Well, this is probably my last post on this topic.
I went to my eye doctor today and he is very pleased with the progress. My left eye is basically perfect, but my right eye has a very slight -0.025 diopter nearsightedness, but this is starting from over -8 in both eyes. He said the right eye is still healing and this is just the tail end of the process. I am now down to only doing the FML steroid drops once a day.
My observation is that my vision - especially at a distance - is spectacular! Not having minor optical distortions or smudges or scratches from glasses is great and having back all of my peripheral vision is also fantastic. One of the best items of recent progress was that I found I didn't need reading glasses to work on the computer and I could get all my screens back to their regular fonts sizes!!
There are still some downside. I do have haloing at night which is irritating while driving but should clear up over the next few months. I do have to wear reading glasses now for reading in bed or playing games on my iPhone. Having to remember my reading glasses so I can read menus at restaurants and so on is irritating. Hopefully this will get slightly better, but I expect this is something I may be stuck with at my age. I do need to keep using artificial tears regularly, but my eyes don't seem to feel dry or uncomfortable except at the end of a long day.
When I was researching the procudure I found several useful diary blogs like this through Google. So, for those who might come upon this blog from the interwebs looking for info on PRK surgery, here are links to all the entries in sequential order:
It's been quite a journey!
Showing posts with label eye. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eye. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
PRK - 5 weeks post-surgery
Wow, two blog posts in two days! Yes, there is an Arduino project in the works, but it's moving slowly!
Anyway, today was my five week checkup so it seems like a good time to give an update on my eyes. Things are continuing to go well. My doctor says I am starting to be able to read the 20-20 lines of the charts and everything is healing very nicely,
From my unscientific perspective, things have been going well especially this week. Lat week I was getting bad headaches almost everyday from eye strain, but this week things have gotten really much clearer and I haven't had a headache in days. I do now wear some store bought reading glasses when working on the computer or reading, but I can do pretty well without them. Maybe the heat wave helped somehow? Basically, the improvements are now on a week-by-week basis rather than daily, but improvements are still happening.
The best thing was being able to swim in our pool without having to worry about "where did I leave my glasses" and being able to dive and see underwater with a mask! Wow! It really does make me realize how profoundly blind I was without my glasses before.
Anyway, today was my five week checkup so it seems like a good time to give an update on my eyes. Things are continuing to go well. My doctor says I am starting to be able to read the 20-20 lines of the charts and everything is healing very nicely,
From my unscientific perspective, things have been going well especially this week. Lat week I was getting bad headaches almost everyday from eye strain, but this week things have gotten really much clearer and I haven't had a headache in days. I do now wear some store bought reading glasses when working on the computer or reading, but I can do pretty well without them. Maybe the heat wave helped somehow? Basically, the improvements are now on a week-by-week basis rather than daily, but improvements are still happening.
The best thing was being able to swim in our pool without having to worry about "where did I leave my glasses" and being able to dive and see underwater with a mask! Wow! It really does make me realize how profoundly blind I was without my glasses before.
Friday, June 11, 2010
PRK - 2 weeks post surgery
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!
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!
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!
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.
Friday, May 28, 2010
PRK Surgery Day
Just a quick note today because the nurses warned me that "the doctor can tell if you have been working on your computer!"
The first part was paperwork & payment then a quick meeting with the doctor. He explained that because of my extreme prescription, they would be taking off nearly a quarter of my cornea, but the actual laser time was only 58 seconds. I have a somewhat elevated chance of needing a touch up later, but fingers crossed. As well there was a briefing on the post-op drop regime.
The surgery went well and had somewhat of an alien abduction feel. Ahead of the surgery you get a course of drops (more antibiotics and steroidal drops) then the topical anesthetic. The weird thing was being ushered into the room with no glasses on, so effectively blind, and being laid out on the surgical bed.
The first part of the procedure is getting the ocular speculum in to hold open the eyelid on the first eye (rather uncomfortable) then some measurements and getting everything set up. Then the doctor used what seemed like a mini-electric toothbrush to abrade off the out epithelial layer on my cornea. The topical anesthetic worked fine and it just tickled a bit. but was definitely odd. After scrapping off the residue, then it was laser time!
For the actual lasering, I had to concentrate on a flashing light, then you could hear the clicking of the laser and the technician counting down the time. Gradually my vision grew cloudier & cloudier and there was a bit of a disconcerting "burning flesh" smell, but it didn't last too long.
After that the doctor put Mitomecin on my eye, which is a cancer drug that helps prevent hazing and scarring then flushed the eye with water, put on some drops then slipped in the bandage contact lens. All very quick and I'm sure no more than 5 minutes. The second eye was just the same. Definitely a freaky feel and somewhat hard to describe, but not too terrible. Not to give away too much of my medical history, but I found it harder than a dental procedure (like a filling), but much easier than my vasectomy. Everyone at the clinic was very professional and nice.
Afterwords they check you out one more time and then you're done! I felt reasonably well after the surgery, so we went over to a nearby Chapters so my wife could find a book she needed and I just settled in to listen to my iPod and have a latte. On the long drive home, my eyes started to feel a bit irritated just with so much sun and I guess from drying out a bit.
At home, we went through a drop treatment and I took a Percocet and slept for a couple of hours. Now I am up and about with sunglasses on and my eyes feel fine. My vision is definitely very distorted, but I would say it is about at half my previous uncorrected myopia blurriness. It is a drag to not just get immediately perfect correction like the Lasik people, but at least I don't feel uncomfortable and I can more or less see well enough to do basic things. Thank heavens I learned touch typing or I would never be able to write this up!!
The first part was paperwork & payment then a quick meeting with the doctor. He explained that because of my extreme prescription, they would be taking off nearly a quarter of my cornea, but the actual laser time was only 58 seconds. I have a somewhat elevated chance of needing a touch up later, but fingers crossed. As well there was a briefing on the post-op drop regime.
The surgery went well and had somewhat of an alien abduction feel. Ahead of the surgery you get a course of drops (more antibiotics and steroidal drops) then the topical anesthetic. The weird thing was being ushered into the room with no glasses on, so effectively blind, and being laid out on the surgical bed.
The first part of the procedure is getting the ocular speculum in to hold open the eyelid on the first eye (rather uncomfortable) then some measurements and getting everything set up. Then the doctor used what seemed like a mini-electric toothbrush to abrade off the out epithelial layer on my cornea. The topical anesthetic worked fine and it just tickled a bit. but was definitely odd. After scrapping off the residue, then it was laser time!
For the actual lasering, I had to concentrate on a flashing light, then you could hear the clicking of the laser and the technician counting down the time. Gradually my vision grew cloudier & cloudier and there was a bit of a disconcerting "burning flesh" smell, but it didn't last too long.
After that the doctor put Mitomecin on my eye, which is a cancer drug that helps prevent hazing and scarring then flushed the eye with water, put on some drops then slipped in the bandage contact lens. All very quick and I'm sure no more than 5 minutes. The second eye was just the same. Definitely a freaky feel and somewhat hard to describe, but not too terrible. Not to give away too much of my medical history, but I found it harder than a dental procedure (like a filling), but much easier than my vasectomy. Everyone at the clinic was very professional and nice.
Afterwords they check you out one more time and then you're done! I felt reasonably well after the surgery, so we went over to a nearby Chapters so my wife could find a book she needed and I just settled in to listen to my iPod and have a latte. On the long drive home, my eyes started to feel a bit irritated just with so much sun and I guess from drying out a bit.
At home, we went through a drop treatment and I took a Percocet and slept for a couple of hours. Now I am up and about with sunglasses on and my eyes feel fine. My vision is definitely very distorted, but I would say it is about at half my previous uncorrected myopia blurriness. It is a drag to not just get immediately perfect correction like the Lasik people, but at least I don't feel uncomfortable and I can more or less see well enough to do basic things. Thank heavens I learned touch typing or I would never be able to write this up!!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
PRK Laser Srugery - Prologue
This will be a somewhat different set of posts than usual - perhaps this will be more like an actual blog then a set of technical recipes. You see, tomorrow I will be going in for laser eye surgery to get rid of my glasses after wearing them for some 38 years and I thought it might be a good idea to keep a diary of my recovery.
Normally, for most people these days, getting Lasik surgery is quite routine, but I have...
So, assuming I can even see my computer monitor, I am going to keep a record on my blog so that I can track just how well I am doing and how long it takes to recover. I've read a few other patients journals from their recovery and I found it really helpful to understand the process. Hopefully my journal will be helpful to someone else.
I do have a very cool Arduino project I will finish once I am up to it!
Normally, for most people these days, getting Lasik surgery is quite routine, but I have...
- A pretty extreme perscription at -9 diopters
- Apparently the epithelial layer of cells on my eye ball are somewhat loose (who knew?)
So, assuming I can even see my computer monitor, I am going to keep a record on my blog so that I can track just how well I am doing and how long it takes to recover. I've read a few other patients journals from their recovery and I found it really helpful to understand the process. Hopefully my journal will be helpful to someone else.
I do have a very cool Arduino project I will finish once I am up to it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
