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.