Eye Surgery: Take Two

Twelve days ago I had the laser eye surgery on my left eye. If you remember (or go back to read about here) way back in September I went in to have the vision in both my eyes corrected, using the Lasik procedure in which they cut a corneal flap, correct your vision and then replace the flap. The healing is quite quick and not overly painful. However, there was a complication and the flap on my left eye was cut too shallow so they couldn't proceed.

Fast forward 3 months of healing time, and I was ready to go ahead and have that eye corrected, but using the PRK method, in which the surface of your cornea is scraped away instead of lifted and replaced. It's a much lower risk procedure, but comes with a lot more discomfort and a much longer recovery time.

The experience of the actual procedure was very similar to the last one, so there were no big surprises there. The normally attentive staff were even more solicitous than usual, and everything went smoothly. Then I headed home to spend the next few days taking some serious narcotics and communing with my bed. This was actually a bit of a bonus of the procedure, since I got more sleep in the first 48 hours than I've had in any other 48 hour period since before Maya was born!

The best way to describe the eye discomfort is that it's a s though pool water is stinging the eye ... only it doesn't go away when you blink, or wipe your eyes. I am also very sensitive to light, especially when the sun reflects off of the snow outdoors. Reading, especially on the computer, and watching the tv, are still very difficult tasks, due to the strain they cause the eyes. At times while I look at the computer screen or tv or newspaper, my eyes simply cannot stay open and look at what is in front of me, no matter how hard I try. At certain times, they work better than others, but there doesn't seem to be a pattern to it. It seems to work best if I read in short snatches, so as not to over stress the eye muscles. I find driving more than short distances to be difficult still, so I'm avoiding driving as much as possible.

It's early days yet in the recovery process, and I keep telling myself to be patient. The vision in my left eye is coming clearer, and is already better than before the surgery. But I'm looking forward to the healing being complete so I can get back to normal! In the meantime, it may be awhile before I'm back to posting regularly again.

Visit with Santa

Thought I'd share these photos, even though Christmas is over.  (Better late than never.)

Maya told Santa she wanted an elephant and a hippo toy for Christmas

Maya loved Santa.  Chloe not so much.

Chloe being placated by the offer of a candy cane.

Holiday Synopsis

I've not disappeared from the planet, just been busy celebrating Christmas and looking after my monkeys while Jeff has been away on business for 10 days. (He comes home tomorrow ... hooray!) A quick synopsis of the past few weeks:

The winter blues had me hugely procrastinating all December about getting ready for Christmas.  So I suddenly had to sprint and get everything done in the last week before the holiday.  Because with 7 days left to go, it looked like there might not BE a Christmas at the Tiltons this year. Yikes!  Note to self:  next year, get my hiney in gear earlier, no matter what it takes. Though I did discover that when you wait until the week before Christmas to visit Santa, there's no line up at the mall.

Christmas was lovely.  There was lots of extended family, good food, laughter, and the requisite gifts.  Maya's favourite gift is a small stuffed Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer that came in her stocking.  Chloe's favourite gift is the SweetPea3 mp3 player from Tag Along Toys which I won in a draw days before Christmas which Santa brought her from his workshop. She loves being able to carry her favourite music with her all around the house.

My birthday number mumblety-mumble passed nicely.  I had a visit from a dear friend in the daytime.  In the evening my parents joined us for a dinner out, followed by ice cream cake at our house. It was a nice day.

Jeff has been away since New Year's Eve, so the girls and I have been hanging out, enjoying the school break.  Maya has loved being able to sleep in and just be at home, though she's happy to start back at school tomorrow.