Vanessa's new adventures in Yoga!
Today was my first day ever doing yoga..w00t! After a recent back (re)injury and the following 2 weeks of inactivity I realised a)I need to get back into it and b) I need to find something a little different from the Health Club. I'm a social animal, so a class is a bit more motivational for me. [And I already met a university student named Ji Song - her English is groovy!] Also I've come to admit to myself that my personal stretching habits are severely lacking, which was one of the major factors in the back f'ing up. Finally, the Yoga place ridiculously close to me, thus appealing to my lazy side.
When faced with a Korean stranger situation, I always need to psych myself up for the experience. It could go really well, or it could bomb completely. One thing is for sure...I have to assume that whoever I meet cannot speak English. Luckily for me, this time around my limited Korean and a whole lotta body language was good enough. I sat in on the Yoga class, awkwardly bending this way and that. My extreme lack of flexibility became painful apparent within about 5 minutes.
During the hour, there was a little bit of "Koreanness" (ie, fast, hard movements, usually unassociated with Yoga), but on the whole, it was what I was hoping for. I didn't break a sweat, which is unusual for me, as I'm generally a sweaty beast, but I still worked hard and felt it on my muscles.
I'm excited about my new adventure and hopefully after a month, I'll be able to put my legs behind my head and do the pretzel!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Monday, October 08, 2007
20/20 (ish)
I did it! I had my LASIK surgery on Saturday. w00t! I went in around 10am and had some preliminary tests. I like the fact that they check and recheck my eyesight so they know they're gonna get 'er done good. I wasn't really nervous. At least, not until I got into the chair. In the surgery room there was the Doctor and his understudy, both of whom could speak English, and also a nurse. The doctor's helper, Mr Lee, was very kind and told me every little thing that was going to happen, followed by "Don't get surprised".
The chair is moving back, don't get surprised.
Now, I will numb your eyes, don't get surprised.
She will open your eye and put water on it, don't get surprised.
and so on
He also gave me a stuffed toy of sorts (I think it was a moon, but I can't really remember). At any rate, my hands had a vise grip on that thing to a) try to keep the tension out of my face and b) to remind myself not to fidget at all. My family members can attest to how difficult that is for me to do.
"She will open your eye" was a little bit misleading, unfortunately. What he should've said is "She will put a cloth over your eye, cut a hole in it and then open your eye with a surgical tool that will make you resemble the dude from A Clockwork Orange." creepy. Anyway, I suppose that was the most uncomfortable part of the whole ordeal. Getting my eyes pried open with an eye vise was, in a word, unfun.
Next, the good Doc took over. He prewarned me about this part before the surgery started. "I will grab your eyeball firmly to cut the flap on your cornea." I never got a look at the device that did the grabbing (which is probably a good thing), but I assure you, it certainly grabbed my eyeball firmly. I think it may have been the end of a very tiny vacuum, but who knows. The pressure was enough that I actually lost vision in the eye, which was a good thing really, cuz then it just felt like my eye was closed.
Anyway, cornea flap cut complete! I regained my vision and helplessly watched as he peeled back the layer. Once the top of my cornea was not around, any detail in my vision was gone. Throughout the process I was told to focus on the flashing red light, which was surrounded by a solid ring of white light. Even though my natural eyesight is poor, i could see those two things quite distinctively. Minus a cornea, however, and all things kinda blur together.
Next, the laser shot at me for somewhere between 30-50 seconds. I couldn't see it, but I could hear it. It sounded kind of like a machine gun (like I've ever heard that before), that is to say, short, quick, staccatto bursts. Thankfully, prior to the surgery, the Doc's helper had demostrated the noise and told me "don't get surprised".
Finally, the Doc replaced my cornea, put a protective lens over top and squirted some more water in my eye. Then we repeated the process with my right eye. Laser. Rinse. Repeat.
All in all, the entire procedure was less than ten minutes, the least awesome part being when the nurse initially pried my eye open. Which wasn't really that bad, just kind of... unnatural.
As soon as I blinked my eyes open, I could see. I was a little fuzzy for a few hours afterwards, but I just went home, took a nap and woke up brand new. I'm on three kinds of eyedrops - tears, antibiotics, and steroids - for a while and for a week I have to tape clear plastic covers on my eyes when I sleep so I don't accidentally rub them while i slumber. I can't express to you how sexy these things are.
I was told not to read, watch TV or use the computer until the next day, but I cheated because life is so GD boring without them. So I turned on the TV, listened to it and glanced at it occasionally. I'm a bad girl.
Now I'm at work and I've got some really good vision. I would say that it's slightly better than my vision with contacts and worlds better than when I had to wear my glasses. w00t! w00t w000000t! I have yet to throw out my contact lens paraphernalia or glasses, but it'll be a celebration when I do!
happy thanksgiving everyone!
The chair is moving back, don't get surprised.
Now, I will numb your eyes, don't get surprised.
She will open your eye and put water on it, don't get surprised.
and so on
He also gave me a stuffed toy of sorts (I think it was a moon, but I can't really remember). At any rate, my hands had a vise grip on that thing to a) try to keep the tension out of my face and b) to remind myself not to fidget at all. My family members can attest to how difficult that is for me to do.
"She will open your eye" was a little bit misleading, unfortunately. What he should've said is "She will put a cloth over your eye, cut a hole in it and then open your eye with a surgical tool that will make you resemble the dude from A Clockwork Orange." creepy. Anyway, I suppose that was the most uncomfortable part of the whole ordeal. Getting my eyes pried open with an eye vise was, in a word, unfun.
Next, the good Doc took over. He prewarned me about this part before the surgery started. "I will grab your eyeball firmly to cut the flap on your cornea." I never got a look at the device that did the grabbing (which is probably a good thing), but I assure you, it certainly grabbed my eyeball firmly. I think it may have been the end of a very tiny vacuum, but who knows. The pressure was enough that I actually lost vision in the eye, which was a good thing really, cuz then it just felt like my eye was closed.
Anyway, cornea flap cut complete! I regained my vision and helplessly watched as he peeled back the layer. Once the top of my cornea was not around, any detail in my vision was gone. Throughout the process I was told to focus on the flashing red light, which was surrounded by a solid ring of white light. Even though my natural eyesight is poor, i could see those two things quite distinctively. Minus a cornea, however, and all things kinda blur together.
Next, the laser shot at me for somewhere between 30-50 seconds. I couldn't see it, but I could hear it. It sounded kind of like a machine gun (like I've ever heard that before), that is to say, short, quick, staccatto bursts. Thankfully, prior to the surgery, the Doc's helper had demostrated the noise and told me "don't get surprised".
Finally, the Doc replaced my cornea, put a protective lens over top and squirted some more water in my eye. Then we repeated the process with my right eye. Laser. Rinse. Repeat.
All in all, the entire procedure was less than ten minutes, the least awesome part being when the nurse initially pried my eye open. Which wasn't really that bad, just kind of... unnatural.
As soon as I blinked my eyes open, I could see. I was a little fuzzy for a few hours afterwards, but I just went home, took a nap and woke up brand new. I'm on three kinds of eyedrops - tears, antibiotics, and steroids - for a while and for a week I have to tape clear plastic covers on my eyes when I sleep so I don't accidentally rub them while i slumber. I can't express to you how sexy these things are.
I was told not to read, watch TV or use the computer until the next day, but I cheated because life is so GD boring without them. So I turned on the TV, listened to it and glanced at it occasionally. I'm a bad girl.
Now I'm at work and I've got some really good vision. I would say that it's slightly better than my vision with contacts and worlds better than when I had to wear my glasses. w00t! w00t w000000t! I have yet to throw out my contact lens paraphernalia or glasses, but it'll be a celebration when I do!
happy thanksgiving everyone!
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