EVO ICL- Did anyone experience this feeling?
I’m about 3 weeks out from my EVO ICL surgery. I had a great experience. I really thought a long time about it, since it’s my eyeballs, and I only have two of them! I’ve been wearing glasses since 1st grade and contacts since 5th grade. I’m about a -13 (😭I know) with slight astigmatism. I wore monthly toric lenses for a super long time but about 10 years ago I had to switch to daily lenses but none were produced in my strength, so I went without astigmatism correction. More recently, with increased computer work and some other changes, the headaches were too much without the astigmatism correction. Wearing glasses for long periods of time give headaches due to the weight. So I didn’t really have any other options.
It probably goes without saying, I wasn’t a candidate for any other vision surgery due to my extremely high myopia. I had a retina specialist check, and I did have some minor lattice on the outer portion of one eye. But it was minor, we had been aware of it and monitoring it. She didn’t feel that it needed to be addressed or that it would impact the surgery specifically.
Surgery was great, very similar to others experiences. I had ketamine/versed. I remember everything. The first eye, I would describe it as feeling like I was in an attic that was bright and white with slowly changing colorfully shapes in the middle I was watching, the second eye-though not “bad” or painful- I was more aware, they did give me another dose, it was probably less than the first since the surgery in general is pretty quick. Visually, it was darker, same shapes changing but I was more aware of what they were doing and they kept telling me to look at the light (I was trying! I didn’t have to try with the first eye) so I’m guessing I was less sedated than the first eye. I could see the len sort of open up in my eye. Everything was like looking through oil the first day and my eyes were sensitive. I thought it might trigger a migraine, but I didn’t get one, it was more just an eye- ache.
For anyone that’s had ICL or lasik, or any other vision correction surgery… did you experience this for a few days or maybe it’s just me? 😆 I felt like a sadness. Not sad about the experience or the result- those were great. But just sad that, I know it sounds weird- I couldn’t turn my eyes “off”.
The only thing I can think to maybe compare it to- people with cochlear implants often will take breaks and turn it off. Turning it off sort of reduces the stimulation coming in to give themselves a break. I feel like when I took my contacts out, and more so when I took my glasses off, it was a way to reduce stimulation from the outside. Not that I could ever walk around without glasses! At a -13, you can’t do anything or see anything without them! But I guess when I had a headache it went to bed and took them off it forced myself to do nothing. You can’t see your phone, or a book, nothing- so you’re forced to just close your eyes. It felt weird to not have that option. I can’t just take my contacts out or glasses off. Pretty much since my earliest memory I’ve had the ability to do that, and also had to worry about where my glasses or contacts were.
Now, the feeling of that, almost 3 weeks out has nearly passed. I don’t regret the surgery at all, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I’ve had elective cosmetic surgeries before, and I’ve experienced similar feelings- just a sadness feeling- though I’ve also had great experiences and outcomes. It seems to just be a fleeting feeling for a few days-week or so. I’d heard others have experienced the same with cosmetic surgery but I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone talk about it with vision correction surgery.
I wouldn’t have changed my mind, I just wonder if others have had that feeling. I guess, knowing that I might experience it would be nice, so when I did, I’d expect it and it wouldn’t catch me off guard like it did.