LASIK Question

allie-sins asked you:
Hi, I just read your post about getting LASIK done, and I'm having a serious melt down about the procedure. I've worn glasses/contacts since I was 8 years old (I'm 25 now) and I'm just wondering if you could possibly answer some of my questions/fears. Was it hard to stay focused on the laser? I'm scared I'm going to be jumpy and move, or that it's going to hurt, or that I'm going to feel something. I'm scared to death. HELP.

Answer: I just might be the perfect person for you to have asked this to! Firstly, because I absolutely hate and am petrified of anything doctor/medical related... No joke, I faint every time I have to get a shot. I was definitely scared- part of the way I avoided this was by not listening to the doctors during my consultation- I figured the less I knew, the better. I had a general idea what was going to happen and that was enough (ie, I DID NOT know going into it that an actual knife blade would be cutting my eye. If I had, I would have chickened out)

As fas as pain, I can honestly say there was none. I had been advised by a friend it could hurt, so I took ibuprofen an hour before I went in. As far as being jumpy- well I for sure was, despite the Xanax I was given upon arriving (they will give you this if you ask to help you relax). Personally, I could have used about six more Xanax. When they do the procedure, first they tape down your eyelashes and then push down a circular thing around your eye- this was the worst part for me, because that's when I got really scared. However, it's just uncomfortable- imagine gently pushing all around your eye (I just did it now)- its just a strange feeling. So that's when I started fidgeting- but they will yell at you to be still. They have complete control of the laser, so won't move anything until you are still- that's why I stopped moving (or moved less I should say) because I just wanted it over.

Coming from a 100 percent WIMP (yes, that's me) LASIK was pain-free and 100,000,000% worth it. Like I said- financially, it will pay off long term. From every other aspect it was worth it the second I woke up from my nap and could see- and every day I wake up since.

Fireside S'Mores

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup S’mores

The easiest (and best!) how-to post I will probably ever do— also, potentially the only.

Step 1. Build fire, stick marshmallow inside (yes, that mallow is on a knife. Sue me, I’m indoors without a stick to properly roast my marshmallows on)

Step 2. Set marshmallow aflame, blow out. Repeat until insides are warm and mushy (just like the love you will feel for this treat when you try it!)

Step 3. Place atop a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and enjoy.

Wow. I cannot believe I have lived this many years without having s’mores this way!
-Samantha

Stockholm Trip

Well, I have finally gotten around to looking at our Stockholm pictures- so here are a few of the highlights! We started our day on Saturday off by heading to Gamlastan (the old city)— luckily for me, Nick has been to Stockholm several times so I had my own personal tour guide! After checking out Gamlastan and the parliament building, we headed to the shopping district for a little bit of shopping before lunch. Lunch was at a delicious favorite of mine- Pizza Hut! (yes, I know, how cliche. The American that goes abroad and craves American food. But hey, I probably won’t get real American pizza for another 6 months- so I relished every bite of it.)

After lunch, we walked back to our hotel through the Gamlastan and I forced Nick to play with the phone booth. Of course, despite being unwilling his pictures turned out much better than mine! From there, it was home for a quick nap before heading to dinner at Bank-O-Mat. The meal was great, with excellent service.

Sunday we took another quick walk through Gamlastan before heading home and saying good-bye to Stockholm!

Personal Pet Peeve

For today’s post, I thought I would talk about a personal pet peeve of mine. This pet peeve would be when people are late.

First off, being late to meet with someone shows that you obviously do not value the other’s time, and view your time to be more important. Especially when this is a continuous problem. If we say we are meeting at 6, chances are I will be there ten minutes before. So when you come strolling in ten, fifteen, thirty, sixty minutes late- that tells me you don’t value my time, and you think that it was more important for you to accomplish *whatever* than be on time. For your information, had I known you would be late, there are countless other things I could have done with my time.

The next problem with being late is that for most, it seems to be a continual problem. I understand- and will forgive you- if it happens on occasion. For example, my husband was late for our first date (then again, he had just come off 18 hours of traveling and gotten about 2 hours of sleep). I understand that things come up, accidents happen, etc- but just be honest. Saying “I’m on my way!” And showing up an hour later when I know it should only take you 5 minutes- that’s bullshit.

This pet peeve grows even worse if I am doing you a favor. If I am going out of my way to do something for you- whether it is small, like dropping something off for you- or big, like giving you a ride somewhere 30 minutes away- you should be grateful and timely. Don’t waste my time, and I won’t waste yours.

To me, being on time is a matter of respecting other people. I KNOW there are other things and people you could be seeing- but you are choosing to make time for me. So I damn well better be there at or before the appointed time, because to me your time is valuable. And being late says that I don’t care about your time.

How do you feel about this issue? Are you usually the one that is early, or late?

A motto I have lived by: “To be early is to be on time. To be on time is to be late. And to be late, is to be forgotten.”

3 Month Anniversary

Here we are, my 3 month anniversary with LASIK eye surgery! Years and years ago, when I was in elementary school, I discovered that I needed glasses (and became a four-eyes- gross!). I spent the next 15 years or so of my life battling with contacts and glasses. I started wearing 2 week contacts, but gradually those irritated my eyes- so I switched to daily contacts. Then, those started irritating my eyes- even after just a few hours! Eventually, enough was enough- and I decided that it was time for me to get LASIK surgery. 

Of course, I was petrified to get LASIK done. I wasn’t worried about the finances of it- I assumed it would pay for itself over the years by pure convenience, and of course not having to pay for glasses and contacts. What I was worried about was the actual procedure- trusting someone with your eye sight is a lot of pressure, especially when you have heard horror stories.

Because of this, I chose to go to the Whiting Clinic, one of the best clinics in the world for LASIK eye surgery. My doctor was Dr. Whiting himself- yes, the owner of the clinic. He has performed almost 100,000 LASIK surgeries, which made me feel very comfortable. After all, someone was about to cut my eye open with a razor blade and shoot lasers into it(no joke, this is what happened)— I wanted the best of the best, and my experience at the Whiting Clinic was just that.

From the time you walk in to the clinic, you are greeted warmly and openly. Once checked in, you get to choose a color for your information packet. As a marketing major, I found this amazing. Long-term, the color of my information packet does not matter. But as a patient, I get to choose my own color? Talk about making someone feel just a little bit more comfortable, and like your experience truly is personalized. After this, the Whiting Clinic just continued to impress me- through the rest of my consultation, my actual appointment itself, and my two follow-up appointments. I would highly recommend the Whiting Clinic to anybody looking at getting LASIK surgery- they were phenomenal every step of the way for me.

So lets skip ahead a bit. The procedure itself? Easy. I was in the operating room for maybe 5 minutes, and then sent home to take a nap. Waking up from my nap was one of the best feelings of my life. When I woke up, I could see everything in the room- clearly, without the use of contacts or glasses. At that moment, I felt so blessed and happy to have perfect eyesight again, I began to cry. I could see! What a wonderful gift sight is, and how often do we take advantage of it. It took me all of five minutes after waking up to decide that my LASIK procedure was worth it- no longer did it matter about “paying for itself over the years”, no, LASIK was worth it because for the first time in years I woke up with perfect vision.

Three months later, and getting LASIK done is one of the best investments I have ever made. Of course, I am still getting used to it- there are still nights when I am getting ready for bed and thinking ‘OK, time to take my contacts out,’ but it is a fabulous feeling.

-Samantha