Crazy Little Thing Called LASIK

Since he was in the second grade, Muffinheadboy has needed glasses or contact lenses.  And not just a minor prescription.  When the genetic dice for eyesight was rolled the kid could have really used a mulligan.  But what are you gonna do other than to keep getting stronger lens prescriptions as the eyes get progressively worse into the teen years?

Well now the young man is closing in on being 25 years of age.  A quarter-century on this rock.  His brain has theoretically (and finally!) neared full development if some science journals are to be believed.  And along with this monumental occasion his eyes have reached terminal badness.

With LASIK eye surgery coming down in price and being more technologically advanced and effective than ever we decided it was time for another roll of the optical dice.  Besides, this will take care of his birthday AND Christmas gift for the year in the approximately 10 minute time that it takes to have the procedure done.  Who knew holiday shopping could be this easy?

Well...Here's a Generic LASIK Shot.  Hey, I Needed a Picture Here.

We chose to do this at King Lasik in Renton with the steady hands of Dr. Joseph King at the wheel.  He did my own Lasik procedure eight years ago with great results.  He’s done 80,000 or so of these things and is in fact the official LASIK guy for the Vancouver Canucks NHL hockey team.  Okay….sold!  You had me at 80,000, Doc.
 

We arrived at the office early enough to wait in the waiting area for a half-hour or so.  I’m not sure what they were piping in music-wise on their Muzak but recalled being REALLY glad that it wasn’t “Blinded by the Light” by Manfred Mann.  Or Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science”.  Or anything by Blind Melon or Third Eye Blind.  In the future they may, however, want to consider songs such as “I Can See Clearly Now” or “I Can See For Miles” by The Who.

They called us in to the office to explain the process to us, what it costs, what medications he’d need, follow-up appointments and so on.  Then the doctor met with us and after a short wait Muffinheadedboy was in what looked like a fancy La-Z-Boy chair and things were underway.

I waited outside the procedure room and was able to watch what was going on via a TV monitor.  Up close.  Really up close as in a 10-inch diameter eyeball staring at me.  It was like watching “A Clockwork Orange” on a Jumbotron screen.  The process was quite interesting but clearly not for the squeamish.  For that reason I won’t go into a detailed description or post any instructional photos or videos.  Let’s just say that Dr. King reshaped his cornea with a laser and we'll call it good.  And true to their word it was a less than 10 minute proposition.

Everything went very well.  The young man’s vision is now at 20/25.  Not 100% perfect but I’ll bet it seems like it is to him after a lifetime of blurry natural vision.  While there are many technological advances that I wish never happened, this is definitely NOT one of them.  LASIK is an effective and very safe way to correct vision these days if you don’t mind having your eyes messed with for a few minutes and can put up with a bit of itchiness and sensitivity for a day or two after.

Personally, I’m hoping for a 10 minute procedure that will give me my taste buds back after many years of abusing them with every hot sauce known to man.  Now THAT would be impressive.