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My wife just had her laser vision correction done at LasikMD. The procedure itself according to her only took about 5 minutes or so, but the preparation and recovery time included made it total almost 5 hours.

When I picked her up after the procedure, her eyes were very sensitive, sore and it was hard for her to even open them. Apparently this will be the norm for the first 6 hours after surgery. There are a couple of other issues during the next while that she has to follow such as:

• - Wearing black sunglasses ala Stevie Wonder for quite awhile :).
• - Using eye drops on the eyes every 15 minutes for the next 24 hours, and as needed till about 3 months from now.
• - During naps and sleep time, she has this gel that she has to wear and a pair of glasses that will prevent accidental scratching.
• - The eyes cannot be touched by water for at least 1 week, which is quite hard for her because it means taking extra care and time to wash her hair. The doctor recommended wearing swimming goggles anytime she’s near the shower :).
• - Regular checkups tomorrow, 1 week after, 1 month after and 3 months after.

All in all, I think it’s a great technology to have, allowing people with vision problems to have it back to perfect 20/20 vision. It’s not a cheap procedure (they start at about $490 per eye, and gets more expensive if your eyes are worse), it cost my wife almost $800 CAD per eye, totaling $1600 (not including insurance).

A piece of advice to anyone thinking of doing this: try negotiate the price. My wife tried to ask for a better price and couldn’t get any, but while she was talking to another patient this afternoon, she found out that the person forced the issue, and got a reduction in price + a 3 year insurance. That person then added $100 to make it lifetime guarantee (meaning if the eyes get bad again, the procedure is free for as long as you live). The price my wife was told was an extra $400 for a lifetime guarantee, so she didn’t go for it. If she got the deal that person got, she would’ve been able to get the lifetime guarantee for $1700 CAD.

[eminimall products="lasik"]

Tags: Lasik, LasikMD, Laser Vision Correction

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I’ve been having this semi – ingrown toe nail on my left foot for almost a year and a half now. It wasn’t really painful or anything and I always thought it would go away on its own, so in general I just ignored its presence.

Well, for the last few months, it’s really been bothering me, causing quite some pain at certain times. My doctor suggested to soak it in Epsom salts and warm water. It worked for quite awhile, but after the nail grew longer, it went back to being painful again.

So, I finally decided to make a call to the podiatrist nearby and get it checked out. The appointment was this morning, and I got there early, sat in a big huge chair with my feet up (quite comfortable :)). Never been to a podiatrist before, I didn’t know what to expect.

The specialist finally came in, and she took a look at the toenail, and confirmed that it was growing inward just a tiny bit, and also that it was starting to have an infection. She then proceeded to clean it up, pulling out the ingrown nail and cleaning the area. I must say, that it was a VERY VERY painful, as it caused an open wound and she was cleaning it with a metal object. For 5 – 10 minutes there, I was just grimmacing and trying not to scream from the pain.

At the end, my nail was filed and wrapped around a huge gauze (I have a white mummy-like wrap on my left big toe.. kinda funny looking at it :)). It’s gonna take a week to let the wound heal and then I need to use some cream to prevent more infections.

Man, just thought I’d warn anybody going to get an ingrown toenail fixed. It might hurt :). But all in all, I’m glad I did it because it already feels better by not having the nail sink in the toe itself.

Tags: Podiatrist, Ingrown Toenail

2 Comments

Man, just when everyone started feeling better (we were all taking turns getting the cold and cough), suddenly on Saturday, both our sons got sick. The older one kept on vomitting through the night and couldn’t eat or drink anything, and also had the fever, while the little one has a stuffy and runny nose.

We took them to the doctor on Sunday, and apparently there’s no infection in either of them, but needed to monitor their temperatures. I’m not too worried about our baby because it just looks like the common cold, but our older son keeps saying his tummy hurts. I know it’s probably the stomach flu and he’s hungry from not eating for 2 days, but just worried that it might be appendicitis. So, we’ll see if he still complains about his stomach this afternoon, if so I might need to take him to his pediatrician.

Oh boy, the joys of having 2 kids

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Man this week has been quite a bad one. My eldest son had a fever on Saturday, and it didn’t go down until Monday. The doctor said it was quite common in kids this season and it was a viral infection. The bad part is that he’s coughing day and night and can’t sleep well, very whiny and cranky and downright annoying sometimes. Last night he finally caught some sleep, hopefully by tomorrow the cough will be gone.

Our second child got his first immunization yesterday, it was quite funny. He got 2 shots, one in each thigh, and he cried quite a bit. After the second needle was done though, he let out this very cute sigh that made all of us laugh He was a bit fussy, but after some fever medicine decided to sleep as usual the night, which was good because I could get some rest (baby sleeps with me, older son with my wife).

It seems I’ve got a bit of the cough, been taking tons of Extra Strength Fisherman’s Friend and that yucky tasting Buckley’s cough medicine to counter it. Hopefully it goes away soon, I hate coughs.

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I actually dreamt I was running laps around some building and then proceeded to do lots of situps. I just wish the dream could actually affect my physical body while I’m asleep; then all I’d have to do is dream the same thing over and over again for a full year

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Doc sued for saying a patient is obese
Serves the doc right for saying a woman is too fat. =P I’m kidding, but seriously, what does the woman want the doc to say?

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I stumbled on this article when I was browsing the net, and I thought it might help some people to stick to their exercise routine.

To be honest though, I wonder how much those tips could help. In my opinion, the people that the author is speaking to is just plain lazy, wanting something without any sacrifices. If I were him, I would simply give these two tips:
1. Want your goal bad enough.
2. Find a way to do the required actions.

What do you think?

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I’m sure some of you have heard about the Super Size me movies, where there is one guy who eat McDonald’s for a month or so, and gained 25 or 30 lbs in the process. The author is trying to prove that junk food is making us fat. I happen to believe that it is not true.

The truth is, EXCESS food is making us fat, whether it is junk food or not. However, it IS easier to eat too much when you are eating junk food, thus making you easier to get fat if you eat junk food daily. To prove my point, here’s a case study of someone who eats LIMITED amount of McDonald’s daily, and still manage to lose 37 lbs in 3 months.

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If there is one myth that I can eliminate once and for all in the fitness industry, it would be the “magic pills” mentality. People are always hoping for that magic pill, magic exercises or magic diet to solve their fitness problems. The industry are also capitalizing on this mentality. I’m sure you’ve heard about it… 5 mins a day on some abs machine (for guys) and thigh or butt machine (for girls) would give you your ultimate body, or some super secret pills from some tribes in Africa would help burn fat 500% times faster.

I hope one day people would wake up and realize there are really no secrets out there. The formula is pretty simple really… eat less, exercise and get your sleep.

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After seeing so many fad diets come and go (low fat, Atkins, South Beach, etc.), I’m surprised no new diet has showed up yet right now. This article sums up my thought nicely!

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