No More Miss Four Eyes (sung to the tune of No More Mr. Nice Guy)

So, today, I had my eyes operated on. I had a surgeon cut my lens, lift the flap, do some fancy light show and fix my eyes, hopefully forever!

But, let me back up. I've been wearing glass since I was 11 (or close enough). I tried to get contact lens when I was still in India, but all they had were rigid lens and they hurt my eyes. So, for more than a decade after that, I just dealt with glasses and middle of the night blindness when I'd forget to put them on before wandering through the house.

Then came soft contacts and I ran to my eye doctor. She found me the perfect pair that didn't hurt my eyes. In fact, I could barely feel them. It was amazing. I could even sleep in them, and it was almost like having perfect vision.

Enter allergies. Now, my best friends, the permeable, night wearable contacts, became my enemies. Itchy eyes meant I couldn't keep the contacts in for too long. I was back to suffering glasses. So, even though I'd looked into it many times, I made the final decision last year and went to see Dr. Kameen about LASIK. I signed up to have the surgery in January, keeping in mind Healthcare Savings Accounts and such.

I was so very impressed by Dr. Kameen and his entire team. Everyone I came in contact with was wonderful, without any pressure to get this done there and then. I think that's what made me sign up with them without hesitation. Even though other places have Groupons out for LASIK, and if you know me, you know my affinity for a deal. Well, I didn't want to gamble with something as serious as  an eye surgery and secondly, his staff just made me feel welcome, comfortable and safe. I had my pre-op done and scheduled the surgery, but then I had to reschedule it for July because of how Jeff's Flexible Spending Account works. They did not blink an eye or give me any trouble, just rescheduled it to July 24th. They gave me my prescriptions for eye drops and sent me on my merry way.

Fast forward to today. I had put my antibiotic drops in last night and this morning as told. I showed up at their office at 10 a.m., half an hour before my appointment. The receptionist was very quick in getting my consent forms filled and my payment taken care of. Then, a nurse took me back for some last minute checks - make sure there was no change in the thickness of my cornea as well as in my prescription number. Dr. Kameen came in to make sure Jeff and I didn't have any questions. I got some Valium and some more eye drops and at 11:15, with my hair and feet in blue netting, I was taken to the surgery room.

The nurse covered me with a blanket because she noticed me shivering. I mean, really, it's the small things that make a difference! Then, Dr. Kameen pressed down on my eye to let me know the level of pressure I'd feel during the procedure. Each eye took less than 1 minute. I got numbing drops in each eye, then he used some sort of a white yellow circular tool to hold my lids open, while he used the laser to cut the flap and pull it open. This was where I felt the most pressure. Next, he used a tool that reminded me of something from the movie Clockwork Orange. Metal, goes on the bottom and top eyelids, and keeps them open. Then, Dr. Kameen help my head still as the laser did some fancy light work and apparently fixed my eyes. Dr. Kameen talked to me throughout the procedure, asking if I was ok and counting down each step. I didn't even have time to worry. Or, that was the Valium working ;-)

When he told me to blink some and open my eyes, I looked at the ceiling and read a sign "Believe in Miracles," that had been blurry to me when I'd laid down. It was AMAZING! They gave me post-op instructions and a reminder for my follow-up appointment and we were on our way. By the time we'd had lunch and were heading home around 12:30, I could feel a slight ache starting in my eyes. But I COULD SEE!!! By the time I got home, I could barely keep my eyes open and took a 2 hr nap. When I woke up, the ache was gone.

Right now, there's a slight scratchiness in my eyes, like there's a contact lens in there bothering them. But, I CAN SEE!!! Some things are slightly milky, which I was warned about and should get better by tomorrow morning. I mean, I am going to drive myself to my follow-up appointment in the morning. How cool is that?

I am so glad I got this done and got it done by Dr. Kameen. I would recommend him to anybody who asks. He might not be the cheapest but when it comes to your vision, I don't think you want savings over guarantee.

There you have it. No more glasses, no more contacts, no more sudden blindness because I rubbed my eyes forgetting there was a lens in there, no more solutions to be remembered for trips ... I am so excited for my 20/20 without modifications future!

The only drawback right now is I have to look like this for a couple days when I am indoors (sunglasses when out) ... even Oli seems to have an opinion about my dorkiness:

Boston, Usability, Beer and History

I am so behind in my blogging. I wanted to do a 3 part post about our trip to Boston. I think in order to ensure I get it all in, I'll do a condensed (it'll be somewhat long y'all) post covering it all.

I got to travel to Boston to attend the UXPA Boston's annual Usability Conference on May 15th. Since Jeff and I had never been to Boston and it has 2 of our favorite breweries - Sam Adams and Harpoon, he came up to meet me the night of my conference and we stayed the weekend to take in the sights. He was also excited about the Freedom Trail and hoping to learn some history by walking the path of people long gone, I was looking forward to this too.

First things first, I've attended a couple local Usability conferences and one UXPA national conference in Baltimore. I have to say the Boston one blew everything else out of the park. In one day, I listened to a lot of talented and educated individuals who had put in a lot of thought to where our industry is heading and what's the best way to not only stay afloat in it but to be ahead of the game.

Second, the breweries. OMG, the breweries. We not only visited the 2 we'd intended to, we found a local microbrewery where we ended up having dinner twice in our trip and enjoyed their beer - Boston Beer Works. I did some research beforehand and found that Harpoon was having a beer festival on that Saturday, where we met up with a friend of mine from an online mommy group and her husband. It was awesome, because we've now made a lifetime friend with a weird accent ;-).

We also made it to a 10 a.m. tour at Sam Adams which was awesome - a hilarious guide, good beer, before noon ... what else can you ask for?

 Last, but not the least, history! I was at best a C, maybe B- student in history but I love going places where history is laid in the stone walkways, where history is set in the brick houses, were you can breathe it in while walking through the houses ... and we did all that. 2.5 miles of self guided walking tour. What was even more awesome is that they had this brick inlaid into the ground that took you through the entire tour. It was even painted onto the metal grate we had to walk across the river on.

I almost forgot the food ... oh my goodness I had a lobster roll and it was to die for. Seriously, the food everywhere was absolutely amazing.