My PRK Experience

I had my 6-month follow up appointment last week. To be honest I almost forgot I even had the appointment scheduled because I have just gotten back into the routine of life, but without contacts or glasses! Everything went swimmingly, no haze at all, no scarring. I tested both eyes at no prescription, no astigmatism. I read the 20/20 line with ease with each eye individually and got a couple of letters on the 20/15 line. With both eyes I read the 20/15 line with ease. I didn't get the chance to go smaller than that at my appointment but I'm satisfied with the results. I can honestly say that I can see better than I could when I was wearing contacts, which is very exciting to me! I actually have less halos at night now than I did before. My doctor attributes that to correcting my astigmatism. I'll have to take his word for that. I recommend PRK based on my experience. The recovery is really not that bad and after 2 months, I forgot I had the surgery many times but would notice after a month or so went by that I was seeing even sharper. They say that your eyes could take up to a year to get to the final result. I can't imagine them getting too much better but if that happens, that's amazing.

I can't believe it has already been 70 days. Thought I would update for posterity.

My vision is amazing at the moment. I am so happy with the results and I would do this a thousand times again. I'll go as far as saying that my vision is at least as good as when I was wearing contacts. My right eye has almost completely caught up and I have no more ghosting issues. The only time I have any degradation is when I have a very active day and don't use the re-wetting eye drops. If I stare at a computer screen all day, by the end of the day, my vision is not as sharp. But I feel as though this is probably the case surgery or not.

Went to my 2-month followup last week and I was seeing quite well:

- OD (Right Eye): 20/25 ++ (Two letters on the 20/20 line)
- OS (Left Eye): 20/25 +++ (Three letters on the 20/20 line)
- OU (Both Eyes): 20/20 ++ (Got 2 letters on the 20/10 line)

The doctor also took a new topographical map of my eye and it was really cool to see the before and after. The before was a kind of bumpy green/yellow map, the after was a flat blue map. The way it was described was that they basically flattened out the cornea to correct the vision. Apparently, since there are no abnormalities in the new topo map, it is unlikely that I will need a touch-up. No scar tissue, no haze. I have no issues with halos or starbursts at night. In fact, I would say I had more halos before the surgery, likely because of my astigmatism.

I understand that my surgeon over corrected both of my eyes by about .25 on purpose to battle age related vision loss. As it turns out after my examination, both of my eyes are exactly +.25 with no astigmatism.

I have my 3-month follow up in 10 days and I fully expect to be 20/20 or better. Life changing experience for me and it gets better every week. Only wish I had gotten it sooner.

Day 36: (6/17/17)

Had my appointment today, nothing really new to report. My vision is getting better.... slowly. It's not until 2 or 3 days go by until I recognize the differences. No more steroid drops as of yesterday, and I am very happy about that. Those drops sting and it's like pouring milk into your eyes. It's awful. Doctor says that things should improve from here since I am not on the steroid anymore. Slight haze in my left eye, should improve with time. Right eye was +.50 with a .25 astigmatism. Left eye was -.25, no astigmatism. Should clear up when my corneas fully heal. I'm not even sure those numbers are correct since everything looked basically the same, just a little more defined. Results were:

- OD (Right Eye): 20/30
- OS (Left Eye): 20/30
- OU (Both Eyes): 20/25 (Got 2 letters on the 20/20 line)

Next appointment in 3 weeks. Won't update unless something changes significantly.