Laser Eye Surgery

[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!

[jesvetmed]

Thanks KG...looks like we posted at the same time! I hope things continue to improve for you and make it worthwhile in the long run.
Jes

[kelownagirl]

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!

No dry eyes before, very dry eyes now.

[run it, ride it]

jesvetmed, I was 20 when I had the surgery done.

kelownagirl, never too much info! I am fascinated by your recovery process. It is a complicated work of art and you are handling it beautifully.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

KG- sounds like things are improving slowly....good! Yeah don't go hurtling down any screaming hills on your bike if you can't see every pebble yet! Be cautious and don't get hurt.

Hey Run it ride it- How has your collarbone been healing? Wasn't it your collarbone that got hurt? How are you??

[spokewench]

Kelowna Girl

Get your doctor to give you a prescription for Restasis. It is for dry eye. It is supposed to help your eye produce tears - rather than just the dry eye drops that put moisture in your eye. It helped me immensly

I've been using it ever since my lasix surgery. THe only drawback is that it is a very expensive drug in the US - don't know about how that goes in Canada.

In order to make it go further, it comes in little tiny vials - which if I did not use the whole thing, I put in a jigger (liquor container) on my bathroom counter for the evening use. My doctor recommended this! Anyway, it is recommended to use twice a day at first - and now that I'm pretty far away from the surgery in time, I use it once a day in the morning. It really does help, but you will also need to use dry eye drops as needed.

spoke.

[Sheesh]

Ooh, I know I'm really late to the party, but I had PRK two years ago and I'm so glad I finally did it! I had dry eyes (only while wearing contacts) prior to getting the surgery and don't seem to have that problem anymore. I love just getting up and going now, rather than having to spend the time putting in my contacts.

Kelownagirl - I hope your vision clears up soon! My eyes healed pretty quickly, but when DH had LASKIK one eye took longer than the other to heal and that was REALLY frustrating for him. For me, the worst part was the pain that a simple breeze caused for weeks, until my eyes completely healed. Good luck!

[kelownagirl]

Kelowna Girl

Get your doctor to give you a prescription for Restasis. It is for dry eye. It is supposed to help your eye produce tears - rather than just the dry eye drops that put moisture in your eye. It helped me immensly

I've been using it ever since my lasix surgery. THe only drawback is that it is a very expensive drug in the US - don't know about how that goes in Canada.

In order to make it go further, it comes in little tiny vials - which if I did not use the whole thing, I put in a jigger (liquor container) on my bathroom counter for the evening use. My doctor recommended this! Anyway, it is recommended to use twice a day at first - and now that I'm pretty far away from the surgery in time, I use it once a day in the morning. It really does help, but you will also need to use dry eye drops as needed.

spoke.

A teacher at school was just telling me about something like this. She has it in tiny vials. They don't sell it in the pharmacy (maybe it's only from the US) but she gets it because she's in a 'study'. She didn't tell me what it was called but it sounds the same. She said it works better because it doesn't have preservatives in it. She's going to bring me some to try.

[spokewench]

A teacher at school was just telling me about something like this. She has it in tiny vials. They don't sell it in the pharmacy (maybe it's only from the US) but she gets it because she's in a 'study'. She didn't tell me what it was called but it sounds the same. She said it works better because it doesn't have preservatives in it. She's going to bring me some to try.

This is not over the counter here in the US either. It is a prescription by the doctor drug here in us

spoke