Driving without glasses

It seems like I've turned a corner this weekend! Yesterday I felt like my vision was good enough to drive, and drive I did, all over the city on a foggy, dreary day. I even parallel parked without hurting anyone or anything. The computer screen looks far crisper and I'm able to read signs from a distance. I went to an art exhibit today and found that my eyes did feel dry after too much focusing, and I needed to get close to the exhibits to read the descriptions. Overall though I couldn't be happier about my improvement. It varies and things still aren't perfect, but making out the contours of the clouds and spring cherry blossoms sans glasses was a real treat. I hope it just keeps getting better!

Back and forth

My break from the steroid (FML) drops was short lived. I had a checkup on Wednesday and the bad news was that my hunch re: my visual acuity was correct; I'd regressed and was only seeing 20/80. However, I was healing well and infection-free, so the doctor recommended I continue with the steroid drops four times a day. He predicted improved vision at my follow-up in a week, but I was skeptical. Now I'm thinking his prediction may prove true. Yesterday I felt a slight improvement in my vision, though my vision was certainly still not at it's post-surgery high point of 20/30. This morning brought noticable improvement, and I just pushed the computer screen back a bit on my desk. I continue to use the Refresh drops constantly, as my doctor said they speed healing whether my eyes feel dry or not. I'm feeling hopeful!

Is there an eyelash in my eye, for *#(@ sake?

Vision today iss the same as it's been for the past few days (clear in the morning, right eye deteriorates first, both eyes struggle to read and work on the computer throughout the day), but today I finally became concerned about a foreign body sensation in my right eye. After many eye drops and near constant checking my eye in the mirror, I had to admit there there was nothing there and something else was amiss. I called the laser eye center and spoke with the doctor I am scheduled to see for my 2 week follow up tomorrow. He not-so-reassuringly told me that he couldn't tell over the phone whether I should be alarmed (annoying, but being a lawyer I do understand his need for the disclaimer), but that I should certainly keep my appointment tomorrow and should stop taking the steroid drop inthe meantime. He said many people notice a difference in their vision and comfort after even one night without the steroid drops, and that we may opt to change my routine up after a break. I have read that the steroid drops are actually designed to slow your healing so that you don't develop corneal haze and to help maintain the desired correction, but I'm pretty curious now and intend to ask to the doctor tomorrrow.

Patience

Boy is this frustrating! My vision improved so quickly in the days immediately following my surgery, that I thought I'd be happy and near perfect within a week. Instead, I feel like my vision stalled out, and maybe even regressed a bit after my bandage contacts lenses were removed. There is still a noticable difference between my right and left eye, and it's very difficult to read the computer screen for very long. I want to rub my right eye all the time, as if there is a piece of dirt in it that is impeding my vision, though that's obviously not the case. My vision is, without a doubt, far better than it was without contacts or glasses before and my eyes feel ok, so of course that's good, I am just in the panic mode that many people seem to experience and wonder whether things will ever get better.

Dry eyes

Life is mostly back to normal now, as the discomfort is gone and my new eyes are settling in. For the past two days I've noticed that my vision is pretty clear first thing in the morning, but 1) within an hour or two my right eye becomes noticably weaker than my left (consistent with earlier checkups), and 2) both eyes deteriorate as the day goes on, and this seems to be related to dryness. The lubricating drops help for a few seconds but the effect is not lasting. The fact that I have been working full days in front of the computer must have something to do with it, and my vision is definitely better when I'm not in front of the screen. Unfortunately my job involves long hours in front of the computer so this may be something I have to live with for a while. This Saturday I have a lot of social items on the agenda soI won't be working much then; a largely computer-free day would be a good test for the eyes.

Day 6

No discomfort, no light sensitivity, no dryness, no halos or anything freaky. Vision still seems a bit blurrier than it did with the bandage contacts in and for some mysterious reason, my eyes keep taking turns, with one being the weak eye and one the stronger. My vision isn't terrible in either but I'd generally describe it as good in only one eye at a time, usually the right. I figured I'd be happy just to have no pain or discomfort at this point and "good enough" vision, but it's a bit more frustrating than I expected! I am able to work but do have a tough time with small print on the computer.

Day 5

My vision has been decent, good enough to watch TV and work on the computer. I came to work today and was getting by just fine and looking forward to my lunch visit to the eye doctor. As expected, he said all was well and removed my bandage contact lenses. He said that my vision was 20/30. I was pleased and expected my vision to improve some without the dirty old lenses in my eyes. I have been back at my desk for a few hours now and my vision seems blurrier. I am disappointed and not quite sure why my vision would regress, but am hopeful that this is just temporary. I am certainly more comfortable than I was with the contacts and should be ok to finish out a days worth of work. In two more days I can scale back to nothing but FML and Refresh drops, ditch the goggles for sleeping, and begin wearing eye makeup again.

Day 4

I am very happy with my progress. My vision seems even better today and I was able to work on the computer for 2 hours yesterday and watch TV last night. No discomfort or light sensitivity. The blurring I am experiencing is similar to allergy related blurring I used to experience with prescription contacts lenses, which leads me to think it may be attributed to the bandage contact lenses. I anticipate no issues returning to the office tomorrow and look forward to having the contact lenses removed.

Day 3

I woke up this morning and was pleased to find that I could barely feel the bandage contacts, had little discomfort, and could see the alarm clock quite clearly. After I got up I realized my vision was still a lit blurry and that I still had a bit of discomfort and light sensitivity, but my vision seemed improved. The doctor said that I was now at 20/40, and I was healing so quickly that we discussed taking the bandage contacts out. Much as I want to ditch them, I told him that if he was on the fence I'd prefer to leave them in until my next appointment.

Overall I feel quite encouraged. I went to brunch with a friend and ran some errands and had no problem reading menus and signs, though I opted to take the subway to brunch rather than drive. I seem to slowly be regaining my ability to focus without discomfort and am going to attempt to do some work this afternoon. I think some of my blurriness at this point can be attributed to these contacts so I look forward to having those out of Monday.

Recovery Day 2

Yesterday my discomfort lessened enough for me to spend some time on the computer, though that may have ben pushing it. I tried to watch The Office and 30 Rock in the evening and had a lot of trouble focusing for very long on the TV, even with the lights off and sunglsses on. Errands and housework were still not a problem. The bandage contacts were getting irritating and I woke up once in the night to put some drops in and it took a while to fall asleep again, but I did eventually.

This morning my eyes were irritated but I wasn't in a lot of pain. My vision felt relatively clear, but like I had old dirty contact lens in my eyes (which in fact I sort of do). The doctor says I'm healing just fine and that my vision is 20/50, which is very good for a PRK patien at this point. Focusing can still be a challenge.

Surgery and Day 1

I read many a horror story about PRK before my procedure and wanted to post my experiece for others who are considering PRK. I will update periodically!

Prior to surgery I had to be out of contacts for 3 weeks and had to have my eyes scanned the week before. I was also instructed to begin taking Vitamin C daily. The day before surgery I began taking anti-inflammatory drops and antibiotic drops, and the night before I began taking Neurontin, which was supposed to reduce any post-op pain. (More on that later.)

Yesterday I went in for surgery and the process was a piece of cake. I could not wear makeup, perfume, lotion, and jewelry from the neck up. I was given a series of drops and a Xanax to relax me and help me sleep later. After waiting for about 10 minutes I was taken into the surgery room and laid on a table wth a little donut for my head. The doctor put anesthetic drops in my eyes that really did the trick--I didn't feel a d--- thing.

I can't tell you much about the procedure because 1. I asked the doctor if he could not tell me what he was doing, 2. I couldn't feel anything anyway, and 3. it all happened very quickly. I know the doctor did something with a brush, he put something in my eye to hold it open (sounds weird and uncomfortable but really wasn't, I had to stare at a green light for a minute or two, put the bandage contacts in, and finally flushed my eyes with some cold drops. He told me these would induce the equivalent of an ice cream headache, but I've been in far more pain from drinking a margarita too fast, so that part wasn't bad either.

I was released within minutes and got a ride home. My vision was not as good as with my contacts/glasses, but was far better than my prior unaided vision. I felt fine too. I even e-mailed work to say that maybe I could do some work after the nap I was advised to take (though I didn't feel all that tired--so much for Xanax). After snoozing on the couch for a mere 30 minutes, I woke up with a pretty intense burning feeling in my eyes. This lessened somewhat during the day and there were no chages in my vision, but the day was pretty miserable. The cold Refresh drops and the "emergency" anesthetic drops the doctor gave me were totally useless. I kept taking the Neurontin as scheduled plus Advil, no relief there either. I went to bed at 9:00.

This morning I woke up wit some discomfort but none of yesterday's burning. Vision about the same. I was able to cook some eggs, get myself up to the doctor via subway, run a few errands and do some housework. Doctor said my eyes seem to be healing fine. This morning I had difficulty focusing for too long on anything, particulary the computer and TV, but that already seems to be letting up.