One On One

Sunday I took the boys to Point and we stopped by Grandma and Granddad's house...the boys had such a blast!

♥

I Got the "EK"

Eyeballs.

That's my topic of conversation of late.

I had been flirting around with the idea of having corrective surgery done on my eyes for a few years now, and out of the blue said: now is the time.

So I had it done.

On Thursday, September 17th. I had to be in glasses since the first day of school, August 26 for the consultation on the 9th. That appointment lasted 2.5 hours...measuring on different machines, checking my vision not once, not twice, but three times, watching videos on both LASIK and LASEK procedures, and dilating my eyes so well I had to wear shades. Yikes! The doctor, Rebecca Bartow, is a little pistol. Cute. Petite. Brunette. Mom of I think 4. Is in the same zumba with me. She comes bursting in the door, sits down, and says its a go. LASIK. I immediately cringe, saying no, no, no....I want LASEK.

The difference?

LASIK cuts a flap, then does the laser to correct the vision, then 'hinges' the flap back into place and voila. Crystal clear vision. No pain. No recovery. But....it does have more risks......infection, yadda yadda....and the flap can, in a rare case, come loose again. Then it's time for a trip back to the doctor to get the eye washed up, numbed, and the flap stitched back into place. Yuck.

LASEK has no flap. An alcohol solution is poured onto the eye, and the epithelials are 'scraped' and the laser corrects the vision, and a nonprescription contact lens is worn for a few days while the epithelials grow back. 100%. An optometrist not knowing the procedure was done would not be able to tell during an exam. But...the healing process is longer, more painful....with less complications.

She was a little hesitant to do the "EK" since my colon has been funky in the past, but she told me flat out "I'm not saying I won't do it. I'd just watch you more up to the point you're all healed, and then you'd be at the point of other patients where I won't have to worry about you so much."

Thank you. Call my gastro and confirm this, please.

And she did. Surgery is scheduled for the 17th.

Michael takes me in...and waits. I go back, take my vallium, chill out for 20 minutes, then they take me to get my eyes numbed (drops) and I'm taken to the laser room. I lay down, hug a stuffed teddy bear, and stare at a red flashing light. In all, it took maybe 1-2 minutes per eye. It was reeeeally fast. Then I walked out and Michael joined me in another room where she explained after care, drops, etc. We went home, I collapsed on the couch and took a 3.5 hour nap. He went back to school.

Friday morning I got ready with my left eye closed. I saw the Dr. the next day at 8am and she tells me "You look how I expected you to look" which was comforting, but at the same time....yeah. She put numbing drops in and said everything looked good. i went home, took another 3 hour nap.....

Saturday was a repeat of Friday. Since the clinic was closed, she met me in the lobby and we went up to her exam room and had a replay of Friday.

Sunday was the same, but not so bad with the left eye.

I continued to see her every day for about a week....

My vision is improving, staring out crystal clear in the morning and slowly getting a tiny bit fuzzy by the end of the day. Soon that will change and the clear part of the day will outweigh the fuzzy part of the day until I am clear all day.

I just am dying to rub my eyes.......and wear mascara and eyeliner again! :)

♥

"Eye See..."

Yes, yes, yes...let me have it. Spank me, ground me, scowl at me. I haven't been blogging in a long time. It's been rather hard to find time lately... raising two boys, back to the grind of educating 100+ students...having LASEK eye surgery...and attending zumba and dance mix classes at the YMCA.

I am living.

One day at a time, I do the best I can, and that is all I can do.

Ethan is growing strong...my 9 month old baby is 18.4 lbs now, and has been crawling on all fours for awhile, has been pulling himself to a standing position for, oh, awhile now too...and is starting to 'cruise' (walk around the table, go between the chair and table, walk along the couch...you get the idea). He's a little stinker that loves his daddy at the moment. He adores Austin and wants to play with whatever Austin is playing with. But he still prefers the remote control to the tv over a tractor. That boy just down right loves electronics.

Austin has been wanting me to do everything. If it's time to get dressed, I have to help. Heaven forbid daddy tries to put on a shirt or his shorts for the day. Has to be mama. It's flattering, but sometimes downright frustrating when I'm trying to get Ethan ready and he whines about mama having to do it. Hopefully its just a phase.

I took Ethan in to the doctor for his well-baby check on Tuesday, and had the boys get their flu shots and I got mine too. Yay. Austin was brave and just got a funny look on his face - the face of "I'm going to fight the pain and not cry" look- and was all better when the nurse opened the huge-ass drawer chocked full of stickers. That boy was in heaven. Ethan let out a little wail, but I popped his binky back in his mouth and drew him in close for a snuggle and within seconds all was better.

Whew. My eyes are bugging out from looking at the computer screen. LASEK is a healing process, that is for sure. More on that to follow....

Upcoming Blogs: Eyes. Mustang. Photos.

Pooh

As long as I can remember, my younger brother has donned the nickname "Pooh". I have no cotton-pickin' idea where it came from, who started it...but I just love to keep it going. He's my "Pooh", and always will be. He's not too keen on babies...and he could have had me fooled when he came to the hospital when I was in labor with Austin, and stayed in the waiting room while all the drama unfolded and I gave birth to my first child. He held newborn Austin, who is half named after my brother - Kyle Austin - and then not long after that meeting between the two of them did I notice he wasn't too sure of the whole baby thing. As Austin started getting older, Kyle started warming up to Austin, and now has fun with him when they're around each other. Now we can add Ethan to the mix.....and he doesn't warm up too much to the idea of holding him, since Ethan is, as you are fully aware of, a baby. At least that's my take on things. On Labor Day I took the boys to the beach at Bukholt Park (which is, well, neglected? That's another topic to blog about.), we met up with Nicole, who is expecting baby number one in 9 days or so! Kyle and his girlfriend Whitney also met us out at the beach. He brought his newly aquired vintage jetskis, and came to visit us first before putting them in the water. I handed Ethan over to him, and he.....surprisingly, looks like a natural to me. Granted the holding didn't last long, as he passed him over to Whitney who is ga-ga over the boys....but I took the opportunity to snap this shot of them together. And I love it! Hopefully my brother will take his own walk down the aisle and start a family of his own someday...I want to be an Aunt! *hint, hint!!*