My eyes desperately wants to look away, but they can’t. Look forward. Look forward. Look forward.
OH MY GOD THAT HURTS!
Numbness. I get about five seconds of it. 5. Look to the left. Look to the right. 4. Look up. Look down. 3. Look to the right. Look to the left. 2. Roll your eyes twice. 1. Stand there like a dear in the headlights. 0.
OH CRAP IT’S BACK!
I start jumping up and down, tripping over the trashcan. I don’t know whether opening my eyes of closing them hurts more. I can’t even muster the energy to keep one open and the other closed. Tears come rushing out. The water and saline actually makes me feel better, but I know that it’ll just make the second round harder. I feel like I need to hold my eyes open to get used to the light again, but my lids slip from my fingers and they shut again.
No choice but to lay down and wait it out.
Round two.
The right one is always the harder of the two. Sure enough, the first time is a painful failure. The second time I blink and it is smashed. More fluid, more tries. Each time I’m worried that some eyelash or something has gotten onto it. It goes in better dry, but risk of infection is considerably greater without the cleaning fluid.
Poke. Hold, Look ahead. Disregard pain.
IT’S IN!
I would jump, but I know there is a knocked-over trashcan around my feet somewhere. I don’t know where because I haven’t been able to see out 0f both eyes since making contact with my left one. Learning from the last one, I head straight for the bed and wait. And wait. And wait.
Contacts, how I loathe thee.
Then, before I know it, I am ready to open my eyes again. I wipe the tears away and suddenly I can see. I mean, really see. Suddenly everything is so sharp. It’s as though I am looking through some special camera that can focus on everything at once. I squint because my eyes have a little difficulty taking in all the colors and shapes the way that it has trouble taking in the Sun outside. Once I’ve adjusted I walk outside.
It’s always the best when there is water on the ground, and today there was. I can see streetlights ricochet off the puddles. The wind causes mini-waves and I can even see those.
Contacts, how I love thee.
For some reason it’s easier for my right hand to aim on the left eye.
I have to tell you that four years ago, I got lasik and I’ve never looked back. In about another year, I’ll break even with the cost of it from not having to buy disposable contacts or the back-up glasses.
Comment by Becky — February 8, 2006 @ 1:15 pm