The Tidwells: From A (merica) to Z (ambia)...and Back: Capetown 2016

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Capetown 2016 - Wednesday!

So in Capetown, South Africa, you can get Lasik done for roughly $1350 total. I know that sounds scary to many of you to have an eye surgery done in "Africa," but hey...I had a baby here 11 years ago! I know tons of missionaries who have had Lasik here, and honestly, I have been very impressed with the medical care I have found outside of the USA, both in South Africa, Lusaka, and even in Paris! However, I have this issue with not liking to be confined in spaces...without being able to use the bathroom. That would pretty much be the #1 reason I have not had Lasik all these years! (Blu had it in 2005!) But this last furlough was hard on my eyes - all of the travel, late night car trips, getting up early - for the first time, it bothered me that I wore contacts! So Blu finally convinced me to have Lasik in South Africa this year. Yesterday I went to 3 different places for pre-op appointments, and today we headed to Cape Eye Hospital at 8:30am for the procedure. I was #7 out of 7 patients, so I had to wait awhile, but I was thankful for the Valium that helped my wait!

Now that it's all over, I can see! I won't lie; it was a little bit terrifying! For one thing, I cannot understand a THING anyone is saying. Afrikaans is the language mainly spoken in South Africa, so when they finally realize I don't speak that (because I'm blonde, I look South African), and begin speaking English, the accent is SO thick! It took me like 2 minutes to realize the nurse was saying she liked my braid today! I think the poor eye doctor thinks I'm a bit on the slow side as he would say something, I would stare blankly, and then we would both kinda smile and nod at each other! Anyway, the procedure itself was a little scary, and my eyes burned like fire for about 2 hours afterward, but I"m feeling great now! Please pray for complete healing - I am a little nervous because I have Ciproflaxin eye drops to put in my eyes every 4 hours, but I am very allergic to oral Cipro. I told the doctors/nurses this, but they still gave me the Cipro drops, so I'm a little unsure what to do! Please pray for no side effects!

So thankful for Blu waiting for me and spending about 5 hours of his vacation sitting in a waiting room/driving me to appointments, and for Mama Dee & Grandpa babysitting! When it was over, I was pretty excited about the hot tea and sandwiches!