Laser Eye Surgery

[kelownagirl]

Ha ha. When I had my Lasik done, they asked me if my husband would like to watch. There were windows along one side of the room. I said sure - I bet he would! So they went and got him. He wished I'd said no - apparently they set him up in front of a tv screen, where the whole thing was blown up larger than life . Kinda icky, apparently.

Give it time - the healing goes on for a long time. Your vision will keep getting better & better. Sounds like you're over the hardest part.

Well, I actually like watching stuff like that that so I thought it was awesome that there was a big window between the waiting room and the procedure room where we could watch the people get done before us, with a close up video screen showing in the waiting room. Then we were presented with a DVD of our own procedure. I'm trying to find some software to convert it to .mov so I can post it on my blog...

[kelownagirl]

Well it's day 5 and I still see can't worth beans. I absolutely have to go back to work on Tuesday so I'm going in for an eye test tomorrow morning and hopefully they can whip me up a pair of glasses by tomorrow afternoon so I can go to work. Argh. I am frustrated and disappointed but still optimistic.

I know it can take 6-8 weeks for my vision to stabilize but I was hopeful that I'd see some improvement once they took out the contacts yesterday. I'll keep you posted for those of you who are considering the procedure.

And for for anyone who is interested, here's a link to a video of my procedure. Don't go there if you are squeamish, but if you're 'scientifically-minded' like me and you're considering PRK, you might find it very interesting.

KG's Laser Eye Surgery

[mkidd]

Good luck on your recovery. I would love to not have to deal w/ contacts and glasses too. I hope you get to enjoy the fruits of your proceedure soon!

[PinkBike]

{{{kelownagirl}}},
i hope you get some answers from the dr tomorrow. i had PRK may 2006, i think my vision stabilized within a few days, but it is a process - i noticed my vision was just a little better every single day. at this point, i wish i'd done it years ago (i'm 52 and wore glasses from age 8). please keep us posted on your progress.

[HillSlugger]

Awesome choice of music! You obviously have a sense of humor about this.

It looks like this is fairly traumatic to the outer surface of the eye and that you won't really know what your vision will be until after those outer layers can regenerate. Hopefully the doctor will be able to do tests that will give an early indication. Unfortunately, you're probably going to have to be patient. It's hard, especially when it's your eyes!

[run it, ride it]

kelowna girl, how goes it? I am sorry to hear that the surgery did not make a big immediate change. Do you have a warranty such that if your vision is not 20/20 with the first surgery, subsequent surgeries are covered?

Do take it very, very easy. I know you know this, but any increase in occular pressure could cause a lot of damage. It's not perfect, but you only get one set of eyes. Bear with them!

I had custom Lasik in 2005. I had been cut off contacts as they were suffocating my eyes and I had the neovascularization of a 40-year-old contact wearer (I was 20 at the time). The torics for my astigmatism scarcely worked anyway, but I absolutely could not tolerate glasses. Further proof I wasn't meant to be four-eyed: I actually caused a motor vehicle collision in the month I had to wear glasses before surgery (no one was injured--the other vehicle was parked). Couldn't see a damn thing out of them. Again, the astigmatism--could never get them to sit such that I could focus my eyes TOGETHER!

I was so lucky to get out of surgery and see immediately much better. The initial slight overcorrection (to compensate for healing regression) made me a little far-sighted. I was concerned that I might need a second surgery within the first few months, but after two years I've settled into 25/20 in the left and 15/20 in the right.

I know this is a long way down the road yet for you, but to warn: though your vision should get better as your eyes heal, NIGHT DRIVING will get worse. I need to wear polarized lenses, and even then... I had been so concerned that my night vision, as in, ability to see in extreme low light, would be compromised. It's not! I can still go running and cycling in the pitch darkness. It's only when it's dark with bright lights that I get the haloes.

If you are riding your bike on the road at night, this is something to be aware of!

Good luck, and do keep us updated!

[kelownagirl]

kelowna girl, how goes it? I am sorry to hear that the surgery did not make a big immediate change. Do you have a warranty such that if your vision is not 20/20 with the first surgery, subsequent surgeries are covered?

Do take it very, very easy. I know you know this, but any increase in occular pressure could cause a lot of damage. It's not perfect, but you only get one set of eyes. Bear with them!

I had custom Lasik in 2005. I had been cut off contacts as they were suffocating my eyes and I had the neovascularization of a 40-year-old contact wearer (I was 20 at the time). The torics for my astigmatism scarcely worked anyway, but I absolutely could not tolerate glasses. Further proof I wasn't meant to be four-eyed: I actually caused a motor vehicle collision in the month I had to wear glasses before surgery (no one was injured--the other vehicle was parked). Couldn't see a damn thing out of them. Again, the astigmatism--could never get them to sit such that I could focus my eyes TOGETHER!

I was so lucky to get out of surgery and see immediately much better. The initial slight overcorrection (to compensate for healing regression) made me a little far-sighted. I was concerned that I might need a second surgery within the first few months, but after two years I've settled into 25/20 in the left and 15/20 in the right.

I know this is a long way down the road yet for you, but to warn: though your vision should get better as your eyes heal, NIGHT DRIVING will get worse. I need to wear polarized lenses, and even then... I had been so concerned that my night vision, as in, ability to see in extreme low light, would be compromised. It's not! I can still go running and cycling in the pitch darkness. It's only when it's dark with bright lights that I get the haloes.

If you are riding your bike on the road at night, this is something to be aware of!

Good luck, and do keep us updated!

Thanks for the good thoughts! Well it's been one month and it's going slowly I guess. MY visual acuity is pretty good actually - my right eye is +44 and my left is -1.5 (for reading).

BUT (and it's a BIG but) I am still seeing LOTS of double vision / ghosting. It's driving me crazy. I understand that it's very common for PRK patients to have this for 6-8 weeks (or longer) while the epithelium ayer heals over the cornea smoothly. it comes in and out and my vision changes constantly.

At my last appointment, my doctor stopped the Flarex steriod drops which slow down the healing process so my eyes would heal faster. He said some people see results in 2-3 days. Unfortunately, that was a week ago and they are actually worse, not better. I do believe that it is temporary because my vision clears sometimes if I use artificial tears and/or blink the right way.

Technically, I can drive but I don't need to so I haven't yet. I feel weird all the time, not being able to see clearly. I have trouble reading people's expressions or recognizing people from a distance etc. And I feel like I can't DO anything. I have been running though, and swimming, and my biking is OK but it freaks me out going fast downhill so I hit the brakes a lot. Obviously I can see cars etc but my depth perception is a bit wonky and it's hard to distinguish small rocks and holes in pavement.

Anyway, that is probably more than you wanted to hear. I'll give you another update in a couple of weeks.

[jesvetmed]

KG: I was also wondering how it had been going?
Run It: Do you mind me asking how old you were when you had surgery done? It sounds like 20's?

Did either of you (or anyone else with experience) have dry eyes PRIOR to surgery? I know it can be a real problem afterward, and it is already a problem for me now. I've been really thinking hard about having this done, but am unsure if it will be right for me. Any more experiences out there would be very helpful to hear!