Hello again

 This is a post I wrote and forgot to publish! Whoops!


It has been a long time since I wrote a blog, but I might try a little harder this time to keep up with it. I was just reading my past post and I didn't follow that plan as well as I had hoped. I am doing the C25K program right now. I am on week 3 and boy is it tough! I'm hoping it gets much better though. I have to run on a treadmill because it has been way too hot to run outside. I also gave up soda! Although I did drink some last weekend at the football game, that's all I've had in well over a month! I'm super excited and hope I can keep this up. It is hard sometimes when I get tired of drinking water, but I am drinking Propel Zero, so at least it is flavored.

On August 12, I got LASIK surgery. This was a somewhat sudden decision. I had been thinking about it on and off since my mom got the surgery several years ago. My contacts and eyesight in general are a big pain, so it was always in the back of my head. I never really thought I could get it, because of the way my eyes are. I have an astigmatism that's pretty bad and I wasn't sure how advanced the lasers are these days. One day I was looking on Groupon, one of my favorite deal sites, I saw a Groupon for Mann Eye Institute. For this, I paid $100 and $1200 off the surgery! What a great deal! I had heard on the radio that they do free consultations, so I thought, "why not?" I went to the consultation and they told me that I was a great candidate for the surgery! I was very excited, but still a little hesitant, because there is always the possibility of the laser not fully correcting the problem. I had to wait about 3 weeks for the surgery, two of those I couldn't wear my contacts at all!  It was difficult getting used to but I think worth it in the long run, considering most people do not have to wear glasses or contacts again. During the 3 weeks, I researched all I could about the surgery, the results, and the place I was going. I freaked myself out a couple of times, because I was intentionally looking for bad things. I wanted to see how many people had a bad experience with LASIK surgery. I truly did not find that many at all. I couldn't find one bad thing about Mann Eye, and even found out that it is one of the top 10 places in the COUNTRY to get LASIK surgery. That impressed me and eased my fears just a little bit. I was still trying not to get too excited, because I didn't want to over-hype the whole situation. I only told my family, Bobby, and my cohort. The day before the surgery I got really nervous and upset but my mom and Bobby reassured me. My surgery wasn't scheduled until 2:00 in the afternoon, so that day I played the waiting game. When we got to Mann Eye, we had to wait quite a while, but I kept seeing people coming out of the surgery. I had to get more tests done and several different people looked at my eyes! They told me over and over that my prescription was the kind that took the longest to completely heal. I got Vallum and numbing drops in my eyes and had to wait some more. Finally, I go into the surgery room and lay down on a bed. Many more drops, lots of lights, difficulty seeing, not being able to tell if my eyes were open, and maybe 10-15 minutes later I was done! They helped my off the bed and checked on my "flap" to see if it was in the right place. I had to wear clear shields over my eyes then sunglasses over those, so I'm sure I looked real cute. Then I was on my way home! (Of course Bobby drove.) Mann Eye is pretty far from our apartment, and we have to take a main highway to get there and just as we got done, rush hour traffic had started. It took us a little bit to get home. On the drive home, I couldn't really keep my eyes open. I think due to the amount of light that was outside. Finally, we made it home and by that time I think the numbing drops had wore off. They suggest to take a nap after the surgery. That was my plan, but there was some pain that was making it very difficult to fall asleep! I think I was being a little over dramatic but I was almost in tears. I think I was just frustrated that I couldn't fall asleep when that was what I was supposed to be doing. Finally, Bobby suggested I take some Benadryl. That knocked me out, thankfully! I didn't think I would sleep very long, because it was at 5pm. At about 8:30, Bobby comes in to check on me and ask me what I want for dinner. So I decide to get up. I could actually see! It was pretty blurry but I could see with no contacts! I stayed up until midnight and still had to wear the clear shields. The next day I had to get up and go in for a check up. Everything looked good and we went on with our day. I had to sleep in the eye shields for a week. This I dreaded because they made marks on my face and I had to tape them on, so pulling that tape off was torture! I haven't had any problems and it's almost been 3 months. My vision still isn't stable but it's getting there.