of my face.  In fact, there had been many times I had taken my contacts out at night only to put them back in because I couldn't find my glasses.  Sad but true! 

Due to my high prescription, I had the option of two different surgeries....LASIK or ICL.  Working closely with both surgeries and knowing my own vision I easily picked ICL (intercollamer lens often referred to as implantable contact lens) for better optics, quick recovery and longer lasting correction.  I will have these babies until I get cataract surgery when I am older.  The patient discounted price for the surgery is $5900.  The full price is around $13,000.  My price was about 10% of this.  Nothing short of a miracle!  I jumped on this opportunity quickly!

On September 29, 2010, the world as seen through my eyes changed.  I had ICL done in both eyes.  The following day I woke up looked at the time on the alarm clock and didn't even realize I actually saw it.  I went to the bathroom where I reached for my glasses when I looked in the mirror I gasped.  I ran back out and looked at the alarm clock in total disbelieve.  Is this happening to me?  I could see the time on the alarm clock clear as day.  I have never seen the time on the alarm clock unless I feel asleep in my contacts.  In fact, without glasses or contacts I couldn't even see the alarm clock existed let alone the time.  All I would see is a red light blob across the room.  Amazing!  I continued to get ready for work. 

On my way to work I just looked in awe at everything.  Now sure I had seen everything with my contacts but now it was even clearer than with my contacts and I wasn't wearing any glasses or contacts for the very first time since I was 8 yrs old.  Life changing I tell you!  My sister called during that drive and said, "How is your vision?"  I started crying like a big baby saying, "I just can't believe it is clear so fast.  I can see everything Lisa.  I can see everything!"  I cried the rest of the way to work just out of pure joy and thankfulness.  Everyone at work thought something was wrong when I got to work with my red weepy eyes then just hugged me and laughed.  They checked me for my one day post-op appointment and I was seeing 20/20 in one eye and 20/25 in the other.  Now six months later I am seeing 20/15 in both eyes and still just as amazed. 

It is funny to me that I see patients all day that come in telling me how "blind" they are.  When I look at their prescription it will be like a -1 and I think wow I was 6 times worse than that....they have no clue and they are still legal to drive without correction!!  I enjoy helping them see better but I also know it is not that big of a change for them.  BUT I also see patients with eyes twice as bad as mine and I think wow they are blind.  If I couldn't see anything more than a foot away from my face and trust me that is no exaggeration, then how do they see anything at all.  Those are the patients I enjoy helping the most.  I know how my life changed so I can't imagine how their life changes until they send me a thank you card or call me crying because they are just so thankful!  Those are the ones that get me and tug at my heart strings!  Those are the patients that I know understand why I cried after surgery.  Those are the ones that make me think I love my job!  Those are the ones who understand me when I say....

 "I love my new eyes!!"

2 CONTACTS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

For about a month I have wondered about Tez's vision noticing him sitting closer to the television and doing a fair amount of squinting. Although when I would ask him if he could see he would always say yes. Tez's school had to start some new testing to reevaluate his IEP and placement for next year but discovered he needed to see an eye doctor first because he failed his vision screening. They would not resume testing until his vision problem had been seen by a doctor. Last Monday after the stressful Zoo field trip with Elijah and half of the area public schools, I took Tez to the eye doctor. I asked if he would be able to wear contacts and she said yes. I knew he was absolutely against wearing glasses and I said I would be willing to work with him to see if he would be responsible enough to wear and take care of contacts. Martez totally disagreed with me saying sternly, "Well if he needs glasses then he will just HAVE to wear them!" At his age short of screwing the glasses directly into his skull you can't "make" him wear glasses if you aren't around and Tez isn't exactly careful when playing sports. I totally disagree with this philosophy and since I have been in Tez's shoes at a much much younger age I understand the situation. I had glasses (very thick) when I went into third grade and wore glasses until my parents allowed me to try contacts at the age of 13. They bought me one pair which at the time were $375.00 for gas permeable lenses and if I lost them I would not get another pair unless I paid. I treated those babies like they were gold!!! I have since been able to switch to soft contacts which nowadays are so cheap - yeah - especially if you wear them longer than the recommended 2 weeks like I do! LOL I didn't feel Martez had any sympathy for Tez and I didn't feel like he really understood the emotional crap that comes along with a 14 yr old boy getting glasses. I am not saying glasses are bad in any way, shape or form but I also now how it feels as a kid AND I know better than him that kids will take their glasses off from time to time when not in the presence of parents. I also believe that contacts will be a better fit for Tez's lifestyle. He is VERY active and I am positive glasses would get broken or lost in no time at all. Seriously once Tez is out of my car and into the school building I have no doubt the glasses will be off of his face!! There is no visible difference when wearing contacts so if he will wear them willingly and can handle the responsibility then why not let him try. SOOOOOO we got him a trial pair of contacts and trust me the first 3 or 4 days of putting them in were a chore. He would get so frustrated and I would tell him "I am willing to help you learn how to put in your contacts but you have to stay calm and not give up until you learn or I won't buy them for you and you will just have to adjust to wearing glasses!" The mere idea of wearing glasses would make him readjust his attitude and he did better than I thought he would. The first day he came home all excited saying, "wow I could read the chalkboard from my chair!" It was also funny when he asked how long he would have to wear them and I said anytime you want to actually see the world around you. I think he thought he wear contacts for a couple of weeks and then his vision would miraculously be restored. Well it has now been a week and today I get a call from him all stressed out at school because a contact fell out. I told him it was no big deal just to put it in the case. He said he lost it and again I said don't stress out you have to go back to the eye doctor today for a recheck so she will just give you another one. Of course, his father freaked out more than myself saying see he just needs to wear glasses. I told him he should have a more positive light on the situation. I thought Tez would've lost many contacts by now but I think he has done extremely well considering he hasn't had any problems once they are actually in his eye which Martez could admittingly NEVER do!! Fast forward to later today......we get to the eye doctor and knowing the contacts have to be on for awhile before they check the eyes I tell them he lost his left contact so he would need a new one. He then informs me that he took out the right one after he had lost the left one and didn't bring it with him. I tell them nevermind he will just need a new pair to put on while he waits for me to be examined. So he sits and waits while I get checked then when it was his turn I was sitting in the chair watching him totally butcher the eye chart. I was sitting there thinking to myself why in the world can't he read this with his contacts in his eyes. I think the assistant thought the same since she made him reread the chart about 5 times and he really read it with confidence like it was correct! Worried the doctor took him in to have a look and she came out laughing! She said he took the right contact out at school however he never actually lost the left contact so when he put the new pair in at the office he then had one right contact and two left contacts in his eyes. Just goes to show more is not always better because it really screwed with his vision! I then was trying to get him to pick out a pair of glasses to wear when he wouldn't be wearing contacts.....wow that was a feat!!! I was getting really annoyed at his attitude and had to explain MANY times even though we would be buying him contacts he would still need a pair of glasses to wear at night after he takes out his contacts so HE CAN SEE!! Two and a half hours later......we decided on some glasses for both of us and I was so ready to be home it wasn't even funny!!!