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*Treatment results may vary
I had a -3.00 prescription in both eyes with mild...
I had a -3.00 prescription in both eyes with mild astigmatism in one eye. I've wanted LASIK pretty much since I started wearing glasses when I was in high school, and when my prescription stabilized enough (it took over 10 years), I went in for an evaluation and found out my corneas were oddly shaped so I wasn't a candidate for LASIK. PRK, however, would be fine. I had done my research and was so disappointed. Because of the timing of when I needed to get the surgery done, I really couldn't be out of work for more than a few days (I'm an accountant and was heading into my busy time, but couldn't delay the surgery for other reasons).
Long story short, if I could go back and had the choice, I'd choose PRK. I was so scared of the horror stories about recovery time, but it really wasn't that bad. Overall, I was 20/20 within a couple of weeks and my vision was never worse than it was prior to the surgery. My timeline looked like this:
Thursday - Had surgery at 11AM. The surgery itself is well described online. Doesn't take long at all, not painful, just a little weird but the Valium helps! Light sensitivity was pretty bad all day - I ate dinner by candlelight with sunglasses on, and the candle was all the way across the room!
Friday - Woke up and it felt like I had been cutting up onions all night. My eyes were watering like crazy and stinging, but I put in the first set of prescription drops and immediately felt much better, so I realized that feeling was coming from dryness. That's when I started drinking TONS of water for the rest of my recovery, and I really think that had a huge impact on my fast recovery. That morning was the worst of it. Still crazy light sensitivity and vision very blurry. The best way I can think to describe it is that you have vaseline in your eyes, and sometimes you'll blink and be able to see really well for a few seconds, then it's blurry again.
Saturday - Similar to Friday but comfortable when waking up in the morning. Light sensitivity getting much better, still blurry vision.
Sunday - Drastic difference, my vision is MUCH better. My doctor said I'm legally able to drive (although, that makes me super uncomfortable about who the law allows behind the wheel because my vision isn't great yet!)
Monday through Friday - Back to work. I drew the blinds in my office because of light sensitivity, but the flourescents alone were fine. I had meetings most of the day Monday through Thursday, so i wasn't staring at a computer all day which helped. Friday I didn't have any meetings and I got a headache being at a computer for so long, but nothing that wasn't manageable. I had my bandage contacts out on Wednesday, no issues.
ADVICE:
Get a couple of good books on tape. Drink TONS of water. Keep your eyes closed as much as you can over the first few days. Get Refresh brand eye drop vials (the tops are replaceable so you can use it a couple of times rather than throwing them out immediately). Change your cell phone and computers to the largest font you can (the vision piece that was the worst for me was up-close, which was much better one week out, but with large font you can at least make phone calls and look up something in an emergency).
Long story short, if I could go back and had the choice, I'd choose PRK. I was so scared of the horror stories about recovery time, but it really wasn't that bad. Overall, I was 20/20 within a couple of weeks and my vision was never worse than it was prior to the surgery. My timeline looked like this:
Thursday - Had surgery at 11AM. The surgery itself is well described online. Doesn't take long at all, not painful, just a little weird but the Valium helps! Light sensitivity was pretty bad all day - I ate dinner by candlelight with sunglasses on, and the candle was all the way across the room!
Friday - Woke up and it felt like I had been cutting up onions all night. My eyes were watering like crazy and stinging, but I put in the first set of prescription drops and immediately felt much better, so I realized that feeling was coming from dryness. That's when I started drinking TONS of water for the rest of my recovery, and I really think that had a huge impact on my fast recovery. That morning was the worst of it. Still crazy light sensitivity and vision very blurry. The best way I can think to describe it is that you have vaseline in your eyes, and sometimes you'll blink and be able to see really well for a few seconds, then it's blurry again.
Saturday - Similar to Friday but comfortable when waking up in the morning. Light sensitivity getting much better, still blurry vision.
Sunday - Drastic difference, my vision is MUCH better. My doctor said I'm legally able to drive (although, that makes me super uncomfortable about who the law allows behind the wheel because my vision isn't great yet!)
Monday through Friday - Back to work. I drew the blinds in my office because of light sensitivity, but the flourescents alone were fine. I had meetings most of the day Monday through Thursday, so i wasn't staring at a computer all day which helped. Friday I didn't have any meetings and I got a headache being at a computer for so long, but nothing that wasn't manageable. I had my bandage contacts out on Wednesday, no issues.
ADVICE:
Get a couple of good books on tape. Drink TONS of water. Keep your eyes closed as much as you can over the first few days. Get Refresh brand eye drop vials (the tops are replaceable so you can use it a couple of times rather than throwing them out immediately). Change your cell phone and computers to the largest font you can (the vision piece that was the worst for me was up-close, which was much better one week out, but with large font you can at least make phone calls and look up something in an emergency).
Provider Review
Dr. Santiago Villazon
Met him day-of which I wasn't crazy about, but he was very nice and knowledgeable, and everyone else in the office was wonderful so I felt very comfortable. Dr. Villazon was also super conservative with my surgery (I was borderline able to get LASIK, but he said he wouldn't take the chance.) I like people that are careful!