Friday, 21 August 2009
I turn 34 today. Anti-climactic.
It's five weeks post-surgery. My right eye still continues to heal. It's been dry and irritable all week long. There is improvement from last week: Last week, reading street signs was blurred with my right eye. There was still enough ghosting where the lettering was not coming in clearly. This week, the lettering on signs and license plates has come into focus. I'm still seeing some ghosting, but things are slowly but surely sharpening up. It's also becoming easier to sit at my computer at work throughout the day. Not completely headache free, but easier. My vision fluctuates throughout the day. It goes in and out of focus when my eyes are tired. Mornings are the worst. Right after I wake up I apply the cocktail of Lotomax and Restasis. The combination makes my vision blurry. It takes a good 45 minutes for that to absorb and for my vision to click back into place. The artificial tears continue to work wonders. I'm now applying them almost exclusively to my right eye. My left eye feels and looks completely normal now.
One very nice bonus to all of this is that I have not yet had to start taking allergy medicine again. Not only are my eyes clear and uninflamed, but I'm not sneezing or otherwise reacting to allergies. I'm hoping that this is a permanent development!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Day 29 - 4 Weeks
Thursday, 13 August 2009
I had a follow-up appointment with the doctor this past Monday (the 10th). My left eye is almost healed 100%. It's all smoothed over and producing tears normally again. My vision is terrific... out of my left eye. Left eye is 20/20.
The doctor still saw spots and rough patches on my right eye. The healing line that was there 2 weeks ago is all but gone, but the healing is still ongoing. These spots and rough spots happen to be right smack in the center of my eye, right over the pupil. So while my vision is markedly improved from 2 weeks ago, it's not yet clear. There's still some haze caused by the rough patches diffusing the light. It causes ever so slight ghosting. It means that I have 20/30 vision in my right eye, but with effort.
The first few seconds after I put artificial tears in my right eye, everything sharpens into crystal clarity. That's because the liquid fills in those rough patches and my cornea is all smoothed over for that brief instant in time. It's frustrating. It's been a month since the surgery, and this right eye is taking it's time healing up. It doesn't yet produce enough tears to be comfortable. It dries out very rapidly. And there's still some tenderness and sensitivity, especially after a long day.
I keep waiting for the morning that I wake up and see clearly with both eyes. It'll come, I'm sure, but it's certainly taking a long time getting there.
I had a follow-up appointment with the doctor this past Monday (the 10th). My left eye is almost healed 100%. It's all smoothed over and producing tears normally again. My vision is terrific... out of my left eye. Left eye is 20/20.
The doctor still saw spots and rough patches on my right eye. The healing line that was there 2 weeks ago is all but gone, but the healing is still ongoing. These spots and rough spots happen to be right smack in the center of my eye, right over the pupil. So while my vision is markedly improved from 2 weeks ago, it's not yet clear. There's still some haze caused by the rough patches diffusing the light. It causes ever so slight ghosting. It means that I have 20/30 vision in my right eye, but with effort.
The first few seconds after I put artificial tears in my right eye, everything sharpens into crystal clarity. That's because the liquid fills in those rough patches and my cornea is all smoothed over for that brief instant in time. It's frustrating. It's been a month since the surgery, and this right eye is taking it's time healing up. It doesn't yet produce enough tears to be comfortable. It dries out very rapidly. And there's still some tenderness and sensitivity, especially after a long day.
I keep waiting for the morning that I wake up and see clearly with both eyes. It'll come, I'm sure, but it's certainly taking a long time getting there.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Day 14 - 2 Weeks
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Today marks 2 weeks post-op. I had a follow-up appointment this morning. My vision is 20/20 in both eyes. There's still some residual ghosting in both eyes. Much less so in my left than my right. The doctor said that my left eye healed really well. She still sees a very thin ridge line on my right eye where the epithelium is still smoothing out. This explains why there's still some ghosting going on. I am still applying Lotamax drops 4 times/day. The doctor says that Lotamax acts as an anti-inflammatory that slows down the healing process so that the cells regrow smoothly and evenly, without causing defects. I have another follow-up appointment next Wednesday, where the Lotamax will likely be dialed back to 2 times/day. The Restasis is starting to make a difference. My eyes don't dry out so much during the day; at night, especially, there is much less discomfort.
My vision with both eyes together is clearer and crisper than either of the two eyes individually. I am very pleased with the results so far. I expect my vision to continue to clear up over the next 2-4 weeks as the little imperfections get filled in. Despite the rough recovery, I would recommend PRK to anyone considering laser vision correction. It takes longer short-term, but now that the healing is well progressed, I feel secure knowing that there is no chance of flap complications.
Today marks 2 weeks post-op. I had a follow-up appointment this morning. My vision is 20/20 in both eyes. There's still some residual ghosting in both eyes. Much less so in my left than my right. The doctor said that my left eye healed really well. She still sees a very thin ridge line on my right eye where the epithelium is still smoothing out. This explains why there's still some ghosting going on. I am still applying Lotamax drops 4 times/day. The doctor says that Lotamax acts as an anti-inflammatory that slows down the healing process so that the cells regrow smoothly and evenly, without causing defects. I have another follow-up appointment next Wednesday, where the Lotamax will likely be dialed back to 2 times/day. The Restasis is starting to make a difference. My eyes don't dry out so much during the day; at night, especially, there is much less discomfort.
My vision with both eyes together is clearer and crisper than either of the two eyes individually. I am very pleased with the results so far. I expect my vision to continue to clear up over the next 2-4 weeks as the little imperfections get filled in. Despite the rough recovery, I would recommend PRK to anyone considering laser vision correction. It takes longer short-term, but now that the healing is well progressed, I feel secure knowing that there is no chance of flap complications.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Day 13 - A bit less wonky
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
My second day back at work was not punctuated by anything earth-shattering. My eyes did noticeably clear up throughout the day. Whereas in the morning sitting in front of a computer screen made my eyes feel fairly wonky, by the early evening my right eye had come into focus a lot more substantially. A lot of the ghosting is gone now. There's just that hint of out of focus blur that tells me that the epitelium is still smoothing over. My right eye is on the slow recovery plan.
I did a lot more computer work today. So much so that I enlarged the fonts from their default 9pt to 12pt. That made the world of difference with reducing eye strain. Writing this on my home computer this evening is the first time that I can sit back at a normal distance from the monitor and comfortably read the screen with both eyes.
On my drive home I noticed that the license plates of other cars looked almost crisp and clear out of my right eye. That was a nice first. The lettering of signs and the streetlights are also almost completely in focus. Another nice first.
Tomorrow just may mark the first day that I have crisp vision from both eyes. That will be exactly 2 weeks post-op. I have a 9am follow-up appointment with the optomotrist tomorrow morning. I'm really hoping that the vision test shows that my eyes are really corrected as well as I think that they are.
My second day back at work was not punctuated by anything earth-shattering. My eyes did noticeably clear up throughout the day. Whereas in the morning sitting in front of a computer screen made my eyes feel fairly wonky, by the early evening my right eye had come into focus a lot more substantially. A lot of the ghosting is gone now. There's just that hint of out of focus blur that tells me that the epitelium is still smoothing over. My right eye is on the slow recovery plan.
I did a lot more computer work today. So much so that I enlarged the fonts from their default 9pt to 12pt. That made the world of difference with reducing eye strain. Writing this on my home computer this evening is the first time that I can sit back at a normal distance from the monitor and comfortably read the screen with both eyes.
On my drive home I noticed that the license plates of other cars looked almost crisp and clear out of my right eye. That was a nice first. The lettering of signs and the streetlights are also almost completely in focus. Another nice first.
Tomorrow just may mark the first day that I have crisp vision from both eyes. That will be exactly 2 weeks post-op. I have a 9am follow-up appointment with the optomotrist tomorrow morning. I'm really hoping that the vision test shows that my eyes are really corrected as well as I think that they are.
Day 12 - Back to work
Monday, 27 July 2009
Monday was my first day back at work since the surgery. I'm really glad that I took the whole of last week to recover my vision, because I felt a lot more safe driving on the highway today. My left eye was crystal clear with the far vision. My right eye was still pretty blurry. Things were recognizable, but they were fuzzed around the edges--losing definition. I was still seeing ghosting out of my right eye throughout the day.
Sitting down at a computer and working through the day was a head-throbbing experience. My left eye, good as it is with far vision, fluctuates ever so slightly focusing in on the near vision. It makes the fonts on the screen waver from side to side--it's not a pleasant experience. My right eye was practically useless with reading a computer screen. I pretty much ended up using my left eye dominantly to get any work done. I also took a lot of breaks and spent as much time as possible talking with people face to face rather than doing computer work.
My right eye doesn't feel rough, but there is still a very noticable burning sensation after using it so consistently over 10 hours. It is still evidently healing.
Monday was my first day back at work since the surgery. I'm really glad that I took the whole of last week to recover my vision, because I felt a lot more safe driving on the highway today. My left eye was crystal clear with the far vision. My right eye was still pretty blurry. Things were recognizable, but they were fuzzed around the edges--losing definition. I was still seeing ghosting out of my right eye throughout the day.
Sitting down at a computer and working through the day was a head-throbbing experience. My left eye, good as it is with far vision, fluctuates ever so slightly focusing in on the near vision. It makes the fonts on the screen waver from side to side--it's not a pleasant experience. My right eye was practically useless with reading a computer screen. I pretty much ended up using my left eye dominantly to get any work done. I also took a lot of breaks and spent as much time as possible talking with people face to face rather than doing computer work.
My right eye doesn't feel rough, but there is still a very noticable burning sensation after using it so consistently over 10 hours. It is still evidently healing.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Day 11 - Feels like... burning
Sunday, 26 July 2009
I woke up 3 times last night. This is totally unrelated to the surgery, but it connects in a weird way. I have very vivid dreams--usually 3 or 4 a night. It used to be that one dream would finish and my brain would melt back into deep sleep before the next one started. Not anymore. Nowadays, when I finish a dream, my brain decides to pop directly back into full consciousness. This means that I'll wake up suddenly, fully awake, 3 to 4 times a night. Now the connection:
Each time I woke up last night, my eyes had dried out sufficiently where the gunk that accumulates during sleep made it uncomfortable for me to open my eyes. So, instead of turning over and drifting back into slumber, I got up and applied Blink eye-drops to each eye to alleviate the discomfort. The first time that I woke up (around 1:30 am), I applied the drop in my right eye and it lit up like it was on fire. Evidently, that slow right eye is still healing and wanted to protest. For those of you who have never had this experience before, burning eyeballs is the absolute worst. It's like someone dropped jalapeno pepper juice in your eye.
This was a harbinger of the day to come. Today being Sunday, I went to church. Church consists of 3 action packed hours of being attentive in a very air conditioned chapel. The combination of attentiveness and air conditioning aggravated my right eye. It became irritated, slightly scratchy, and burned slightly. I did bring my eye-drops with me, so that helped a bit. After church, we came home and fed the kids. After putting the kids down to take naps (around 1:00 pm) I took an Alleve for the inflammation and took a nap, myself. I slept until 4:00 pm. My eye felt much better after I woke up. Coincidentally, the kids didn't wake up until a bit after 4, so all worked out well.
I started my Restasis this morning. 1 drop in the AM, 1 drop in the PM. They don't sting, like some people report. I seem to do well with the no side-effects department.
So, 11 days post-op, my left eye vision is fantastic. Crystal clear. My right eye vision is slowly sharpening. It's better today than it was yesterday; and since I can still feel it healing (the roughness is palpable) I know tomorrow will be better than today. I have a feeling that I won't be enjoying crystal clear vision in my right eye for a few more days. So, it's shaping up to be a full 2 week recovery period.
I woke up 3 times last night. This is totally unrelated to the surgery, but it connects in a weird way. I have very vivid dreams--usually 3 or 4 a night. It used to be that one dream would finish and my brain would melt back into deep sleep before the next one started. Not anymore. Nowadays, when I finish a dream, my brain decides to pop directly back into full consciousness. This means that I'll wake up suddenly, fully awake, 3 to 4 times a night. Now the connection:
Each time I woke up last night, my eyes had dried out sufficiently where the gunk that accumulates during sleep made it uncomfortable for me to open my eyes. So, instead of turning over and drifting back into slumber, I got up and applied Blink eye-drops to each eye to alleviate the discomfort. The first time that I woke up (around 1:30 am), I applied the drop in my right eye and it lit up like it was on fire. Evidently, that slow right eye is still healing and wanted to protest. For those of you who have never had this experience before, burning eyeballs is the absolute worst. It's like someone dropped jalapeno pepper juice in your eye.
This was a harbinger of the day to come. Today being Sunday, I went to church. Church consists of 3 action packed hours of being attentive in a very air conditioned chapel. The combination of attentiveness and air conditioning aggravated my right eye. It became irritated, slightly scratchy, and burned slightly. I did bring my eye-drops with me, so that helped a bit. After church, we came home and fed the kids. After putting the kids down to take naps (around 1:00 pm) I took an Alleve for the inflammation and took a nap, myself. I slept until 4:00 pm. My eye felt much better after I woke up. Coincidentally, the kids didn't wake up until a bit after 4, so all worked out well.
I started my Restasis this morning. 1 drop in the AM, 1 drop in the PM. They don't sting, like some people report. I seem to do well with the no side-effects department.
So, 11 days post-op, my left eye vision is fantastic. Crystal clear. My right eye vision is slowly sharpening. It's better today than it was yesterday; and since I can still feel it healing (the roughness is palpable) I know tomorrow will be better than today. I have a feeling that I won't be enjoying crystal clear vision in my right eye for a few more days. So, it's shaping up to be a full 2 week recovery period.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Day 10 - So close...
Saturday, 25 July 2009
Last night was the best so far. I still woke up 2 or 3 times throughout the night, and had to apply the Blink eye-drops, but no discomfort, no burning, and the irritation in my right eye was largely gone by morning. I also woke up to improved--but not yet clear--vision in my right eye. The double vision is all but gone now. The right hand side of my world is still blurry, though. There is ghosting that is most likely caused by the healing line (lines?) that have not yet completely diffused from the center of my right pupil. But, it's now to the point where I can see clearly for the few seconds after I put Blink eye-drops in my eye. This is rather encouraging, because it's where my left eye was on Wednesday. It means that my epithelium is still healing, and that the eye-drops are filling in the corneal irregularities, sharpening up the image. This is a good thing, because it means that my vision will continue to sharpen up today and tomorrow.
I wrote the first half of this in the morning... evening now, a full day has gone by.
My eyes definitely heal faster and more completely while I sleep. I see greater visual gains after sleeping for 8-10 hours than when I'm awake and using my eyes for 14 hours during the day. Since waking up this morning, my right eye vision has marginally improved. This is par for the course during daytime hours. I have several visual "benchmarks" throughout the house that I use to gauge my progress. In the family room (upstairs, where the TV is), if I sit on the couch under the big window, two of my benchmarks are the logo on the surround sound speaker and one of the figures in a painting on the wall. Yesterday, both the logo and the figure in the painting were still visibly split in two--almost an even side-by-side split. Today, that split is gone. The images are no longer doubled, just blurred. Another benchmark is the "SONY" written on the TV. Again, today was the first day that my right eye didn't see overlapping letters. And today was the first day that the various pictures and paintings downstairs looked merely blurry, and not really out of whack. So, I know that progress is still being made.
I can read my digital clock in the bedroom from across the room now. I drove to CVS and the Neighborhood Walmart today to pick up more Blink eye-drops, and noticed a huge difference in visual acuity just from driving to the doctor's yesterday.
Medication-wise, I'm now off of the Zymar, Vitamin C (I was taking a whopping 1,000 mg/day), and Alleve. I still take Tylenol at night because by the end of the day I still get headaches. Today was better than yesterday because my left eye isn't fighting as hard to compenstate for my healing right. I'm not nearly as energy drained as I was earlier in the week, but I still nodded off for an hour after lunch and then for another hour before dinner.
It's so close now. I'm really, really hoping that tomorrow is the day that the right eye sharpens into focus vision.
Last night was the best so far. I still woke up 2 or 3 times throughout the night, and had to apply the Blink eye-drops, but no discomfort, no burning, and the irritation in my right eye was largely gone by morning. I also woke up to improved--but not yet clear--vision in my right eye. The double vision is all but gone now. The right hand side of my world is still blurry, though. There is ghosting that is most likely caused by the healing line (lines?) that have not yet completely diffused from the center of my right pupil. But, it's now to the point where I can see clearly for the few seconds after I put Blink eye-drops in my eye. This is rather encouraging, because it's where my left eye was on Wednesday. It means that my epithelium is still healing, and that the eye-drops are filling in the corneal irregularities, sharpening up the image. This is a good thing, because it means that my vision will continue to sharpen up today and tomorrow.
I wrote the first half of this in the morning... evening now, a full day has gone by.
My eyes definitely heal faster and more completely while I sleep. I see greater visual gains after sleeping for 8-10 hours than when I'm awake and using my eyes for 14 hours during the day. Since waking up this morning, my right eye vision has marginally improved. This is par for the course during daytime hours. I have several visual "benchmarks" throughout the house that I use to gauge my progress. In the family room (upstairs, where the TV is), if I sit on the couch under the big window, two of my benchmarks are the logo on the surround sound speaker and one of the figures in a painting on the wall. Yesterday, both the logo and the figure in the painting were still visibly split in two--almost an even side-by-side split. Today, that split is gone. The images are no longer doubled, just blurred. Another benchmark is the "SONY" written on the TV. Again, today was the first day that my right eye didn't see overlapping letters. And today was the first day that the various pictures and paintings downstairs looked merely blurry, and not really out of whack. So, I know that progress is still being made.
I can read my digital clock in the bedroom from across the room now. I drove to CVS and the Neighborhood Walmart today to pick up more Blink eye-drops, and noticed a huge difference in visual acuity just from driving to the doctor's yesterday.
Medication-wise, I'm now off of the Zymar, Vitamin C (I was taking a whopping 1,000 mg/day), and Alleve. I still take Tylenol at night because by the end of the day I still get headaches. Today was better than yesterday because my left eye isn't fighting as hard to compenstate for my healing right. I'm not nearly as energy drained as I was earlier in the week, but I still nodded off for an hour after lunch and then for another hour before dinner.
It's so close now. I'm really, really hoping that tomorrow is the day that the right eye sharpens into focus vision.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Day 9 - Almost normal
Friday, 24 July 2009
Today has been the closest day to normal in over a week. My left eye continues to improve in visual clarity and acuity. My vision on the left is steadily sharpening. A visit to the doctor this morning revealed that the epithelium over the left eye is 95% healed.
My right eye has also made significant improvements. It is lagging about 2 days behind the right eye. This means that today has seen the elimination of double imagery. This is a very happy development. Whereas all vision on the right--far and near-sighted--has been split into 2 or 4 images throughout the week, today's near-sighted vision has been clear and convergent to a single image. This has allowed me to sit down at the computer for the first extended stretch since my surgery. I am very relieved, because this means that I can effectively work come Monday morning. While not clear, my right eye has progressed from being a victim of double-imagery to merely blurry. Blurry is ok. Blurry I have experience with now.
At this morning's post-op visit (which I drove to), the optomotrist explained why my right eye was taking longer than my left eye to heal. My left eye was near-sighted to about -4 diopters with an astigmatism. My right eye was near-sighted to about -6 diopters. So while the laser penetrated deeper into my left cornea to correct the astigmatism, it didn't do as much total work as on my right eye. The doctor explained that because my right eye was about 50% more near-sighted than my left, the laser worked more and reshaped about 50% more of my right cornea. So the wound to my right eye was greater than than to my left eye, and the resulting healing process is taking longer. He also explained that the reason that my right eye still feels irritable (slight burning and scratchiness) is because the epithelium has not yet finished regenerating. There is still a faint healing line cutting down the center of my pupil. As the epithelium finishes regrowing, and the eye polishes it through blinking, the regenerated cell layer will smooth out into a clear refractive surface.
I am hoping that my right eye's vision will fully clear up tomorrow and allow me to see equally well with both eyes this weekend. Regardless of whether this ends up happening tomorrow or Sunday, my vision will finally be corrected and clear by Monday morning.
Today has been the closest day to normal in over a week. My left eye continues to improve in visual clarity and acuity. My vision on the left is steadily sharpening. A visit to the doctor this morning revealed that the epithelium over the left eye is 95% healed.
My right eye has also made significant improvements. It is lagging about 2 days behind the right eye. This means that today has seen the elimination of double imagery. This is a very happy development. Whereas all vision on the right--far and near-sighted--has been split into 2 or 4 images throughout the week, today's near-sighted vision has been clear and convergent to a single image. This has allowed me to sit down at the computer for the first extended stretch since my surgery. I am very relieved, because this means that I can effectively work come Monday morning. While not clear, my right eye has progressed from being a victim of double-imagery to merely blurry. Blurry is ok. Blurry I have experience with now.
At this morning's post-op visit (which I drove to), the optomotrist explained why my right eye was taking longer than my left eye to heal. My left eye was near-sighted to about -4 diopters with an astigmatism. My right eye was near-sighted to about -6 diopters. So while the laser penetrated deeper into my left cornea to correct the astigmatism, it didn't do as much total work as on my right eye. The doctor explained that because my right eye was about 50% more near-sighted than my left, the laser worked more and reshaped about 50% more of my right cornea. So the wound to my right eye was greater than than to my left eye, and the resulting healing process is taking longer. He also explained that the reason that my right eye still feels irritable (slight burning and scratchiness) is because the epithelium has not yet finished regenerating. There is still a faint healing line cutting down the center of my pupil. As the epithelium finishes regrowing, and the eye polishes it through blinking, the regenerated cell layer will smooth out into a clear refractive surface.
I am hoping that my right eye's vision will fully clear up tomorrow and allow me to see equally well with both eyes this weekend. Regardless of whether this ends up happening tomorrow or Sunday, my vision will finally be corrected and clear by Monday morning.
Day 8 - Clarity
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Thursday was my first day not punctuated by a visit to the optomotrist. All of these post-op visits, incidentally, are covered in the lump sum that the surgery center collected on the day of surgery. The surgery center gives the optomotrist about 28% of the collected cost to cover post-op fees. I'm sure that the optomotrists like patients who heal rapidly. I've been on the slow end of the curve, so they've been seeing me more often.
The absolutely best thing that happened today was waking up and finding that my left eye was in focus. Hazy, but clearly in focus. In the left hand side of my visual world, things now looked much clearer. As the day progressed, and the epithelium continued to be smoothed out, the haziness dissipated, leaving me with very clear vision. I was elated. This was the first time in a full week that I was seeing the benefits of this surgery.
I tried sitting in front of a computer for the first time today. I could last about 5 minutes before the strain of my right eye trying to piece together two very divergent images proved too much. So I tabled the computer experience for another day. Later in the evening, I tried watching TV, and eventually had to go to bed because the strain of watching the images on the television set split into two images was driving my head berzonkers.
Thursday was my first day not punctuated by a visit to the optomotrist. All of these post-op visits, incidentally, are covered in the lump sum that the surgery center collected on the day of surgery. The surgery center gives the optomotrist about 28% of the collected cost to cover post-op fees. I'm sure that the optomotrists like patients who heal rapidly. I've been on the slow end of the curve, so they've been seeing me more often.
The absolutely best thing that happened today was waking up and finding that my left eye was in focus. Hazy, but clearly in focus. In the left hand side of my visual world, things now looked much clearer. As the day progressed, and the epithelium continued to be smoothed out, the haziness dissipated, leaving me with very clear vision. I was elated. This was the first time in a full week that I was seeing the benefits of this surgery.
I tried sitting in front of a computer for the first time today. I could last about 5 minutes before the strain of my right eye trying to piece together two very divergent images proved too much. So I tabled the computer experience for another day. Later in the evening, I tried watching TV, and eventually had to go to bed because the strain of watching the images on the television set split into two images was driving my head berzonkers.
Day 7 - Bandages removed
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
The double vision in my right eye continued to improve today. After another post-op visit, the bandage lens over the right eye was removed. It felt a lot better than the attempt on Monday. There was irritability, but nothing near the previous sandpaper experience.
The vision test revealed that the right eye had progressed from 20/100 back to 20/40. Here's an interesting observation about the eye charts: They measure how well you can pick out letters. They have limited usefulness when dealing with cases of extreme double vision, like I had. In my case, I had two very divergent double images. To the point where I could distinguish letters on the eye chart at 20/40. So, even though my vision was whacked out, I still rated 20/40 on the eye chart. In the great state of Texas, it's legal to drive if the worst eye is 20/40. This means--you guessed it-- that with my left eye at 20/25 and my right eye at 20/40 (with whopping double image) I was now legal to drive. Here's another funny thing about that eye test: Even though my left eye scored 20/25, my far-sighted vision was still pretty darn out of focus. Despite this, the doctor told me I was now legal to drive. So, with a co-pilot, I did drive home. It was a very nerve-wracking experience. I now very much wonder about the visual acuity of some folks out here on the road. It makes me really, really nervous to think that someone with 20/40 vision in both eyes can legally drive. 20/40 may sound good, but I can assure you from first-hand experience that the road still looks pretty darn blurry. It's light years ahead of my old 20/400 and 20/600, but blurry is blurry, and it makes for unsafe driving.
The double vision in my right eye continued to improve today. After another post-op visit, the bandage lens over the right eye was removed. It felt a lot better than the attempt on Monday. There was irritability, but nothing near the previous sandpaper experience.
The vision test revealed that the right eye had progressed from 20/100 back to 20/40. Here's an interesting observation about the eye charts: They measure how well you can pick out letters. They have limited usefulness when dealing with cases of extreme double vision, like I had. In my case, I had two very divergent double images. To the point where I could distinguish letters on the eye chart at 20/40. So, even though my vision was whacked out, I still rated 20/40 on the eye chart. In the great state of Texas, it's legal to drive if the worst eye is 20/40. This means--you guessed it-- that with my left eye at 20/25 and my right eye at 20/40 (with whopping double image) I was now legal to drive. Here's another funny thing about that eye test: Even though my left eye scored 20/25, my far-sighted vision was still pretty darn out of focus. Despite this, the doctor told me I was now legal to drive. So, with a co-pilot, I did drive home. It was a very nerve-wracking experience. I now very much wonder about the visual acuity of some folks out here on the road. It makes me really, really nervous to think that someone with 20/40 vision in both eyes can legally drive. 20/40 may sound good, but I can assure you from first-hand experience that the road still looks pretty darn blurry. It's light years ahead of my old 20/400 and 20/600, but blurry is blurry, and it makes for unsafe driving.
Day 6 - Double vision
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
There was some happy progress today. Instead of my right eye seeing four images, it had reduced to double-vision. One image about 45-degrees from the other. An improvement, to be sure, but enough of a problem to cause significant eye strain and headaches.
Today also brought another post-op visit. The bandage lens in my right eye was removed, and I immediately noticed a difference in visual clarity. Evidently, the lens was acting as a nice polished surface that helped my still regenerating epithelium to focus the light into a sharper image. My left eye felt ok without the lens, but visual acuity dropped to 20/25. My world was still pretty blurry past anything near-sighted. As the day progressed, my left eye would feel irritated, like there was a foreign object in it. I would find out the reason for this later in the week, but for now it was a minor nuisance that I was willing to live with. One of the biggest problems that I have been having at night is waking up after sleeping for 8+ hours with those soft bandage contact lenses dried out and gummed to my eyelids. Very unpleasant, very uncomfortable. So one less lens to gum to my eyelid was a welcome change.
After looking at my right eye in the microscope, the doctor decided to leave the bandage lens on for another day. He drew me a picture of what was happening. As the corneal epithelium was regrowing, it was doing so in two major pieces--left and right--converging in the middle. There was a heavy healing line where the cells came together. That line cut perpendicular right down the center of my right pupil. That explained my double vision. The doctor assured me that this line would diffuse and eventually disappear. It would just take some time.
There was some happy progress today. Instead of my right eye seeing four images, it had reduced to double-vision. One image about 45-degrees from the other. An improvement, to be sure, but enough of a problem to cause significant eye strain and headaches.
Today also brought another post-op visit. The bandage lens in my right eye was removed, and I immediately noticed a difference in visual clarity. Evidently, the lens was acting as a nice polished surface that helped my still regenerating epithelium to focus the light into a sharper image. My left eye felt ok without the lens, but visual acuity dropped to 20/25. My world was still pretty blurry past anything near-sighted. As the day progressed, my left eye would feel irritated, like there was a foreign object in it. I would find out the reason for this later in the week, but for now it was a minor nuisance that I was willing to live with. One of the biggest problems that I have been having at night is waking up after sleeping for 8+ hours with those soft bandage contact lenses dried out and gummed to my eyelids. Very unpleasant, very uncomfortable. So one less lens to gum to my eyelid was a welcome change.
After looking at my right eye in the microscope, the doctor decided to leave the bandage lens on for another day. He drew me a picture of what was happening. As the corneal epithelium was regrowing, it was doing so in two major pieces--left and right--converging in the middle. There was a heavy healing line where the cells came together. That line cut perpendicular right down the center of my right pupil. That explained my double vision. The doctor assured me that this line would diffuse and eventually disappear. It would just take some time.
Day 5 - Sandpaper on the eyeballs
Monday, 20 July 2009
I woke up Monday morning not being able to see at all out of my right eye. My left eye still looked ok, but my right eye was all jacked up. Not only was my vision terrible, but I was seeing four of everything. The strain and confusion of trying to piece four images into one gave me some big headaches. Tylenol and Alleve got me through.
I wasn't too worried about my recovery until today, when my second post-op visit to the optomotrist showed that my left eye was seeing 20/20, but my right eye had regressed to 20/100. Right about then, full-scale panic began to set in. This was not in the plan, and I had not mentally prepared for the event that my right eye would not be keeping pace with my left. I had been counting on recovery following the schedule that the surgery center had given me post-op, which had me seeing well enough to drive and use a computer by Tuesday. That was most certainly not going to happen. I was in no way cleared to legally drive, and I couldn't even look at a computer for more than 10 seconds without my world splitting into four images.
The optomotrist drew me a picture of what was happening inside of my eyes. She had looked at the cell growth in that microscope that they have, and was able to tell me what was going on. She wasn't very concerned, but that didn't help me much. Evidently, my left eye was regrowing in patches. Some parts were dense, other parts were sparse. So while there was spotty vision, it was spotty in patches, not all in one place. My right eye was a whole different story. A layer of epithelium had regrown over the cornea and formed a tight seal. The rest of the epithelium then proceeded to regrow atop this seal from the outside in. The result was a four-way split in my vision where the layers converged.
The doctor decided to try removing the bandage lenses and see how my eyes felt. We had the hardest time getting the lens off of my right eye. It turned out that there was not one, but two lenses stuck together in my right eye. The doctor conjectured that this probably formed a nice seal that allowed the epithelium to regrow the way it did. Wonderful. Once the lens on the right eye was removed, the left eye easily followed suit. There was only one lens in that eye, so no more surprises as far as that was concerned.
I sat for about 5 minutes with the lenses out of my eyes. For you folks who have never had your corneal epitheliums removed before, they perform a very useful function: Keeping the outside environment out of your cornea. Because my left eye was progressing more rapidly than my right eye, it didn't feel too bad. My right eye felt like someone had pasted a piece of gritty sandpaper on it. With each blink, that sandpaper was rubbing against my eyeball. It was more than uncomfortable--it hurt. The doctor decided to put the lenses (just one per eye, not the original count) back in my eyes for one more day and then reevaluate. That sounded like a fantastic idea.
I e-mailed my supervisors and let them know that recovery was going more slowly than expected, and took the rest of the week off to let things run their course. It was not a fun day. I was pretty unhappy and beginning to wonder whether the surgery had actually worked.
I woke up Monday morning not being able to see at all out of my right eye. My left eye still looked ok, but my right eye was all jacked up. Not only was my vision terrible, but I was seeing four of everything. The strain and confusion of trying to piece four images into one gave me some big headaches. Tylenol and Alleve got me through.
I wasn't too worried about my recovery until today, when my second post-op visit to the optomotrist showed that my left eye was seeing 20/20, but my right eye had regressed to 20/100. Right about then, full-scale panic began to set in. This was not in the plan, and I had not mentally prepared for the event that my right eye would not be keeping pace with my left. I had been counting on recovery following the schedule that the surgery center had given me post-op, which had me seeing well enough to drive and use a computer by Tuesday. That was most certainly not going to happen. I was in no way cleared to legally drive, and I couldn't even look at a computer for more than 10 seconds without my world splitting into four images.
The optomotrist drew me a picture of what was happening inside of my eyes. She had looked at the cell growth in that microscope that they have, and was able to tell me what was going on. She wasn't very concerned, but that didn't help me much. Evidently, my left eye was regrowing in patches. Some parts were dense, other parts were sparse. So while there was spotty vision, it was spotty in patches, not all in one place. My right eye was a whole different story. A layer of epithelium had regrown over the cornea and formed a tight seal. The rest of the epithelium then proceeded to regrow atop this seal from the outside in. The result was a four-way split in my vision where the layers converged.
The doctor decided to try removing the bandage lenses and see how my eyes felt. We had the hardest time getting the lens off of my right eye. It turned out that there was not one, but two lenses stuck together in my right eye. The doctor conjectured that this probably formed a nice seal that allowed the epithelium to regrow the way it did. Wonderful. Once the lens on the right eye was removed, the left eye easily followed suit. There was only one lens in that eye, so no more surprises as far as that was concerned.
I sat for about 5 minutes with the lenses out of my eyes. For you folks who have never had your corneal epitheliums removed before, they perform a very useful function: Keeping the outside environment out of your cornea. Because my left eye was progressing more rapidly than my right eye, it didn't feel too bad. My right eye felt like someone had pasted a piece of gritty sandpaper on it. With each blink, that sandpaper was rubbing against my eyeball. It was more than uncomfortable--it hurt. The doctor decided to put the lenses (just one per eye, not the original count) back in my eyes for one more day and then reevaluate. That sounded like a fantastic idea.
I e-mailed my supervisors and let them know that recovery was going more slowly than expected, and took the rest of the week off to let things run their course. It was not a fun day. I was pretty unhappy and beginning to wonder whether the surgery had actually worked.
Day 4 - Sunday recovery
Sunday, 19 July 2009
I woke up Sunday morning with considerably worse vision than when I had gone to bed. Happily, I was still popping those nice sleeping pills at night, so my at least my nights were passed in relative comfort. I got up Sunday morning, ate breakfast, did my morning regimen of eye drops, then went back to sleep for the rest of the morning. I spent the rest of Sunday afternoon in and out of a napping state, not wanting to do much of anything because I really couldn't see anything. I wasn't too panicked about my vision quite yet, because the surgeon had told me to expect worsening vision 2-3 days post-op, with recovering vision starting on Monday. So Sunday wasn't too bad...
I woke up Sunday morning with considerably worse vision than when I had gone to bed. Happily, I was still popping those nice sleeping pills at night, so my at least my nights were passed in relative comfort. I got up Sunday morning, ate breakfast, did my morning regimen of eye drops, then went back to sleep for the rest of the morning. I spent the rest of Sunday afternoon in and out of a napping state, not wanting to do much of anything because I really couldn't see anything. I wasn't too panicked about my vision quite yet, because the surgeon had told me to expect worsening vision 2-3 days post-op, with recovering vision starting on Monday. So Sunday wasn't too bad...
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Day 3 - Blurry world
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Saturday was a very blurry day. I slept most of it. My eyes had begun healing, and it slurped a lot of energy out of me. Saturday was also the last day of halfway decent recovery before my vision went completely south. This was the first and last day that I caught glimpses of near-perfect vision through my new corneas. By now, the corneal epithelium has begin to regrow, so as the day progressed, it became increasingly hazy.
I was well warned that my vision would get worse before it would get better. When the epithelium regrows, the cells migrate from the outside of the excised area toward the center. Since the center of the regrowth conveniently lies directly over the pupil, said migration wreaks havoc on one's vision for a bit. This process began today, but didn't really accelerate until late Sunday.
Some interesting observations about early vision recovery today: Night vision was seriously whacked. The right eye wasn't too bad with night vision artifacts, but the left eye produced all sorts of wacky halos and starbursts. Thankfully, these artifacts disappeared with time, but they were freaky and troubling when I first noticed them.
Saturday was a very blurry day. I slept most of it. My eyes had begun healing, and it slurped a lot of energy out of me. Saturday was also the last day of halfway decent recovery before my vision went completely south. This was the first and last day that I caught glimpses of near-perfect vision through my new corneas. By now, the corneal epithelium has begin to regrow, so as the day progressed, it became increasingly hazy.
I was well warned that my vision would get worse before it would get better. When the epithelium regrows, the cells migrate from the outside of the excised area toward the center. Since the center of the regrowth conveniently lies directly over the pupil, said migration wreaks havoc on one's vision for a bit. This process began today, but didn't really accelerate until late Sunday.
Some interesting observations about early vision recovery today: Night vision was seriously whacked. The right eye wasn't too bad with night vision artifacts, but the left eye produced all sorts of wacky halos and starbursts. Thankfully, these artifacts disappeared with time, but they were freaky and troubling when I first noticed them.
Day 2 - Post-op exam
Friday, 17 July 2009 - Post-op exam
I had my first of many post-op exams at 9am the day following surgery. I could see 20/40 in my right eye and 20/50 in my left eye. My world was very blurry. I also had absolutely no near sighted vision because the surgeon put some strong dilation mojo in my eyeball. This dilation was to last until Tuesday. The least of my concerns. I had no post-operative pain. Tylenol and Alleve worked wonders for me.
I had my first of many post-op exams at 9am the day following surgery. I could see 20/40 in my right eye and 20/50 in my left eye. My world was very blurry. I also had absolutely no near sighted vision because the surgeon put some strong dilation mojo in my eyeball. This dilation was to last until Tuesday. The least of my concerns. I had no post-operative pain. Tylenol and Alleve worked wonders for me.
Day 1 - PRK Surgery
Thursday, 16 July 2009 - Day of surgery
I was pretty excited the day of the surgery--I had high hopes that I would have corrected vision without glasses or contact lenses for the first time in 25 years. Consulting with the optomotrist (eye doctor) and opthamologist (surgeon), both strongly recommended the PRK procedure over the more popular and well-known LASIK. With LASIK, a flap is created using the corneal epithelium, folded back to perform the procedure, then folded back where suction keeps it in place and healing begins. Vision results are fairly quick, but there is the potential for complications with the flap. With PRK, the corneal epithelium is removed (ablated). The laser procedure is exactly the same as LASIK. When done, a bandage contact lens is placed over the cornea and the epithelium begins to regrow. Recovery takes longer. But, since the epithelium regrows over the cornea, there is no flap and no possibility of related complications. The vision is more stable over the long-term. So, I opted to go with PRK to get long-term results over short-term gratification.
The day of the surgery, I arrived at the surgery center (in downtown Dallas) at the appointed time. They were short staffed, so it was a full hour before anyone came and started to talk with me. Prior to the procedure, the tech went through all of the medication with me, applied all sorts of eye drops in preparation for the surgery, and collected my money. From there I went into the room where eyes are usually checked, where another tech applied numbing drops. Numbing drops are a good thing. After the numbing drops settled in, I was taken back to the surgery room.
My world in the surgery room consisted of a table on which I rested with my head tilted slightly downward. It was not comfortable. The surgeon came in, taped my left eye shut, and started with my right eye. He pried my eyelids open with a speculum and flushed my eye out with refrigerated saline solution. That was very jarring. My eyelids twitched a lot--wanting to blink--but having nowhere to go due to the speculum. Then there were some more numbing drops and the surgeon applied what looked like something round and purple to my eye. My world went purple for several seconds. When he removed whatever it was that was applied to my eye, my vision looked like a photo negative image. The surgeon then put this instrument on my eye and the darn thing began to vibrate! Like an electronic toothbrush. That was a bit of a surprise. That little thing evidently removed my corneal epithelium. Once removed, he cleaned around the area where the epithelium was excised, and told me to focus on the blinking red light. I did so dutifully, and didn't move. The laser started to make a series of clicks and pops, and during the operation I could smell where my cornea was being reshaped by the laser. Quite something else, to smell your eyeball smoking. That took all of 10-20 seconds. When the laser was done, he cleaned off the dust from the operation, drizzled a lot more drops into my eye, and placed a no-power soft contact lens over the wound.
Lather, rinse, repeat. My right eye was taped shut and the operation was repeated on my left eye.
When the whole surgery was complete, I was led into the eye-checking room, placed in a chair with a blanket, and had both eyes taped shut. I was there for about 30 minutes. The doctor came in and removed the tape from my eyes and did a post-op check. My world was very, very hazy, but noticeably more in focus. I could actually see. That was all there was to the surgery center, so I wore protective eyeglasses all the way home and marveled at how I could actually read street sights and lettering on the buildings. Once home, I popped a sleeping pill and commenced my recovery. In all, the day of surgery was good and positive. The night passed well with the help of said sleeping pill.
I was pretty excited the day of the surgery--I had high hopes that I would have corrected vision without glasses or contact lenses for the first time in 25 years. Consulting with the optomotrist (eye doctor) and opthamologist (surgeon), both strongly recommended the PRK procedure over the more popular and well-known LASIK. With LASIK, a flap is created using the corneal epithelium, folded back to perform the procedure, then folded back where suction keeps it in place and healing begins. Vision results are fairly quick, but there is the potential for complications with the flap. With PRK, the corneal epithelium is removed (ablated). The laser procedure is exactly the same as LASIK. When done, a bandage contact lens is placed over the cornea and the epithelium begins to regrow. Recovery takes longer. But, since the epithelium regrows over the cornea, there is no flap and no possibility of related complications. The vision is more stable over the long-term. So, I opted to go with PRK to get long-term results over short-term gratification.
The day of the surgery, I arrived at the surgery center (in downtown Dallas) at the appointed time. They were short staffed, so it was a full hour before anyone came and started to talk with me. Prior to the procedure, the tech went through all of the medication with me, applied all sorts of eye drops in preparation for the surgery, and collected my money. From there I went into the room where eyes are usually checked, where another tech applied numbing drops. Numbing drops are a good thing. After the numbing drops settled in, I was taken back to the surgery room.
My world in the surgery room consisted of a table on which I rested with my head tilted slightly downward. It was not comfortable. The surgeon came in, taped my left eye shut, and started with my right eye. He pried my eyelids open with a speculum and flushed my eye out with refrigerated saline solution. That was very jarring. My eyelids twitched a lot--wanting to blink--but having nowhere to go due to the speculum. Then there were some more numbing drops and the surgeon applied what looked like something round and purple to my eye. My world went purple for several seconds. When he removed whatever it was that was applied to my eye, my vision looked like a photo negative image. The surgeon then put this instrument on my eye and the darn thing began to vibrate! Like an electronic toothbrush. That was a bit of a surprise. That little thing evidently removed my corneal epithelium. Once removed, he cleaned around the area where the epithelium was excised, and told me to focus on the blinking red light. I did so dutifully, and didn't move. The laser started to make a series of clicks and pops, and during the operation I could smell where my cornea was being reshaped by the laser. Quite something else, to smell your eyeball smoking. That took all of 10-20 seconds. When the laser was done, he cleaned off the dust from the operation, drizzled a lot more drops into my eye, and placed a no-power soft contact lens over the wound.
Lather, rinse, repeat. My right eye was taped shut and the operation was repeated on my left eye.
When the whole surgery was complete, I was led into the eye-checking room, placed in a chair with a blanket, and had both eyes taped shut. I was there for about 30 minutes. The doctor came in and removed the tape from my eyes and did a post-op check. My world was very, very hazy, but noticeably more in focus. I could actually see. That was all there was to the surgery center, so I wore protective eyeglasses all the way home and marveled at how I could actually read street sights and lettering on the buildings. Once home, I popped a sleeping pill and commenced my recovery. In all, the day of surgery was good and positive. The night passed well with the help of said sleeping pill.
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