Hi-YAH!

EXERCISE
I'm well into my 2nd month of my 2nd round of Insanity DVDs! I've definitely been building up some upper body strength. A month ago I accidentally broke a shower faucet handle and two light switches (and fixed them myself--thank you, Home Depot). Last week I was able to do a few chin-ups in a row from the ground up, without jumping up halfway. Feelin' a bit aggro and a bit of a handywoman, like I've got grrl power! >:)

LASIK
This weekend, I read aloud a sign and Bryan said, "Wow, you can read that? Your eyesight is better than mine!" Oops! o.O

Better than 20/20! Seeing 20/15 :)

Cute bunny drawing from here.

Two weeks later, and I'm seeing better than 20/20! I think the national statistic is something like 80% of LASIK patients achieve 20/20 or better, while 15% need further enhancements? Well, technician Amanda had me reading the 20/15 line (better than 20/20), and backwards, just in case I was memorizing! The 20/10 line escaped me though--I could see different sized black/gray dots.

Bryan took a look at my right eye and said, "Awesome!" My carefulness with not wearing any makeup nor sunscreen for two weeks, but putting in lots of drops and wearing sunglasses and hats really seemed to help. He was silent for a while on the left eye... It still looked a bit dry, so now I'm ramping up the various eyedrops... 'Still a little bit of red in the whites of my eyes, leftover from the suction that they put over eyes during the procedure, but I no longer feel I have to hide behind my sunglasses. I will continue to wear a lot of UV protection for the next 6 months until my next follow-up exam.

TGIF - Thank Goodness I'm Four-eyes-free!

I'm very much against underage/excessive alcohol-drinking and other lame escapist tendencies, but I'm all about partying on with natural highs and this video is pretty funny. Cheers to perfect vision! (And no more alternating-color rubber-band braces...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlyXNRrsk4A

I can read my shampoo bottle ingredients!

I CAN SEE!!! I was reading the 20/20 line the morning after LASIK. (The first day Valium made me so sleepy.) Shout out and major props to Dr. Bryan and the awesome staff... I will describe more about my experience soon...

I've been having fun sporting all kinds of sunglasses...

'Bummed that I can't swim for 2 weeks! I missed out riding Riverpark's multiple waterslides at today's July-3rd July 4th celebration, but I took a bunch of pics (to come) of other people flying down! Great way to cool off on a hot summer day.

I'm glad that I'm getting LASIK now though. Planning on going kayaking/camping in the Grand Canyon in a few months, and I definitely don't want to be fiddling with contacts then.

Soon, I'll be posting more about diet, exercise, and sleep...

New look!

Old fuzzy background.

There is some residual redness in the white parts of my eye, which is normal. It's from the suction that goes around the eye during the procedure. To commemorate this redness, I am using this watercolory, artsy background. Ew! Don't worry, it'll change, as I will, soon.

Seeing 20/20! B)

Image from here.

Had LASIK yesterday afternoon, slept a lot, went in for check up this morning, seeing 20/20! :) Wearing sunglasses. B) Still sleepy from the valium (I'm a lightweight). -.-

Other Delays and Delayed Confessions

Cookie-stealing bunny.

After wearing glasses and contacts for so many years, my eyes had to be refracted multiple times, dilated, wave-scanned and adjust to only wearing glasses for at least a month before LASIK. When I switched out of my contact lenses, it was kind of embarrassing to be caught as the wife of an eye doctor with only one pair of old glasses with a prescription from like, 7 years ago. I'd like to say it's kind of like the car mechanic whose own car is in need of repair or the gourmet chef who comes home and eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but it's really my own fault.


Remorseful bunny.

Even worse still (and here goes an egregious confession for those in eye care, bound to astound my husband and his technician staff--sorry, y'all!), I finally got rid of a box of toric contact lenses with I-don't-know-how-old prescriptions, over-worn for way longer than the prescribed 2 months each. Oopsie! Heh heh... heh?

So, I owe a huge thanks to Bryan for his patience with my fluctuating eye chart readings. (Dang, you, E F P T O Z C! Or G.. And uh... maybe 2? No, Z!... Wait, D?!) Meanwhile, it turned out we had to treat my dry eyes with Restasis prescription drops. Now it's been about two months that I've had to wear some new frames (more about that later), but now I'm ready! I'm super excited!

I admit I've fallen asleep in my contacts, but only a handful of times. Okay, maybe two or three handfuls. Falling asleep in your contacts is like, the cardinal sin of contact lens wearers. YOU COULD LOSE AN EYE. Seriously, if you keep those suckers in for too long, bacterial infections could develop and lead to a corneal ulcer and transplant, or even blindness!

So I Married an Eye Doctor (2009) - IMDB*

Have you seen the movie, So I Married an Eye Doctor (2009)?

In 2006, we meet and I'm "very cute" and he's "not sore on the eyes..." In 2007, we start dating and I learn how to spell 'ophthalmology'... In 2008, our parents meet for the first time at the resident physicians' Eye Ball... In 2009, we get married and rent an apartment next door to his fellowship work at an eye care practice. In 2010, he joins his father's eye care practice and we buy a house five minutes from the office. In 2011, HE ZAPS MY EYEBALLS...

Why haven't I gotten LASIK yet? Am I going to let my husband perform the procedure?

Since our engagement and especially when we settled into permanent digs, people have asked me these questions.

In general, a lot of people feel that getting medical care from a physician who is your own family member is a no-no. Personal emotions, what if something goes wrong, etc. Well, I say, YES-YES, who other than a family member would be better to take care of your health? Of course I'm going to go with someone in whom I trust and have complete faith, someone who loves and cares about me deeply.

I admit, in the beginning, while Bryan was in fellowship, I wanted to hold out until he had had more experience. Yes, today's most technologically advanced LASIK with all-LASER Intralase procedure is more safe, more precise, more comfortable (and more expensive) than the traditional method of cutting the corneal flap with a blade. And yes, though Bryan had already been licensed to laser eyeballs and proven to be surgically talented with so many patients seeing 20/20 and some seeing even better than 20/20, I wanted to wait and 'see.' We talked about having his fellowship director perform the procedure, or waiting a year for his Dad to do the LASIK at his own practice (which would have been less expensive than having it done at the fellowship), but I really wanted to wait and let Bryan do it after he got settled into his dad's practice. So I helped promote his services during his fellowship locally and now at the family's eye care practice, I continue to be his biggest fan.

Yes, being married to an ophthalmologist has its benefits, but Intralase LASIK still comes at cost. "Click fees" and hefty benjamins get sent to the equipment companies and surgery center each time the LASIK button is pushed -- not cheap! And since we've become more cost-conscious after buying an older (and lovely) home and paying for all the expenses that come with caring for it, I've used this reasoning as my excuse.

Soon, I'll have a good "AFTER" pic to show you... Brace yourself--here's the "BEFORE" pic...

"BEFORE"

Glorious 6th grade neon. YES!

As promised, I'm bravely exposing a "Back in the Day" pic from an "ugly year." I know you just winced, cringed, and/or shuddered. Look away! Shield thine eyes!

Stay tuned for the horror show prequel -- my 4th grade school portrait with Coke-bottle thick, "granny glasses" (no offense to Grandma, thank goodness her perfect vision after cataract surgery does not have access to the Internet).

*Ref. Mike Myers' comedy/crime/romance film, So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) - IMDb... And you thought "IMDB" stood for "Internet Movie DataBase." Haha! Could it be, I aM Drunk Blogging? NOT! I'll tell you what it means: I Married Dr. Bryan.

Welcome to My Fuzzy World!

Hi, folks! Thanks for checking out my first public blog! I'm here to share with you my experiences in improving health and well-being. My first little bunny tale will be about getting LASIK. Hence, my pre-LASIK fuzzy background view of the world. I'll have some embarrassing "before" pics to bravely show you!!! It will also be my way of reminding myself to put in my Restasis eye drops to treat dry eye. I can't wait to get out of these glasses and contacts! Every now and then, I'll have a cute bunny pic to cheer you on and brighten your day. One of the guys who takes care of our lawn today said he caught a glimpse of a baby bunny in our yard! About 4" tiny. I "hop" to see it soon! I imagine it looks like the one above (and posted here).