Cob Jockey

Amanda encouraged me to blog fully about my LASIK experience, since it's pretty hard to find good info on recovery for equestrians.  Here's how it's been so far!  I have some extra detail at the end for anyone considering LASIK themselves.

Procedure day: The procedure itself was fascinating, but didn't hurt.  For a Type-A person, Valium is like instantly becoming Type-B.  I didn't even have to squeeze the stress balls they give you to hold.  On the way home, my eyes watered like a waterfall.  This was the only time I was ever uncomfortable. Procedure was at 2pm, I had my eyes closed from 2:30-3:30pm on the way home, and then I slept from 3:30pm-8am the next morning with the brief exception of eating dinner at 6pm and being woken up by a bat in my bedroom at 4am.  By 4 hours after the surgery, my combined vision was crystal clear with very little halo, and I had zero pain, watering, eye strain or light sensitivity.  From here on out, I'd feel completely normal to the point that it was easy to forget I'd even had LASIK at all.

1 day after: At my follow-up, my left eye was 20/10, right eye was 20/40 and combined was 20/20.  My vision will continue to improve over the next 3-6 months, so the 20/40 is nothing to worry about.  My combined vision was already better than it had been with contacts, I felt like I was seeing in HD.  I started making extensive use of my phone timer to remember my eye drop regimen.

2 days after: I went to the barn, but only for long enough to make up some supplements and give Connor a peppermint.  I wore these super sexy $12 100% UV blocking motorcycle helmet goggles I got on Amazon so that the dust stayed out of my eyes:

HAWT

I have to wear 100% UV sunglasses anytime I'm outside for 3-4 months, so these dumb looking goggles specifically designed to fit under a helmet are what I'm going to try first.

3 days after: I went to my gym to cheer on my friends for our annual Memorial Day Murph workout, wearing sunglasses and a giant sun hat because I wasn't allowed to wear any makeup or sunscreen on my face yet.  I started spending time in front of a computer with no issues whatsoever, dutifully wearing the blue light glasses Amanda recommended I buy.

MURPH (not me)

4 and 5 days after: Traveled for work, 12 hours of driving total.  I about died with happiness when I didn't have to pack my contact case, solution, spare contacts and glasses for this trip.  Went to the barn for 5 minutes again.  It was SO hard not to curry the mud off of him and hop on, because I feel 100% normal, but I am REALLY trying hard to toe the line on my optometrist's instructions, so I didn't.

When you travel for work so much you don't need to add your phone to the car because it's already in there...

6 days after: My eyes were pretty dry when I woke up this morning, guessing because of all the driving I'd done the two days before.  Eye drops fix it immediately.  They'll be dry for a few months while the nerves cut during surgery reconnect.

Tomorrow is my 1 week follow up, and I'm hoping they tell me everything looks good and I can start riding and lifting again.  My post-op care sheet says 1-2 weeks. 

All in all, this has been an incredibly uneventful and easy recovery, although my husband with a nearly identical prescription to me didn't have it nearly as easy, so everyone is different.  Some additional details:

• I started with a prescription of -2.75 and astigmatism in both eyes
• I'm 31 years old
• I was a candidate for and opted for the Contoura procedure after discussing with the doctor, which is topography-guided LASIK.  It added slightly less than $300 per eye, and everything I read said there weren't any downsides, and it's been shown in some cases to reduce halo and improve vision.  LASIK isn't something you should go into looking for a deal, so I said sign me up. 
• Speaking of financials, the list price for the procedure at the clinic I went to (Lasik Vision Institute) is $4,000 total.  I had a 25% off coupon through work that brought that down to $3,000, plus $600 for Contoura.
• Even though I have the money in my HSA to pay it in cash, since they don't offer a cash discount (I asked), I opted to take a 24 month 0% Care Credit.  I hate loans, but this one makes all the financial sense in the world: it means I can leave the bulk of my HSA money in the stock market where it's earned an average of 8%, which means my money is earning money for me while it waits to be spent on the loan payment every month.  That means financially I come out ahead with the loan than I would if I paid in cash.  (Yeah yeah assuming my returns stay good but y'know.  Worst case, if the market looks like it's headed for a real tank I can pull it all and pay it off all at once).

Hope that helps anyone else considering it!  I'll update once I'm cleared to ride again.