He can see clearly now...

Yesterday was Jeff's big day!  He was so excited to head to Tysons Corner to have Lasik eye surgery.  It's a pretty lengthy process just to get to surgery day, including only wearing his glasses, about a gazillion drops in each eye per day (ok, maybe not THAT many, but trust me, it's a lot), several appointments, etc.  This all starts about a month before the actual surgery.  Anyway, we drove into the office, and it was so cool to learn about it, and even watch it!

Here is the "before shot"...bye bye glasses!

Once he was in a room the nurse went over a few more details, and started putting lots of drops in his eyes.  The doctor came in, and he was great.  He definitely made both of us feel very comfortable and confident in Jeff's choice, and he was a Giants fan, so that made Jeff happy!

Here is Jeff, trying on the shades he had to put on immediately after the procedure was finished.  The hair net is pretty sweet too, right?!

After talking with the doctor, he brought us to the "relaxation room."  This consisted of a TV with videos of various beaches around the world, with of course, the sounds of the ocean.  The images were lovely, and I can pretty confidently say the valium was also helping Jeff relax!  They make it very clear that it is easier for Dr. Holtzman to do his job, as well as the laser, if your facial muscles are relaxed.  Of course they understand it can be difficult to relax, but they talk you through the whole procedure, and encourage you to breathe and relax your face.

This is where I got to watch from.  Can you see the big TV?  Jeff's eye was on that screen...like in major close up view!  I've never looked so deeply into his eyes before...I know, that's lame sounding, but it's true!  The first part of the surgery is for the laser to cut a "flap" in the eye.  After the flap is cut, the doctor peeled back the flap with an instrument, and then positioned the next laser over the eye for it to do it's magic.  After the laser finished (in about 10-15 seconds) he lifts the flap back into place and uses a suction cup type instrument to ensure it's in the proper place, then uses a squeegee type thing to flatten it out, and get any air bubbles out.  One of the nurses sat with me while he did this, and explained to me that it's almost like a text book.  Cutting the flap and peeling it down is opening the book, the next laser tears pages from the book (not too many, because there need to be pages left), which allows the patient to see clearly again.  It was truly something that amazed me!  

 Once he was all done (about 15 minutes total) his vision was compared to wearing glasses with finger prints all over them.  Patients must keep their eyes closed for approximately 3 hours after the procedure.  This allows them to begin healing, but after 3 hours you are instructed to put certain drops in, and keep sunglasses on, even if you're inside.  They also say there could be some burning, but they provide you with some extra numbing drops, especially since our drive was over an hour.  Do you see the cool goggles he is wearing below?  Those are the goggles he must wear while sleeping for a week.  They do not want any eye rubbing, and since some people may have tendencies to rub their eyes while sleeping, they don't want to take any chances!

He went back to the local eye doctor today, and has to go again in a week, to be sure he was healing properly, and obviously to check his vision!  I guess he had 20/15 vision today, which is great.  He is so excited to notice such a difference so quickly after the surgery.  He will continue to notice an improvement in the clarity of his vision over the next few days.

So that's it, lasik eye surgery for Jeff in a nut shell!  He did say he felt the most pressure when the doctor used the suction cup thing, but other than that, it wasn't bad, and he is SO glad he did it.  He said there are a few local doctors who do the procedure, but he would highly recommend driving a little further and seeing Dr. Holtzman...he's the best!  (and he's from New Jersey, so obviously he's the best...everything from Jersey is the best...right Mom?!)