Tuesday Tink 9/19/06

In this week's rewind, I wanted to answer curiosities about the eye surgery I had during the time I was also writing the Back to School washcloth pattern for knitty. It was elective surgery, Lasik. I try to keep this blog centered on knitting and spinning, but I think if you dare read this monster-length post, you'll see that it does. Let's tink it out together, shall we?

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
8 Days until Lasik
I get to have Lasik eye surgery in one week from tomorrow. I'm both excited and terrified!

What's shocking to me is the fact that I can knit and spin up until the appointment (which is at the end of the day) and then again when I wake up the next morning (theoretically). Barring unforeseen mishaps like blindness, this shouldn't be a problem. What's a good knitting or crochet project for eye surgery? Something bulky? Something without a pattern? Hmm....

Tuesday, June 20, 2006
1 day until Lasik
I am pretending I'm not scared but I am terrified. They made me watch a video about the procedure and sign a waiver and I can hardly believe I am going through with it. I'm focused on writing a pattern I want to submit to the fall knitty. I have only now just started. The deadline is in 10 days. And I have eye surgery tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
My glasses, R.I.P.
I never thought I'd say this but I think I might miss wearing glasses a little. I've had them since I was 16. Well not these very glasses. But still. Goodbye contacts. Goodbye glasses. I'm going to get Lasik today. Maybe I can convince Alex we have time to swing by Joann's to pick up more yarn on the way? Eye surgery or not, I'm still under deadline.

Thursday, June 22, 2006
Lasik was a success! But looking at the computer screen feels like staring into the sun.

Monday, June 26, 2006
Astonishing eating and buying MORE yarn
I'm healing nicely. The doctor says I have 20/20 vision. I'm pretending to be normal, doing things without my glasses. Yesterday I got to eat brunch at the Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas. We sort of had a contest who could put together the strangest plate of food and then eat it. I had pizza, enchiladas and chocolate covered strawberries at the same time. Others were far worse. There was the waffles-oysters-orange juice and the bacon-crablegs-watermelon vodka combos. There was a hotdog in there somewhere too. How unfortunate!

It was quite hot out there and we sat outside in the thick of it. At some point these misters came on which turned out to make everything much, much worse. There was intense humidity all around and leaky drippy bits that would drop a pint-sized stream onto your head randomly. There was condensation on my purse. All our faces were glistening with sweat and my hair was two stories high. This enhanced the astonishing eating contest significantly. That plus me putting eye drops in my post-Lasik healing eyes every 15 minutes.

The best part of yesterday by far was asking 2 non-knitting guys to swing by the LYS (local yarn store) on the way home so I can get more yarn to finish the knitting project.

SIDENOTE: There should be a word for something you think is going to be fantastic which turns out to be a disaster. (Misters on a hot day)

Thursday, June 29, 2006
I haven't been spinning much this week because I am paranoid about getting little wisps of fiber in my post-surgery eyes. I know that sounds crazy. Perhaps we haven't met.

Monday, July 10, 2006
Post-Lasik debriefing
If you are considering Lasik eye surgery I will share with you some of my experience. I am not a doctor and I have no idea why you might think that I am one, but I feel compelled to make that disclaimer. The one thing I heard over and over is that everyone's experience is a little different. This is mine. It may not be yours.

What I learned:

-If, while you are in the waiting room trying to relax and seeing if you can feel the Valium kicking in, do not be alarmed if someone runs out of the operating room screaming "MY EYES ARE LIKE TWO BURNING POOLS OF FIRE." When this happened to me, unfortunately I panicked, and Alex had to talk me out of sprinting out of the medical center directly into traffic. I tried really hard not to cry at all.

-Crying with numbing drops in your eyes burns a little but it's not unbearable. Not like burning pools of fire or anything.

-You get to sleep in goggles for a week. Subsequently, you might not sleep very well for a week.

-I developed cat-like night vision for the first few days. In the darkest of rooms, with sunglasses on, I could see everything. The light from a cell phone was a piercing brightness from which I had to turn away. I don't know if my eyes reflected like a cat because I didn't think to check.

-I'm not sure how I didn't know this before, but I learned that I like to sleep on my side with my face smushed up in the pillow. The goggles prevented me from doing this even a little bit. Thus I had to sleep on my back like a corpse. Thus I had corpse-like stiffness in my neck that lasted all week.

-Do you have any idea how many times in the course of a day you touch your eyes? It's about 1000 times more than you think it is. Just see how often you catch yourself doing this when it's forbidden.

-You will get very good at putting in eye drops. This is because you will put different drops into each eye every fifteen minutes the day of your surgery. The next week it's much easier and you only have to put two different kinds of drops in every four hours and a third kind of drop every hour. Simple. You too will get good at it though I doubt you will ever enjoy doing it.

-No sudoku for a week. I am now admitting that I do sudoku at night to help me fall asleep. Instead, I listened to the Cast-on podcast and it was very special. It was like someone reading me a bedtime story. And I could close my eyes and dream about rubbing them endlessly.

-You have to learn to let yourself look at the clock first thing in the morning without putting on glasses. I am still struggling with this.

-I know this is a long list. Honestly I could keep going. I'll spare you the minutiae of my life for the rest of the evening. See what happens on the rest days of the Tour de France? I go nuts and get wordy!

Tuesday, September 19, 2006
I hardly ever use eye drops anymore. I can see great. I can now wear cute sunglasses! Why did I wait so long?