The Exercise of Vital Powers

Its been exactly 4 weeks since the Lasik and my eyes are fine. The halos aren’t a
big deal, even when working on the computer in the dark. The funniest thing are
the habits. Like reaching for my face to take off my glasses just before turning
off the lights.

Best Movie I’ve seen since
Serenity. It was a superb melding of The Count of Monte Cristo and
1984 done in the style of the Matrix.

Saw it on IMAX up at MOG. Definitely recommend seeing it on IMAX. If anyone is up
to see it there let me know I want to see it again.

So it has been a week since I had the LASIK done and I’m now just finding the
time to ignore work to blog about it in detail.

The procedure was pretty straight forward. My regular eye doctor did a
pre-screening for me the week before. I had thick corneas so I was a prime
candidate for LASIK. He gave me a recommendation for LASIKPlus where it turns out
his brother is a doctor.

Day of the surgery, I had an appointment at 2:40. LasikPlus in Gwinnett is
located right across Satellite from Frys so it was very close to the house. I was
told it would take three hours so Marc dropped me off and headed home.

I must say, the facility was nice. Since LASIK isn’t covered by most health
insurance or government entitlement it was the closest to a free market setup
you’ll find in the health care industry. When I made the appointment they were
able to schedule me for the next week. The waiting area was clean, spacious and
comfortable. They even had one of those flavia coffee machines. By far the nicest
doctor’s waiting room I’ve spend time in.

The most interesting thing about the place is that the surgery is performed in a
glass fishbowl in the middle of the waiting area. I got to see the procedure
performed 5 times before it was my turn. I think watching the procedure was
creepier than the procedure itself.

They do each eye separately. The place a clamp under the eyelids to hold them
open. Then they place a stainless steel ring around the pupil. The ring has gear
grooves on it. The blade is then placed on the ring and those grooves allow the
doctor to make a precision cut. Once the cut is made and the blade and ring is
removed, they use a q-tip like thing to peel back the top layer of the cornea.
That was what was creepy to watch. You see the glassy finished eyeball change
into a dull finish as the under-cornea is exposed. You then see the laser fire
8-10 times, they put the cornea back down, apply some drops and the eye is done.

They did three pre-surgery checkups. The last one with the doctor right before
you go in the Fishbowl. There was no pain. The most discomfort was when they put
the ring on the eye - they use suction to keep it from moving. Something about
the suction makes your vision go dark. I found the best thing to do was mentally
close my eyes so the brain wouldn’t expect to see when it couldn’t. You look into
a red LED and when the cornea is peeled back the fairly solid LED turns into a
diffuse psychedelic light show. When the laser fires you hear a buzzing and you
smell what seems like burn hair - that is part of your cornea burning away.
Forced air blows the particles away from your eye.

The procedure took less than 5 minutes. You can see as you walk out of the
fishbowl. The Doc needs to inspect your eyes before you leave so they put you in
a waiting area for about 10 minutes. I kept my eyes closed as my vision was
extremely hazy - like a massive fog bank had moved into the waiting area.

The post-op procedure was simple. You get three sets of drops, an
anti-inflammatory, anti-biotic and hydration drops that are to be used four times
a day for the next 7 days. They want you to sleep for a few hours after the
surgery, so I went home, popped a sleeping pill and woke up the next day at 7am.

My vision the next day was fine for long distance, but it was pretty hard to see
the computer. I spent it watching TV, installing a new stereo receiver, and
moving my MythTV box into the living room. Saturday was pretty much the same - I
could spend some time on the computer, but the haloing was still pretty bad. By
Sunday I was able to spend most of the day working on the computer with regular
breaks. Monday I was back at work.

The haloing around lights has gone down some, but it is still pretty noticeable.
It will gradually decline over time. I find working in front of a CRT to cause
irritation but I have all LCDs at home so I worked from home on Wednesday and
that helped a lot.

All in all my vision is improving and I really like not having the glare that
comes
from scratched or dirty glasses. I’m still annoyed that the shitty working
environment earthlink management stuck SA in causes issues, but I just take long
breaks when my eyes start to bother me. Interestingly reading does not cause any
strain - its only staring at light sources that cause the problem.

The good news is that Trader Joe’s will be coming to Atlanta. A Midtown and Sandy Springs store will be the first two with ten more to follow. Alas, I’ll still need to fly to CA to get my cheap single malt, as the dunderheads under the Gold Dome don’t’ allow liquor to be sold in places that sell non-liquor.

The bad news is the Patriot Act was renewed.

The sad news is Harry Browne (1996 & 2000 LP Presidential Nominee) has passed. While his foreign policy would have been a disaster and his proposals were out there, he had an eloquence that most in the LP lack. I still find myself using some of his lines to describe the failure of government.

I so want to pick up this house at the government auction

I so want to get this place at the Govt. auction!

http://www.phishhook.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=550448

I so want to pick up this house at the government auction