Well, today is two weeks and I just had a followup with my doctor, so it seems like a good time for a progress report...
In general, things are proceeding and each day is still slightly better, but then some days are better than others and the improvements are smaller. I do still get blurry vision, dry eyes this gives me a headache sometimes (like right now) - especially since my job requires a lot of computer screen time. At the end of the day it feel like I have had my contacts in for too long and it's time to take them out, but then I remember that isn't an option! On the other hand, I can drive again and when my vision is completely clear it is spectacular.
My eye doctor says everything is healing perfectly and looks great, but that it will likely take the more like 3 to 6 months for everything to fully clear up. The residual blurriness and so on is apparently because of minute swelling of the cornea as part of the recovery process. Naturally, I would have liked everything to be perfect by the end of two weeks, but my doctor makes the perfectly valid point that I did have 25% of my cornea blasted away by a laser and that takes some time to heal. A friend of mine who had PRK recommends keeping well hydrated, which does seem to help and is just good advice in general!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
PRK - 1 week post surgery
So, it has now officially been a week post-surgery and things continue to progress albeit not in a completely linear fashion.
Today I realized I could once again read small magazine text without reading glasses and I was able to bump down the font sizes on my computer for the first time. Still, it is hard to work at the computer screen for extended periods and moving to focus from close to far objects is tough. I also still have halo'ing. My vision also seems to be clearer when I yawn, which I expect is because of the effect of tearing up slightly when I yawn. I also have to do lots of artificial tears.
Still, on the positive side, things are getting better each day and I am really liking have peripheral vision again like I did when I wore contacts many years ago! Not having to reach for my glasses in the morning or middle of the night is pretty cool. I am still getting used to my non-glassed face in the mirror when I shave. My wife says it is definitely a transition for her since she has only ever known me with glasses!
I also wanted to thank the two people who more than anyone (well, besides my surgeon, eye doctor & wife) have contributed to my recovery - Tom and Ray Magliozzi from Car Talk on NPR. I downloaded I don't know how many episodes of the show onto my iPhone and I've listened to them all back-to-back - especially earlier on when I pretty much couldn't do anything! If you aren't familiar with them, check them out at cartalk.com. I'm just waiting for my car to make a weird noise so I can call it in and have them laugh at me!
Today I realized I could once again read small magazine text without reading glasses and I was able to bump down the font sizes on my computer for the first time. Still, it is hard to work at the computer screen for extended periods and moving to focus from close to far objects is tough. I also still have halo'ing. My vision also seems to be clearer when I yawn, which I expect is because of the effect of tearing up slightly when I yawn. I also have to do lots of artificial tears.
Still, on the positive side, things are getting better each day and I am really liking have peripheral vision again like I did when I wore contacts many years ago! Not having to reach for my glasses in the morning or middle of the night is pretty cool. I am still getting used to my non-glassed face in the mirror when I shave. My wife says it is definitely a transition for her since she has only ever known me with glasses!
I also wanted to thank the two people who more than anyone (well, besides my surgeon, eye doctor & wife) have contributed to my recovery - Tom and Ray Magliozzi from Car Talk on NPR. I downloaded I don't know how many episodes of the show onto my iPhone and I've listened to them all back-to-back - especially earlier on when I pretty much couldn't do anything! If you aren't familiar with them, check them out at cartalk.com. I'm just waiting for my car to make a weird noise so I can call it in and have them laugh at me!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
PRK - Post Surgery Day 5
Quick update today...
My doctor (and most of my reading on the surgery) said the recovery would not be linear and I guess today was the non-linear day. Things that were quite clear yesterday are very blurry again today - for instance I totally can't read the house addresses across the street. Even a moderate amount of computer work is very fatiguing and I have had to take some Tylenol for a headache.
Well, I will keep the faith that this will sort out over the next few days as everyone has promised. Tomorrow I am starting back to work, but I will definitely have to take frequent rests from the computer screen now and then.
I also picked up a pair of reading glasses today and for the 1st time got to utter the immortal phrase "Honey, have you seen my reading glasses?" Fortunately they weren't balanced on my forehead or something at the time!
My doctor (and most of my reading on the surgery) said the recovery would not be linear and I guess today was the non-linear day. Things that were quite clear yesterday are very blurry again today - for instance I totally can't read the house addresses across the street. Even a moderate amount of computer work is very fatiguing and I have had to take some Tylenol for a headache.
Well, I will keep the faith that this will sort out over the next few days as everyone has promised. Tomorrow I am starting back to work, but I will definitely have to take frequent rests from the computer screen now and then.
I also picked up a pair of reading glasses today and for the 1st time got to utter the immortal phrase "Honey, have you seen my reading glasses?" Fortunately they weren't balanced on my forehead or something at the time!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
PRK - Post surgery Day 4
Today has been a big improvement over yesterday. Immediately after getting up, my left eye still had the somewhat painful "eyelash" sensation, but by mid-morning that had gone away and today is the first day I haven't had to take any pain killers - just steroidal drops (which I will be on for months to come). My vision is getting better day-by-day. Today I could read the address numbers on houses next door!
I went for the last of the daily follow-ups with my doctor and, besides apologizing profusely for the incident yesterday, he said everything is healing up just as expected. The left eye is now a day or so behind the right eye because of tearing the epithelium, but it has healed up and is coming along. I still have a lot of haloing - especially with the left eye, but the improvement is very noticeable now. Amazingly, he said I actually would be legal to drive! Frankly, I still find the idea slightly terrifying and I would give it a few days yet before I will be back to driving.
So, all-in-all, good progress and now moving more quickly! I will likely stop posting about this every day now and just give periodic updates as my recovery continues.
I went for the last of the daily follow-ups with my doctor and, besides apologizing profusely for the incident yesterday, he said everything is healing up just as expected. The left eye is now a day or so behind the right eye because of tearing the epithelium, but it has healed up and is coming along. I still have a lot of haloing - especially with the left eye, but the improvement is very noticeable now. Amazingly, he said I actually would be legal to drive! Frankly, I still find the idea slightly terrifying and I would give it a few days yet before I will be back to driving.
So, all-in-all, good progress and now moving more quickly! I will likely stop posting about this every day now and just give periodic updates as my recovery continues.
Monday, May 31, 2010
PRK - Post Surgery Day 3
Well, a bit of a late post today because unfortunately the day hasn't gone so well.
Initially I had high hopes I would be getting the bandage contacts out today and all would be right with the world and my prescription would be starting to lock in somewhat. The doctor had told me to be sure to hit my eyes with artificial tears every five minutes for an hour before my appointment so that they would be well lubed up to slip out, which I dutifully did.
When I got there he did the usual microscope routine and pronounced the epithelium healed enough to allow taking the lenses out. He took out the right lens just fine, but when he went for the left lens it unfortunately tore at the new layer of skin. Amazingly, the pain is pretty much what you would expect from ripping freshly grown skin off your eyeball - excruciating.
For pretty much the whole day I have had to keep my left eye closed as much as possible since the sensation of opening it had been akin to having glass rubbed in my eye. Initially, I came home and had a Percocet which just caused me to have a very weird, hallucinogenic nap then later I had Tylenol and Tylenol with codeine. Now, about 7 hours after it happened I can keep my left eye open a bit while I type this, but it definitely still hurts a lot. Of course, this is pretty discouraging as well as painful since I was hoping today would really be when I turned a corner. I can read the shampoo bottle labels in the shower, which is more than I ever could without my glasses, so there is some progress.
The right eye does feel quite good, fortunately, but the prescription is still very off. My doctor says it should be starting to improve, but then he's the guy who just ripped the skin off my eyeball!
Initially I had high hopes I would be getting the bandage contacts out today and all would be right with the world and my prescription would be starting to lock in somewhat. The doctor had told me to be sure to hit my eyes with artificial tears every five minutes for an hour before my appointment so that they would be well lubed up to slip out, which I dutifully did.
When I got there he did the usual microscope routine and pronounced the epithelium healed enough to allow taking the lenses out. He took out the right lens just fine, but when he went for the left lens it unfortunately tore at the new layer of skin. Amazingly, the pain is pretty much what you would expect from ripping freshly grown skin off your eyeball - excruciating.
For pretty much the whole day I have had to keep my left eye closed as much as possible since the sensation of opening it had been akin to having glass rubbed in my eye. Initially, I came home and had a Percocet which just caused me to have a very weird, hallucinogenic nap then later I had Tylenol and Tylenol with codeine. Now, about 7 hours after it happened I can keep my left eye open a bit while I type this, but it definitely still hurts a lot. Of course, this is pretty discouraging as well as painful since I was hoping today would really be when I turned a corner. I can read the shampoo bottle labels in the shower, which is more than I ever could without my glasses, so there is some progress.
The right eye does feel quite good, fortunately, but the prescription is still very off. My doctor says it should be starting to improve, but then he's the guy who just ripped the skin off my eyeball!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
PRK - Post surgery Day 2
OK, this is supposed to be the worst day and it really is. I can barely see what I am writing even with the screen fonts & browser scaling turned up full. My vision today is still somewhat better than my previous uncorrected vision, but lots of blurring and today some slight haziness. Last night it was definitely more painful and I'm getting lots of the "eye lash in the eye" feeling.
That being said, this is all completely normal and my eye doctor this morning said everything in healing up just fine. My left eye is bugging me the most and he says that is the one that is healing the fastest! So, I will keep a good thought and just be patient today.
So far I have only had to take two of the Percocets they gave me and a few Extra Strength Tylenols. Again, I would still say this is less painful than a dental procedure, but the deteriorating vision is definitely irritating and interferes with doing a lot of normal things I would do to kill time like gardening, working on the computer or watching TV. Good thing I downloaded a bunch of episodes of "Car Talk" from NPR before the surgery. By the time this is done I will be a master mechanic and/or have a Boston accent.
Many thanks to my wife for keeping all the drops straight. She really should be a nurse. One thing you do have to watch with this is all the various eye drops you need to be squirting in your eyes!
That being said, this is all completely normal and my eye doctor this morning said everything in healing up just fine. My left eye is bugging me the most and he says that is the one that is healing the fastest! So, I will keep a good thought and just be patient today.
So far I have only had to take two of the Percocets they gave me and a few Extra Strength Tylenols. Again, I would still say this is less painful than a dental procedure, but the deteriorating vision is definitely irritating and interferes with doing a lot of normal things I would do to kill time like gardening, working on the computer or watching TV. Good thing I downloaded a bunch of episodes of "Car Talk" from NPR before the surgery. By the time this is done I will be a master mechanic and/or have a Boston accent.
Many thanks to my wife for keeping all the drops straight. She really should be a nurse. One thing you do have to watch with this is all the various eye drops you need to be squirting in your eyes!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
PRK Post-surgery - Day 1 after
Well, this is my 1st day after the surgery and I will need to keep this quick since it's pretty hard for me to see the screen.
I had my first follow-up with my local eye doctor and he said everything was healing fine. In fact, since my surgery was quite early yesterday he said I was slightly ahead of the curve. The family all went out for a good breakfast this morning and in general I have felt pretty good. I had a long nap in the afternoon and my energy level seems a bit low.
For most of the morning I really couldn't feel the bandage contacts at all and so far I have only had two extra strength Tylenols for the discomfort. I've had a bit of the "eyelash in the eye" feeling in one eye, but only occasionally. Right now later in the day and after having been outside, and with trying to concentrate on my computer screen to write this, my eyes definitely feel tired and a bit scratchy.
My vision is very poor and probably worse than yesterday. I would describe it as about a third or half of my previous uncorrected -9 diopter prescription, so I can function at most things, but it is still tough - lots of halos and so on.
The strangest thing is my eyes look perfectly normal - they aren't blood shot or weepy or swollen or anything. As my wife says, if I had sneaked out and had the surgery, it would be impossible to tell! Even the bandage contact lenses aren't all that obvious. Contrast this with a friend of mine who had Lasik who had some bloodshot appearance a week later. I think that's because there is a ring they place on your eye for cutting the flap in Lasik that isn't required for PRK.
So, that's probably enough for now, but just to mention one last thing. If you are going for this surgery you definitely, absolutely will need a committed partner to help see you through it and the after care. Immediately after the surgery you are really pretty helpless and I still feel pretty helpless while I have the bandage lenses in. There is also a pretty complex regime of eye drops to manage. It gets especially complicated when there are also children to look after! My friends who have had Lasik are generally right back to fairly normal routine the next day, but that just isn't the case with PRK!
I made the dumb mistake of planning this for when our primary child care helpers (my in-laws) happened to be out of town which has made this somewhat more complicated than it might be normally. My wife has been wonderfully supportive and taken on the extra load without complaint and I appreciate it and love her even more for it! I will definitely make it up to her with some time off for her later in the summer when this is all over.
I had my first follow-up with my local eye doctor and he said everything was healing fine. In fact, since my surgery was quite early yesterday he said I was slightly ahead of the curve. The family all went out for a good breakfast this morning and in general I have felt pretty good. I had a long nap in the afternoon and my energy level seems a bit low.
For most of the morning I really couldn't feel the bandage contacts at all and so far I have only had two extra strength Tylenols for the discomfort. I've had a bit of the "eyelash in the eye" feeling in one eye, but only occasionally. Right now later in the day and after having been outside, and with trying to concentrate on my computer screen to write this, my eyes definitely feel tired and a bit scratchy.
My vision is very poor and probably worse than yesterday. I would describe it as about a third or half of my previous uncorrected -9 diopter prescription, so I can function at most things, but it is still tough - lots of halos and so on.
The strangest thing is my eyes look perfectly normal - they aren't blood shot or weepy or swollen or anything. As my wife says, if I had sneaked out and had the surgery, it would be impossible to tell! Even the bandage contact lenses aren't all that obvious. Contrast this with a friend of mine who had Lasik who had some bloodshot appearance a week later. I think that's because there is a ring they place on your eye for cutting the flap in Lasik that isn't required for PRK.
So, that's probably enough for now, but just to mention one last thing. If you are going for this surgery you definitely, absolutely will need a committed partner to help see you through it and the after care. Immediately after the surgery you are really pretty helpless and I still feel pretty helpless while I have the bandage lenses in. There is also a pretty complex regime of eye drops to manage. It gets especially complicated when there are also children to look after! My friends who have had Lasik are generally right back to fairly normal routine the next day, but that just isn't the case with PRK!
I made the dumb mistake of planning this for when our primary child care helpers (my in-laws) happened to be out of town which has made this somewhat more complicated than it might be normally. My wife has been wonderfully supportive and taken on the extra load without complaint and I appreciate it and love her even more for it! I will definitely make it up to her with some time off for her later in the summer when this is all over.
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