My LASIK story began since I had been wearing glasses since I was 7 years old and I HATED them! I was significantly nearsighted and was mortified at how obnoxious my thick lenses were. I remember getting ready for my Homecoming dance – trying to put mascara on behind my glasses was such a pain! I finally tried contacts when I was 17. I was so happy to be rid of my glasses – except that I was a terrible contact lens wearer. I put myself at risk for so much – sleeping in my contacts, wearing ripped lenses, using old solutions or just plain water to store them – my eye doctor was constantly after me to be better with my eyes. I finally decided to schedule my surgery with Dr. D’Ambrosio. I had a consultation exam that was very thorough and all my questions were answered. My mom came to surgery with me and watched my procedure on the TV screen. I remember being told by a nurse to “look at the target light”, except that target light seemed so big and blurry without my glasses on. As soon as the procedure was over, that target light became very clear. I sat up on the surgery bed afterwards and could see out the window to the waiting room. My mom was crying. I asked her through the window, “Why are you crying?” She started to laugh and cry a little more. I came out and she said, “At first, I cried because you’ve been wearing glasses for 20 years, then I cried because you could see that I was crying from the bed!” For months after surgery, I found things that I was no longer hassled by in my day to day life. I didn’t have to hold shampoo and conditioner bottles up to my nose to distinguish between them in the shower. I didn’t have to pack a separate bag for my glasses, contacts, solutions and containers when traveling overnight. I could fall asleep watching Red Sox games on TV without crushing my glasses in the middle of the night. I could wear mascara – and SEE to put it on!! Most importantly, as my parents pointed out, I was safer. It wasn’t until after my surgery that my mother told me how, if there was ever a fire or something in the middle of the night, she worried about me being able to see to get out of the house safely. Because my vision had been like that my whole life, I never thought of it that way. LASIK surgery was easily one of the best decisions I made for myself.
Jenny E.
