LASEK

This year we put as much pre-tax money on our health care card as we could.  We knew that the twins would most likely be in the NICU and probably need extra medical care.  After Scarlett's NICU stay, we had first hand experience of how expensive that could be.  Well in August we finally got the bills from their hospital stay.  We owed $200!  That's it!  I mean, yes, we were paying for our medical insurance but I was not expecting them to cover everything with NO COPAYS!  The $200 was for me!  Holy cow!  Wonderful!  The only bummer is that all our extra money would expire in December.  Not wanting to waste a dime we realized that this would be a wonderful opportunity for LASIK eye surgery.  I don't qualify right now (since I'm nursing) so Jake was up!

We had a LASIK evaluation in Connecticut.  We decided not to do the surgery back then cause the business practice felt like buying a used car, not a high tech surgical center.  This time we went to the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center.

The doctor seemed very sharp.  He speaks 4 languages fluently and has a BS in electrical engineering.  After looking at Jake's eyes, the only concern is that his pupils are large (8mm diameter) and the laser can go to 7.  There is a chance that at night there would be a halo glare around lights but Jake was willing to take that risk.  Plus what we've read is that your eyes will adjust and the halo decreases to some extent over time.

After talking with the doctor we learned that in LASIK they cut a flap, lift it up, do the corrective surgery, then put the flap back down.  They don't sew the flap cause it will naturally adhere back together.  But if you get hit on the head at just the right angle the corneal flap can become dislocated!  So if you have an active lifestyle, LASIK might not be the best option.  Instead we decided to go with LASEK.  In this procedure they use an alcoholic solution to weaken the epithelial cells on the surface, then the surgeon scrapes the cells to the top of the eye, performs the corrective surgery, then scrapes the cells back into the original place.  No flap!  And the eye regenerates the epithelial cells so if they don't lay back down the doctor can just throw them away.  Then the doctor puts a contact lens to protect the eye for a week.  The disadvantages are that the recovery is longer and much more painful.  The eyes feel like they have lemon juice mixed with sand in them for about two days then the vision isn't restored for several days.

Dry eye evaluation and yellow pupil dilation drops...

Jake had the surgery on Wed Nov 20.  My friends Ashley and Denise came over to watch our girls.  This was Jake's last time wearing glasses...

When we got there the surgeon gave me permission to come in the room with them and watch!  They even gave me a blanket to keep warm.  The put a pillow under Jake's knees so he could relax on the table.  Then they got to business.  The doctor was very good at telling Jake exactly what he was doing each step of the way.  I got to watch the live feed on the TV.  They even recorded it so Jake could watch the surgery later:

In between eyes the doctor stopped what he was doing and stood up just to tell me how awesome Jake was.  He said that Jake was literally one of the best patients he's ever had.  After the surgery the doctor gave me a hug and said Jake was amazing.  His eyes were so steady - like a rock - no movement even at that high magnification.  He never sees patients be that still.  He was so impressed.

Jake was told to keep his eyes shut as much as possible for the next day.  Luckily that's what the eye wants to do naturally so it wasn't too hard.  The worst part was the light sensitivity.  We kept Jake barricaded in our bedroom with the black curtains drawn.  Scarlett was pretty nervous of her daddy in those weird "goggles."  That night we "watched" She's the Man.  We've seen that movie so many times that he was able to visualize it while he listened along.  But most of the day he stayed in bed listening to an audiobook.

The next day we went back to the office for a check up.  This time we brought our entourage.  On the way to Ann Arbor Jake got really car sick.  I had to pull over while he threw up out the window and all down the side of our van.  

The technician was examining Jake's eyes and asked him to read the letters on the screen.  When he started saying them, Scarlett realized what was going on and started helping him! "A E Z P..."  Then a few min later she said "great job dad!"  :-)   Then she started rolling up her pant legs.  When the doctor walked in she asked him "you fix my leg?"  He laughed, "no that's the wrong end of the body!  I am the bad guy who hurt your daddy's eyes" (I'm sure she'll have some nightmares over that one).  The doctor said his eyes are looking great!

We ate lunch at the little cafeteria then headed back home.  I had to pull over once again so Jake could empty the contents of our lunch on the side of our mini van.  Later that night I went to pick my mother in law from the airport in the heavy pouring rain but I decided to run through a car wash first!