Maggie
In April of 1999 I went to my optometrist for new glasses . After the exam, my optometrist came in smiling to tell me that I was a perfect candidate for LASIK surgery . I was surprised and said I didn't know I could have that done . He then told me they had been doing the surgery in Euorpe for years . He made it sound so good.

He was also offering a price reduction for the month of April.

My husband had his surgery done first with excellent results and I got to watch it on video tape in another room.

I had my surgery done two days later. When I arrived at the surgical center, I told the doctor's nurse that the eye drops I had been using in for the lasik surgery had made my eyes feel as if they were full of gravel. She remarked that is was not unusual.

While in surgery they did my right eye first. It lasted 60 seconds . During the surgery, the flap of my right eye was dropped and they had to lift it and lay it back down . My hubby was in another room watching on video and told me later he had felt some concern for my eye.

They did my left eye for 45 seconds. After the surgery, I suppose I looked a little dismayed as I couldn't see very well at all out of my right eye. Before I could say a word, another doc there asked me if the vison in my right eye looked look I was seeing thru celophane and I said yes.

They then had me look to the left and I could see this red thing on the wall quit well . I was then led to the recovery room and the doc came in a short time later . He said everything went well but your right eye is exceptionally dry . He then said I would be seeing much better in a few days.

Within two hours after the surgery, I had so much pain in my eyes that it made my whole body just shake. My husband drove me back to the doctor at which time they put a pain killer in them and prescribed a pain medication.

The first time I drove on the freeway I was unable to stay focused as everything looked and seemed different. My brain would literally turn off my vision. I would begin day dreaming. During this state, the speed I was driving at would drop considerably . I was unable to control it no matter how much I tried to focus. It was frighting that I stopped driving for a few weeks.

When I drove again the same thing happened. That's when I began to wonder if losing my right eye dominance was part of the problem. I also noticed that cars looked very small. At a distance, I wasn't sure what color some of the cars even were.

Some days, my eyes are so bad I can barely see to drive at all. I don't do much driving anymore. Night driving is a thing of the past. The glare is so bad and there has been no improvment. I'm unable to see street signs and people on side walks look very faded.

My right eye sees as if I'm under water and is so dry I can feel my eye lid scraping it. Now, I can barely see the print on my Web TV and I have a very large screen. I have difficulty seeing green or blue against a black back ground. I could see my Web TV up until a couple of months ago. I have ask Web TV to try and enlarge the font or I'm afraid the day will come when I won't be able to see it at all.

I also can't see good enough to shop in malls or even grocery stores because of the lighting. Yesterday while riding with my husband I looked up the street at the traffic light. It had the appearance of a boom-a-rang. Out of my right eye only, it looked like a small green dot way off in the distance. I would not have known what it was had I not just been looking at with my left eye. In fact I'm not sure that I even would have seen it.

On really overcast days, I have difficulty seeing in my house even though we have many windows . At night (even with the closet light on), I have to use a flashlight and that goes for my drawers and cabinets as well.

I want to add here that losing my dominant eye was traumatic as it was the result of my surgery. I went through a terrible grieving and it's not over yet. I felt so frightened the other day when the doc said my best eye wasn't as good as last month's. I was prescribed a pair of glasses about six weeks ago. They are useless.

I hope I haven't left anything out. If I have and I remember, I'll let you know.

My best to each and everyone of us ....

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Maggie