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One Week Post Op
Today marks 1 week and 1 day since I had full laser LASIK. I had a doctors appointment this morning and the optometrist said everything looks great and in fact, was quite surprised at my ability to read the 20/20 line considering the minor complications I had with my right eye. My eyes are dry (not painful or obvious to me), so I'm using Blink Gel Tears throughout the day. Some of the bruising is still there, but it's fading slowly but surely. The most noticeable side effect is the starbursts and halos at night. For me, it's not debilitating or interfering with my ability to drive (quite frankly it wasn't much better with my glasses/contacts so maybe I'm immune?). All in all, I am still very pleased with my results!!
The Surgical Process//Post Op Days 1 2 and 3
Sunday March 1st marks 3 days since I had LASIK eye surgery to correct moderate myopia. The surgery was a success and recovery has been easier and less painful than I anticipated. I did have a minor complication (flap striae, more on that later), but it has since been fixed and I am seeing 20/20 as I write this update.
Day of - don't get me wrong, any surgical procedure can be nerve wracking. Even though I have been assured countless times that there is no pain during the process (just pressure), I had visions of the numbing drops wearing off and feeling the lasers as they reshape my corneas. The actual surgery is very quick. After prepping with a technician and swallowing a Valium, I was escorted into the operating room by the surgeon and we had a brief Q&A. Minutes later I was on the table with a teddy bear and various lasers above my head. If I could give anyone a single piece of advice, it would be to not watch youtube videos of the procedure before you get it done. The view from the doctors POV vs your own are wolds apart. I do not have a good way to describe the process other than "weird". Pressure and suctioning of the eye, the bladeless "cutting" of the flap (I compared that to a kaleidoscope), the lasers (pretty much exactly as you would expect) and finishing by pulling the flap down and washing with distilled water and antibiotic drops. Total time on the table - less than 10 minutes.
The rest of the day involved sleep, repeatedly using numbing drops, steroids and antibiotics, ZzzQuil and more sleep. My eyes stung quite a bit and watered tremendously. Blurriness to where I couldn't see lasted approximately 3-4 hours. After my first long nap, I was able to see much better, albeit not 100%. I would only wake to eat food and then fall back asleep to promote healing.
Friday morning I had my follow up at 7:30am. Vision in my left eye was incredible. I was guessing 20/30. My right eye seemed to be lagging. I knew I had more laser on that eye and a bit more astigmatism, so I anticipated on it healing slower. While improved, everything seemed "smeary", not clear or in focus. My optometrist taking one look through his slit lamp says "Your left eye is doing great, however it looks like you have some flap striae, or wrinkling of the flap on your right eye. I will notify the surgeon and we will get it fixed right away." In the matter of 15 minutes I was back on the table with numbing drops in my eye. The process of fixing flap striae involves lifting the flap, irrigating the stroma and then stretching and smoothing the flap back over it. I was fitted with a contact lens bandage and was on my way with a check up for the following morning.
I would say Friday was personally "worse" than Thursday. It's not that I was in more pain, the contact lens left everything incredibly blurry and the discrepancy between the vision in my left eye vs right was irritating. I ran to Walgreens and bought an eye patch (Arrrghh!) and would wear that on and off, whenever the blurriness annoyed me.
Saturday! Another early appointment, 7:30. Everything felt great. Right eye was blurry due to the contact, but the left was steadily improving. First thing when I sat down in the optometrist chair, I begged to get the contact out (I don't know how PRK people can do it!). He said, "we can take it out, but here is the thing, you may have more pain due to the swelling from restretching the flap, but your vision will be better. Or, we keep the contact in, and it will be more comfortable." I chose the removal of the contact. Luckily it didn't hurt any worse than with the contact in. It burned a little right as it was removed, but no issues since. My vision in my right eye was blurry but gradually improved throughout the day.
I woke up this morning and I was pleasantly surprised. After removing my eye shields and blinking a few times, I could see! Out of both eyes! I do anticipate my vision fluctuating in the upcoming months and I am okay with that. I am very diligent about my eye drops, not touching the eye area at all and wearing my shields. I know I'm very much in the "wow" stage, but there is nothing like being able to actually see without the aid of glasses or contacts. All I have left are subconjunctival hemorrhages in both eyes, which will heal and dissipate in a week or so. Overall I am very pleased with the outcome thus far and look forward to a glasses/contact lens free life.
I will update again in a couple of weeks or so to report any changes, for the better or worse.
Day of - don't get me wrong, any surgical procedure can be nerve wracking. Even though I have been assured countless times that there is no pain during the process (just pressure), I had visions of the numbing drops wearing off and feeling the lasers as they reshape my corneas. The actual surgery is very quick. After prepping with a technician and swallowing a Valium, I was escorted into the operating room by the surgeon and we had a brief Q&A. Minutes later I was on the table with a teddy bear and various lasers above my head. If I could give anyone a single piece of advice, it would be to not watch youtube videos of the procedure before you get it done. The view from the doctors POV vs your own are wolds apart. I do not have a good way to describe the process other than "weird". Pressure and suctioning of the eye, the bladeless "cutting" of the flap (I compared that to a kaleidoscope), the lasers (pretty much exactly as you would expect) and finishing by pulling the flap down and washing with distilled water and antibiotic drops. Total time on the table - less than 10 minutes.
The rest of the day involved sleep, repeatedly using numbing drops, steroids and antibiotics, ZzzQuil and more sleep. My eyes stung quite a bit and watered tremendously. Blurriness to where I couldn't see lasted approximately 3-4 hours. After my first long nap, I was able to see much better, albeit not 100%. I would only wake to eat food and then fall back asleep to promote healing.
Friday morning I had my follow up at 7:30am. Vision in my left eye was incredible. I was guessing 20/30. My right eye seemed to be lagging. I knew I had more laser on that eye and a bit more astigmatism, so I anticipated on it healing slower. While improved, everything seemed "smeary", not clear or in focus. My optometrist taking one look through his slit lamp says "Your left eye is doing great, however it looks like you have some flap striae, or wrinkling of the flap on your right eye. I will notify the surgeon and we will get it fixed right away." In the matter of 15 minutes I was back on the table with numbing drops in my eye. The process of fixing flap striae involves lifting the flap, irrigating the stroma and then stretching and smoothing the flap back over it. I was fitted with a contact lens bandage and was on my way with a check up for the following morning.
I would say Friday was personally "worse" than Thursday. It's not that I was in more pain, the contact lens left everything incredibly blurry and the discrepancy between the vision in my left eye vs right was irritating. I ran to Walgreens and bought an eye patch (Arrrghh!) and would wear that on and off, whenever the blurriness annoyed me.
Saturday! Another early appointment, 7:30. Everything felt great. Right eye was blurry due to the contact, but the left was steadily improving. First thing when I sat down in the optometrist chair, I begged to get the contact out (I don't know how PRK people can do it!). He said, "we can take it out, but here is the thing, you may have more pain due to the swelling from restretching the flap, but your vision will be better. Or, we keep the contact in, and it will be more comfortable." I chose the removal of the contact. Luckily it didn't hurt any worse than with the contact in. It burned a little right as it was removed, but no issues since. My vision in my right eye was blurry but gradually improved throughout the day.
I woke up this morning and I was pleasantly surprised. After removing my eye shields and blinking a few times, I could see! Out of both eyes! I do anticipate my vision fluctuating in the upcoming months and I am okay with that. I am very diligent about my eye drops, not touching the eye area at all and wearing my shields. I know I'm very much in the "wow" stage, but there is nothing like being able to actually see without the aid of glasses or contacts. All I have left are subconjunctival hemorrhages in both eyes, which will heal and dissipate in a week or so. Overall I am very pleased with the outcome thus far and look forward to a glasses/contact lens free life.
I will update again in a couple of weeks or so to report any changes, for the better or worse.
I stumbled across this website after googling "Is...
I stumbled across this website after googling "Is LASIK Safe?" "LASIK reviews" "LASIK FAQ" hours before my surgery. It is presently 01:48 Mountain time and my appointment is scheduled for at 10:00. After reading horror story after horror story, perusing the "LASIK Complications" website and looking at gruesome images of LASIK gone wrong, I have decided to still get the procedure done.
I have been wearing glasses for 20 years. I remember the first time I realized that not everyone had blurry vision and that the world was in actuality, bright, crisp and vivid. Thus began my journey of corrected vision. For the first five years, I wore glasses. Dorky, big, plastic, metal, thin - I had all of the shapes and sizes. When I was 14, my parents let me get contacts or what I thought were miracle pieces of flexible plastic. For the next 15 years I wore contacts 75% of the time and glasses for the remainder. When the contacts you can sleep in came on the market a few years back, I thought "surely it doesn't get better than this!" While I was moderately satisfied and acclimated to a life of contacts and glasses, LASIK always lingered in the back of my mind. As an elective procedure, it is costly and seemingly something only the privileged could afford so I pushed it to the back burner. It has always remained in my head as "one day".
Fast forward to today. I am 29 years old and in a financial spot to where I can afford LASIK. Due to climate induced dry eye (I live in Colorado), I already have punctal plugs and am adjusted to a daily eye drop regimen. My contacts are no longer comfortable due to the low humidity and my job which involves heavy computer usage 10+ hours a day. I would leave work looking like I was partaking in a little bit of Colorado's legal pot, with my eyes being incredibly bloodshot. My glasses are bothersome. I have top of the line lenses regarding glare and being scratch proof, however they are more prone to smudges and once smudged, are very difficult to clean (you can't just wipe them with a cloth, I need to spray them with cleaner or use hand soap and run them under water and then dry with a special cloth). Since my contacts irritate me here in Colorado, I've resorted to wearing my glasses a majority of the time. Simple tasks like taking a shower are more involved due to not being able to see. If it's hot out, they are constantly sliding down the bridge of my sweaty nose. If it's cold, they are fogging up. Forget about when it's raining. Can I wear a hat today? Oh, no. I'm wearing glasses. Want to go skiing? Need special goggles to fit over regular glasses. All of this may seem like minor inconveniences to some and not worth the risk of LASIK, but for me, I've had enough.
Like any other surgery, I understand that there is a risk involved with LASIK. But what isn't there a risk associated with these days? I found a great place and they have already impressed me with my visits leading up to surgery. When I first went to the clinic a few weeks back, they discovered that my eyes have been over focusing for 20 years - something that no other optometrist has looked into or discovered. This is also something that I believe has triggered chronic migraines, coincidentally (or not) for the same exact amount of time as I developed migraines the same year I got glasses. I have been dilating my eyes every night for weeks and on my last visit, they said my eye muscles have relaxed and the spasm (over focusing) is gone. This took what I thought was my prescription of -3.25 in each eye, down to -2.50. My concern with an overcorrection has diminished.
I am scheduled for full laser (intralase bladeless) LASIK. I will provide updates as often as I can.
On a side note, I notice there are a handful of people on the internet who are very anti LASIK and post on various sites (here, youtube, etc) about the "staggering" number of complications due to refractive surgery and Morris Waxler. If you're one of those people, please keep your comments to yourself. As I said earlier, I have done my research and this is what I am choosing to do. No different than a person who decides to take up smoking, use a tanning bed, or go bungee jumping, regardless of the risks.
Also my procedure is on the 26th, not the 27th.
Thanks for reading.
I have been wearing glasses for 20 years. I remember the first time I realized that not everyone had blurry vision and that the world was in actuality, bright, crisp and vivid. Thus began my journey of corrected vision. For the first five years, I wore glasses. Dorky, big, plastic, metal, thin - I had all of the shapes and sizes. When I was 14, my parents let me get contacts or what I thought were miracle pieces of flexible plastic. For the next 15 years I wore contacts 75% of the time and glasses for the remainder. When the contacts you can sleep in came on the market a few years back, I thought "surely it doesn't get better than this!" While I was moderately satisfied and acclimated to a life of contacts and glasses, LASIK always lingered in the back of my mind. As an elective procedure, it is costly and seemingly something only the privileged could afford so I pushed it to the back burner. It has always remained in my head as "one day".
Fast forward to today. I am 29 years old and in a financial spot to where I can afford LASIK. Due to climate induced dry eye (I live in Colorado), I already have punctal plugs and am adjusted to a daily eye drop regimen. My contacts are no longer comfortable due to the low humidity and my job which involves heavy computer usage 10+ hours a day. I would leave work looking like I was partaking in a little bit of Colorado's legal pot, with my eyes being incredibly bloodshot. My glasses are bothersome. I have top of the line lenses regarding glare and being scratch proof, however they are more prone to smudges and once smudged, are very difficult to clean (you can't just wipe them with a cloth, I need to spray them with cleaner or use hand soap and run them under water and then dry with a special cloth). Since my contacts irritate me here in Colorado, I've resorted to wearing my glasses a majority of the time. Simple tasks like taking a shower are more involved due to not being able to see. If it's hot out, they are constantly sliding down the bridge of my sweaty nose. If it's cold, they are fogging up. Forget about when it's raining. Can I wear a hat today? Oh, no. I'm wearing glasses. Want to go skiing? Need special goggles to fit over regular glasses. All of this may seem like minor inconveniences to some and not worth the risk of LASIK, but for me, I've had enough.
Like any other surgery, I understand that there is a risk involved with LASIK. But what isn't there a risk associated with these days? I found a great place and they have already impressed me with my visits leading up to surgery. When I first went to the clinic a few weeks back, they discovered that my eyes have been over focusing for 20 years - something that no other optometrist has looked into or discovered. This is also something that I believe has triggered chronic migraines, coincidentally (or not) for the same exact amount of time as I developed migraines the same year I got glasses. I have been dilating my eyes every night for weeks and on my last visit, they said my eye muscles have relaxed and the spasm (over focusing) is gone. This took what I thought was my prescription of -3.25 in each eye, down to -2.50. My concern with an overcorrection has diminished.
I am scheduled for full laser (intralase bladeless) LASIK. I will provide updates as often as I can.
On a side note, I notice there are a handful of people on the internet who are very anti LASIK and post on various sites (here, youtube, etc) about the "staggering" number of complications due to refractive surgery and Morris Waxler. If you're one of those people, please keep your comments to yourself. As I said earlier, I have done my research and this is what I am choosing to do. No different than a person who decides to take up smoking, use a tanning bed, or go bungee jumping, regardless of the risks.
Also my procedure is on the 26th, not the 27th.
Thanks for reading.