Today my eyes are doing markedly better than yesterday. Perhaps Sunday was my day to TANK, instead of Monday. This would be excellent news! Progressing faster than predicted :)
They are both still light sensitive, but since today has been relatively gloomy and overcast, I am winning out. Lefty doesn't ache as much as she did yesterday and certainly, both seem to have better constant vision over yesterday. I'm taking my drops per schedule (2 sets of drops every 4 hrs) and in fact, 4pm signals the next round of droppage.
I didn't go to work today, tried to hem some pants, hemmed them too short, need to re-sew at a later time, had Annie's Shells & Cheese for lunch and took a nice long bath.
Tomorrow I think I might try to go to work! Charlie will drive me, never fear people!
Let's hope tomorrow is even better than today in the bulb department!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Bulbs Day Two
Today I woke up and my eyebulbs are still a little stingy, especially the left one. Ol' Lefty had a harder time of the PRK than Righty, it seems. They do actually suggest that if you're getting both eyes done with PRK that you do one at a time, to ease the recovery stage. I decided that wasn't a course of action I wanted to consider. It's already going to be a few days off of work, so as far as doing this multiple times...unh-uhhh!
I can sense that my eyes are healing because my overall vision has its moments of improvement, but overall it is getting a little worse as the circle of corneal happiness rebuilds itself. C'mon CORNEAS, hurry up! ;) I can imagine each little corneal cell growing and marching toward the center of my eye like little soldiers, going to defend the integrity of the whole. March, march, march!
It's bright as all get out today, both from the sunlight and the sensitivity of my eyes to the light. Right now I'm in my room with the shades and curtains drawn , pissed that I didn't close the bedroom door before I sat down to write this entry - there is light in the living room as well. Lame. My eyes are sensitive to the light, so they sting a little and water, which makes my nose run and this endless cycle is starting to get old. In fact, I've enhanced my computer settings for those who are visually impared and am using the "high contrast" version to make it easier for me to see. Sweetness! I'll try to stop being such a Nancy about it all and be happy my bulbs are on their way to recovery.
Hopefully tomorrow will be the worst of it. Keep your fingers crossed!
I can sense that my eyes are healing because my overall vision has its moments of improvement, but overall it is getting a little worse as the circle of corneal happiness rebuilds itself. C'mon CORNEAS, hurry up! ;) I can imagine each little corneal cell growing and marching toward the center of my eye like little soldiers, going to defend the integrity of the whole. March, march, march!
It's bright as all get out today, both from the sunlight and the sensitivity of my eyes to the light. Right now I'm in my room with the shades and curtains drawn , pissed that I didn't close the bedroom door before I sat down to write this entry - there is light in the living room as well. Lame. My eyes are sensitive to the light, so they sting a little and water, which makes my nose run and this endless cycle is starting to get old. In fact, I've enhanced my computer settings for those who are visually impared and am using the "high contrast" version to make it easier for me to see. Sweetness! I'll try to stop being such a Nancy about it all and be happy my bulbs are on their way to recovery.
Hopefully tomorrow will be the worst of it. Keep your fingers crossed!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Bulbs
It's been a while since I have posted. I'm sort-of posting in "the blind" at the moment :)
As most of you know, I have been wanting to get my eyebulbs fixed for quite some time and as of a month ago, I decided to go ahead and schedule my LASIK procedure for 4/24. I was extremely nervous about someone poking around in my eyeballs, but ready to go for it anyway.
On Monday 4/20 I had my pre-op with my eye doctor (Dr. Izzard), got my eyes dilated, checked and rechecked. He said I should be good to go, pending my surgeon (Dr. Koch at Baylor College of Medicine, awesome guy) approval of my corneal maps. On Thursday 4/23 my eye doc and surgeon both called me multiple times in the afternoon to discuss my pending bulb-slicing and zapping (while I was at work, mind you). It turns out that my corneas were something like 1/100th of a millimeter too thin to perform LASIK on, per my surgeon. If I did LASIK, risks to my cornea are increased and my vision could likely be unstable post-procedure, rendering the procedure useless and maybe causing more damage to my eye. My eye doc explained to me that in addition to my surgeon being exceptional at what he does, he is also generally pretty conservative - which is why he recommends him to all his patients. He also mentioned that since I am "borderline" for LASIK, I could find someone to perform the procedure on me if I wanted, but he and my surgeon were recommending instead, PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy). Of course, I decided to take the advice of my eye doctor and surgeon and go ahead with the PRK. Conservatism with my eyes?? Yes please. Dr. Koch also mentioned that after some more corneal mapping tests upon my arrival at the medical center, it could be that I was ineligible for PRK based on the shape of my cornea. Not likely, but possible. He wanted to make sure I was prepared. Oh yeah, my eyes are apparently dry normally too (I didn't really know that or notice), so I had to lube my bulbs every hour the night before the procedure too. SUPER!
So, a little off-kilter and nervous from the late-breaking change in procedures, I prepared myself for a 2:30pm arrival at Baylor for the procedure. Upon arrival to the center, I did my few corneal mapping tests, got cleared for surgery by Dr. Koch and proceeded to get outfitted for the procedure. They cleaned my face, put a hair net on my head, put gauze over my ears to catch any eyedrops that fell from my eyes while on the table, and stuck a sticker over each eye to remind them which one was which (Left PRK, Right PRK).
Here's the difference between LASIK and PRK, at least in "Jaime" terms:
LASIK: A flap is cut in the cornea, flapped open, lasers zap the inside, then the flap is replaced. Recovery time is very fast, vision results near immediate. Eyes generally more dry than before procedure.
PRK: The epithelial layer of the eye is scraped away from the top of the cornea, then lasers zap the cornea to reshape it so the light is better focused and vision improves. A protective contact lens is placed over the eye for 5 days, the end. Recovery time is slower and vision results not immediate. Eyes less dry than with LASIK, post-procedure.
Anyhoo, after the hairnet was securely in place, they took me to the laser room, laid me on my back on a dentist-chair looking surface (only totally flat), administered a topical anesthetic to my right eye, covered my left eye, strapped my head to the table, squished a pillow around my head to secure it in place, taped my eyelashes (top and bottom both) down, put a speculum (I call it the "Clockwork Orange") on my eye and I was ready to go. They walked me through each step of the procedure, which was extremely comforting...especially given the fact that my eyes were open and I had to watch them poke and prod and swab at them and shine giant BRIGHT FRIGGIN' LIGHTS in them the entire time. Good stuff!
First, they stated by removing the epithelial cells from my cornea. They put a metal ring around my cornea and dropped some kind of liquid on my eye. Then, they took a rotating brush type thing (think your Oral-B rotating toothbrush with the little round head, except it didn't articulate but rather just spun in a circular motion) and scrubbed the epithelial from my cornea. I was smiling this whole time because all I could think of was to laugh at them toothbrushing my eyeball :D. They commented on how relaxed and "even smiling!" I was. Of course, only I would be smiling while people scraped layers of eyeball from my eye. Nice, Jaime. After I was good and scrubbed, they wiped my eye to get the cells and moisture from it. Next was the actual laser part, where I had to stare at this point of red light while it pulsed purple light all over my eye and burned my cornea away. It does smell a little like burning tissue, but nothing gross really - as long as you're prepared for the slight odor. This whole process took at most 5 minutes per eye. To be honest, the worst part was them ripping the tape off of my eyelids/eyelashes on each eye. C'mon people! I just paid you to burn my corneas, the least you could do is be gentle when removing the tape :)
My vision was significantly better immediately after the procedure, but hazy and definitely not crystal-clear. According to Dr. Koch, my vision will get increasingly worse for the next few days and around Monday it should tank to its worst, as the cornea is regenerating healing cells from the outside of the circle, in and trying to recover. After that, I should see improvement steadily.
I have to put in antibiotics and steroids into my eyes for the first week until the contact lenses are removed (Weds, I think) and then I'll have to administer drops for 4 months on a regular basis (4x/day 1st month, 3x/day 2nd month, 2x/day 3rd month, 1x/day 4th month). They also gave me a whole boatload of pain killers to take if I needed them and frankly, I was worried that I would need them based on the blogs I had read about people post-procedure.
Ninnies. I slept fine last night with an "advil-equivalent" they make me take for the first 3 days. Today I am more light-sensitive, I think it feels like a small piece of something is in my left eye (right eye is the pimp) and they are super dry so I'm lubing them all over the place. Either way, I'm doing quite well and actually really happy I did PRK vs. LASIK. The more I think about them cutting into my eyeball, I get super creeped out.
I know this is the longest post ever in life, but I thought I would let you all know how it went, how it felt, how I'm doing. Went: Great. Felt: Weird. Doing: Super! Vision recovering: Okay (near and far sight is "off" at the moment). Work: Returning Monday or Tuesday if I can, gonna play it by ear.
Love you lots!
-Me and my enhanced bulbs.
As most of you know, I have been wanting to get my eyebulbs fixed for quite some time and as of a month ago, I decided to go ahead and schedule my LASIK procedure for 4/24. I was extremely nervous about someone poking around in my eyeballs, but ready to go for it anyway.
On Monday 4/20 I had my pre-op with my eye doctor (Dr. Izzard), got my eyes dilated, checked and rechecked. He said I should be good to go, pending my surgeon (Dr. Koch at Baylor College of Medicine, awesome guy) approval of my corneal maps. On Thursday 4/23 my eye doc and surgeon both called me multiple times in the afternoon to discuss my pending bulb-slicing and zapping (while I was at work, mind you). It turns out that my corneas were something like 1/100th of a millimeter too thin to perform LASIK on, per my surgeon. If I did LASIK, risks to my cornea are increased and my vision could likely be unstable post-procedure, rendering the procedure useless and maybe causing more damage to my eye. My eye doc explained to me that in addition to my surgeon being exceptional at what he does, he is also generally pretty conservative - which is why he recommends him to all his patients. He also mentioned that since I am "borderline" for LASIK, I could find someone to perform the procedure on me if I wanted, but he and my surgeon were recommending instead, PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy). Of course, I decided to take the advice of my eye doctor and surgeon and go ahead with the PRK. Conservatism with my eyes?? Yes please. Dr. Koch also mentioned that after some more corneal mapping tests upon my arrival at the medical center, it could be that I was ineligible for PRK based on the shape of my cornea. Not likely, but possible. He wanted to make sure I was prepared. Oh yeah, my eyes are apparently dry normally too (I didn't really know that or notice), so I had to lube my bulbs every hour the night before the procedure too. SUPER!
So, a little off-kilter and nervous from the late-breaking change in procedures, I prepared myself for a 2:30pm arrival at Baylor for the procedure. Upon arrival to the center, I did my few corneal mapping tests, got cleared for surgery by Dr. Koch and proceeded to get outfitted for the procedure. They cleaned my face, put a hair net on my head, put gauze over my ears to catch any eyedrops that fell from my eyes while on the table, and stuck a sticker over each eye to remind them which one was which (Left PRK, Right PRK).
Here's the difference between LASIK and PRK, at least in "Jaime" terms:
LASIK: A flap is cut in the cornea, flapped open, lasers zap the inside, then the flap is replaced. Recovery time is very fast, vision results near immediate. Eyes generally more dry than before procedure.
PRK: The epithelial layer of the eye is scraped away from the top of the cornea, then lasers zap the cornea to reshape it so the light is better focused and vision improves. A protective contact lens is placed over the eye for 5 days, the end. Recovery time is slower and vision results not immediate. Eyes less dry than with LASIK, post-procedure.
Anyhoo, after the hairnet was securely in place, they took me to the laser room, laid me on my back on a dentist-chair looking surface (only totally flat), administered a topical anesthetic to my right eye, covered my left eye, strapped my head to the table, squished a pillow around my head to secure it in place, taped my eyelashes (top and bottom both) down, put a speculum (I call it the "Clockwork Orange") on my eye and I was ready to go. They walked me through each step of the procedure, which was extremely comforting...especially given the fact that my eyes were open and I had to watch them poke and prod and swab at them and shine giant BRIGHT FRIGGIN' LIGHTS in them the entire time. Good stuff!
First, they stated by removing the epithelial cells from my cornea. They put a metal ring around my cornea and dropped some kind of liquid on my eye. Then, they took a rotating brush type thing (think your Oral-B rotating toothbrush with the little round head, except it didn't articulate but rather just spun in a circular motion) and scrubbed the epithelial from my cornea. I was smiling this whole time because all I could think of was to laugh at them toothbrushing my eyeball :D. They commented on how relaxed and "even smiling!" I was. Of course, only I would be smiling while people scraped layers of eyeball from my eye. Nice, Jaime. After I was good and scrubbed, they wiped my eye to get the cells and moisture from it. Next was the actual laser part, where I had to stare at this point of red light while it pulsed purple light all over my eye and burned my cornea away. It does smell a little like burning tissue, but nothing gross really - as long as you're prepared for the slight odor. This whole process took at most 5 minutes per eye. To be honest, the worst part was them ripping the tape off of my eyelids/eyelashes on each eye. C'mon people! I just paid you to burn my corneas, the least you could do is be gentle when removing the tape :)
My vision was significantly better immediately after the procedure, but hazy and definitely not crystal-clear. According to Dr. Koch, my vision will get increasingly worse for the next few days and around Monday it should tank to its worst, as the cornea is regenerating healing cells from the outside of the circle, in and trying to recover. After that, I should see improvement steadily.
I have to put in antibiotics and steroids into my eyes for the first week until the contact lenses are removed (Weds, I think) and then I'll have to administer drops for 4 months on a regular basis (4x/day 1st month, 3x/day 2nd month, 2x/day 3rd month, 1x/day 4th month). They also gave me a whole boatload of pain killers to take if I needed them and frankly, I was worried that I would need them based on the blogs I had read about people post-procedure.
Ninnies. I slept fine last night with an "advil-equivalent" they make me take for the first 3 days. Today I am more light-sensitive, I think it feels like a small piece of something is in my left eye (right eye is the pimp) and they are super dry so I'm lubing them all over the place. Either way, I'm doing quite well and actually really happy I did PRK vs. LASIK. The more I think about them cutting into my eyeball, I get super creeped out.
I know this is the longest post ever in life, but I thought I would let you all know how it went, how it felt, how I'm doing. Went: Great. Felt: Weird. Doing: Super! Vision recovering: Okay (near and far sight is "off" at the moment). Work: Returning Monday or Tuesday if I can, gonna play it by ear.
Love you lots!
-Me and my enhanced bulbs.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Friends and Photography
So, my good friend Beth asked if I would help her take some pictures for her 8-yr old daughter Sydney's first communion. Excited to take pictures, but nervous about doing a "photo shoot" that would actually matter to someone, I went for it.
Bad news: It was windy, mosquito-y, super cloudy, all the parks were caught up in pre-Easter/Car Show/"reserved" festivities, Syd had a super-white/no-spill/no-dirt dress on...
Good news: Beth's friend graciously offered her aunt's (?) house for the shoot and Sydney is exceptionally photogenic, so really, my job was easy.
With some sage advice and calming words from my family and friend Sarmad (thanks again for help in editing these pix, you're the best!), we did the shoot. Despite the fact that I was sweating bullets (more from nerves than the weather) for super pit-out times and I thought I had a camera malfunction with a spec of dirt, all went well. Mostly, it was really fun!
Here are some of my favorites.
Bad news: It was windy, mosquito-y, super cloudy, all the parks were caught up in pre-Easter/Car Show/"reserved" festivities, Syd had a super-white/no-spill/no-dirt dress on...
Good news: Beth's friend graciously offered her aunt's (?) house for the shoot and Sydney is exceptionally photogenic, so really, my job was easy.
With some sage advice and calming words from my family and friend Sarmad (thanks again for help in editing these pix, you're the best!), we did the shoot. Despite the fact that I was sweating bullets (more from nerves than the weather) for super pit-out times and I thought I had a camera malfunction with a spec of dirt, all went well. Mostly, it was really fun!
Here are some of my favorites.
I'm so glad I have a support system (and guinea pigs) that allows me to pursue a passion of mine and learn to be a better "photographer". Next time will be even better (thank you "lessons learned!"). Later!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Music Obsession
My favorite band of the moment is Kings of Leon.
I've let it be known (ahem, Charles Raymond) that if I could see them live in concert at some venue in Seattle, I would be the happiest girl in the entire world.
C'mon people, this is serious! "Use Somebody"? Hot.
KINGS OF LEON. Sexy and awesome. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I've let it be known (ahem, Charles Raymond) that if I could see them live in concert at some venue in Seattle, I would be the happiest girl in the entire world.
C'mon people, this is serious! "Use Somebody"? Hot.
KINGS OF LEON. Sexy and awesome. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Baby JT!
My bestest friend Jenny T went into labor this morning and had a bouncing baby girl at 5 lb 8 oz, 19" long. She was about 4 weeks early, but everything worked out just fine. Jim returns from the Netherlands tomorrow to see his lovely wife and new (unnamed) baby girl. I bet he's excited! I'm so proud of her and how much of a trooper she is - that's my girl JT!
I can't wait to go see their new bundle of joy, waiting to find out when it would be okay for me to visit...Fairfax, here I (am soon to) come!
Love you guys! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!
I can't wait to go see their new bundle of joy, waiting to find out when it would be okay for me to visit...Fairfax, here I (am soon to) come!
Love you guys! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!
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