Blake's Eyes ... 20/20

Blake went to the eye doctor today, and his eyes are 20/20! It has taken a while for his eyes to heal, but they are great! He is so happy to be without the contact and seeing 20/20.

We celebrated with a night out together. We went to a small pizza place, Durkins, and had a great pepperoni pizza together, and then headed to the movies. We saw Seven Pounds, which was good, very thought provoking, but left you a bit down at the end. Blake really wanted to see Gran Torino, so we looked it up on the iphone, and headed to another theatre about 20 minute away to catch the 9:30pm showing. The theatre was crowded and the movie had already started, so we just had to get seated. We ended up sitting separately because there were no two seats together. Blake had the pleasure of sitting by a man with really bad breathe, while I enjoyed the movie next to a rather stinky woman. I don't think these late night movies are for us. Too many "stinky" people! But, the movie was great.

It's been a long time since Blake and I saw two movies in one night. In fact, until this week, it has been a while since I had seen a movie in the theatre. This week, however, I have seen four movies - both times, double features. First, Bedtime Stories and Marly and Me, then Seven Pounds and Gran Torino. It's been a big movie week for us.

Updates

Things have been rather busy, and I have not had a chance to blog recently, so I wanted to try to catch everyone up a bit.

Blake's eyes are improving. The left eye is finally starting to heal and his sight is getting better. Progress is slow, but we are seeing progress, so that is great! He goes back to the doctor tomorrow for another check-up.

Christmas was fabulous! We spent Christmas Eve at the Richardson's where we had a fabulous dinner along with our annual Chinese Christmas exchange, followed by service at the 8pm candle light service at our church. We then headed home to prepare for Santa's visit and Christmas morning.

Christmas Day was terrific! Megan and Connor woke up early and were excited to see what Santa had left for them and to open their many other presents. We enjoyed some time as a family Christmas morning, opening presents and spending time together. We had a fantastic Christmas brunch and then the boys took off for 9 holes of golf while the girls dressed and prepared for the Christmas afternoon/evening activities. Stephanie, Colton, Carson, Aunt Carol, Flip & Sharolyn joined Blake, Connor, Megan, my parents, and I for a wonderful Christmas dinner. I cooked my very first turkey, and it turned out great! It was moist and delicious! It was a terrific day with family and friends!

Blake's Eye Surgery

Blake had his surgery on December 4th. The surgery went well, but he is not healing as quickly as I did. When he returned for his second follow-up visit on Monday, December 8th, he was not seeing clearly, had a dry spot in his left eye, and was told that his cells were growing back wavy; therefore, he had to keep the contact in his left eye to protect it. He returned for two additional visits last week. His left eye is improving, but the progress is slow.

At his appointment this morning, the contact was removed, but the dry spot is still there. Last week, his vision was 20/70 in his right eye. Today, he was able to read 20/20 with his right eye, but it was still fuzzy. So, we know that his right eye is healing and improving. His left eye is still bothering him. The dry spot is hurting him, so he is going to have to go back to have a contact put into his eye to protect it.

Thank you for your prayers, calls, and emails. Please pray that his left eye heals and that his vision is 20/20 in both eyes very soon.

Bye, Bye Glasses & Contacts

Well, I have been contemplating eye surgery for a bit, have visited some doctors, attended a couple of consultations, and today, found a doctor and a procedure that I feel comfortable with. So ... next Thursday, November 20th, Blake and I are having eye surgery. We will be having a surface ablasion. It is done with an excimer laser, just as LASIK is done, but it does not require us to have the flap cut from our cornea. The healing time is typically 3-4 days as the surface layer of the cornea repairs itself. The advantages, we don't have to have a surgical flap cut which may not heal properly, and we don't run the risk of potentional injury/damage if we get hit in the eye with an object, elbow, etc. after the surgery, as typical lasik patients do.

For those of you who see me regularly, I have been wearing my glasses for 10 days straight, and this is why. I have not been able to wear my contacts. In fact, I will never wear contacts again. Wow!

I have worn glasses or contacts since I was 17 years old. Granted, I did not have to wear my glasses all of the time at first, but by the time I was in college, around 20-21, I was needing to wear them all the time, so I switched to contacts. Since that time, I have primarily worn contacts every day. Although contacts, solutions, and cleaners have improved over the years, the contacts have really been bothersome for the past year or two, so I am SO EXCITED about my surgery next week. I can't wait to wake up and see without glasses or contacts. I can't wait to lay in bed and watch TV without having to worry about falling asleep in my contacts and without having the discomfort of my glasses digging into the side of my head. I won't have to prop up my pillow or push the glasses down on my nose so that I can see the TV without sitting completely up. I won't have to worry about my contacts when I go scuba diving or swimming. I won't have to wear my glasses and squint as I drive because I can't wear my sunglasses and/or try to wear my sunglasses over my regular glasses. This just keeps getting better and better. I am SO EXCITED about getting my eyes fixed! I can't wait for next Thursday!