Posts Tagged eye surgery
PRK Laser Eye Surgery Two Years Later
Posted by yoursinwriting in Personal on March 25th, 2009
It’s been just over 800 days since I had my PRK laser eye surgery, and I am posting this to let everybody know how it settled out.
My vision is fantastic. I can see clearly, and focusing near and far is not a problem.
I am slightly more sensitive to bright light; this means that when I leave work on a very sunny day, I have to squint a bit unless I have sunglasses handy. I was always more sensitive to bright light than most people, but it’s even more noticeable now.
Any “halo effect” with my night vision is so small I can’t notice it anymore.
I have one major complaint: serious eye dryness.
When I wake up in the morning, my eyes are so dry that they are painful to open. I literally have to use my fingers to gently pry my eyelids apart if I want to avoid discomfort. To be fair, Alberta is drier than most places, and when I visit Ontario or BC, I don’t notice this as much. I have been told that a humidifier can solve the problem, but it didn’t work for me. There are also gel drops you can use in your eyes before you go to bed; these work well, but they are expensive, and I forget to put them in.
During the day, my eyes will dry out a couple of times, so I need to use drops to keep them comfortable. This is exacerbated by the fact that I stare at a computer screen for a large part of the day.
Despite the pain, I still heartily recommend the process. To put it in perspective, the dryness is exactly like what you experience when you’ve had your contact lenses in for too long. The pain in the morning is exactly like waking up after you’ve forgotten to take them out.
So I would say I suffer from slightly more discomfort now, but way more convenience. I can see the time on my alarm clock when I wake up. I can play sports, go swimming, or crash at a friend’s house without having to worry about my contact lenses. I’m very happy with the results.
Laser Eye Surgery – 3 Month Followup
Posted by yoursinwriting in Everything Else on April 30th, 2007
So it’s been three months now, and my eyes are getting better all the time. My vision is 20/20, and the haloing effect I had at night is barely noticeable.
My major complaint is that my eyes are very dry; that is to say, they are no drier than my eyes used to be when I’d been wearing my contact lenses for too long. Except that now I don’t have contact lenses to take out, so the only way to ease the pain is to use artificial tears.
One other small issue is that when I open my eyes for the first time in the morning, it feels like the insides of my eyelids are razor blades slicing across my eyeballs. I call this a “small issue” because the discomfort goes away very quickly, and the doctors have assured me that this will go away if I use the “overnight” drops, or get a humidifier so that my condo isn’t as dangerously dry as the rest of Calgary.
I still feel great about getting the surgery. I’ve also started to lose my appreciation for my contact- and glasses-free perfect vision. I think this is because my post-operative eyes now require different, but equal, tending in the way of regular lubricating and medicating drops. So it’s not a freedom I’ve gained so much as change of routine.
My Condo Pre-Walkthrough Walkthrough
Posted by yoursinwriting in Everything Else on January 26th, 2007
So I’ve been sneaking into my condo every week to see it coming along. Last week this is what it looked like.
Today I had the final walkthrough, and while there are lots of little things that need finishing, it’s liveable. Tomorrow I do the whole move-in thing (I hired movers! I’m a grown-up!), and will lie down on the carpet at some point and stare at the ceiling. But I will be able to see it without my contact lenses in!
Two Days After PRK Laser Eye Surgery
Posted by yoursinwriting in Everything Else on January 24th, 2007
Today started off pretty crappy. When I woke up, I had trouble focussing, and the contact in my left eye felt out of place. Still, I got showered, dressed up a bit in my new pants and belt (which I bought yesterday when I was waiting for my checkup appointment, using my Bay Gift Certificate… thanks Mom!), and went in to work.
My eyes felt slightly more sore than yesterday; my coworkers commented on how red my eyes were, but they were really supportive and curious about the procedure. I’m sure a few of them are hoping for horrible results so that they can be that naysayer at the party who dredges up my story as proof that nobody should ever have laser eye surgery. I can’t blame them; any tragedy is more interesting than a simple success.
I got lots of errands done at work, and then left early to meet my lawyer and finalize my condo business. The lawyer was awesome, and took almost two hours with me, going over every single document and indulging my nit-picky questions. At the end, he showed me the bill his assistant had prepared, and then cut it in half because part of it was for a payment in trust to be made to the seller in the future; it was legitimate for them to ask for it, but he just didn’t want me to pay it. Hilarious.
My right eye is starting to focus pretty good, but my left eye continues to be problematic. Nothing serious, but it’s just foggier than my right, and this loose contact is bugging me. About midway through the day, the soreness died down, and now I hardly notice it.
Tomorrow I go in for my second assessment, and to return the pants and belt. They are both too short.
Did I mention I never try anything on?
The Day After PRK Laser Eye Surgery
Posted by yoursinwriting in Everything Else on January 23rd, 2007
I was in good hands for my surgery. This is the painting I was talking about yesterday, located in the main greeting room for the company that did my eye surgery. I guess the “Prayer Request” card in my surgery package (where I could ask to have my surgeon, who “believes in the power of prayer,” pray with me personally before the surgery) wasn’t an isolated artifact.
I got a bagful of eyedrops, drugs, and emergency replacement contact lenses. I am on a rigorous regimen of squirting crap into my eyes. The unbelievable thing is that even after several dozen applications, I still miss my eyes regularly, and spatter precious medical drops onto my cheeks and forehead.
At least I’m getting better with the nighttime eye protection, but I can’t help feeling like the human equivalent of a dog in one of those don’t-bite-your-wound cones.
As far as my condition, I feel alert, and my check-up went well. I flinched a bit when the doctor, speaking to her assistant who was taking notes on a computer, said, “right eye… very clean wound.”
Wound? WOUND?!? Lady, pick another word! The good news is that a clean wound is good. And I am healing well. She asked me if I’d had a “sleep” during the day. No, I said. “Gee, you’re gonna feel it tomorrow!” she said.
I guess I was supposed to spend today resting in darkness. Nowhere in my package did it make any reference to this. Nobody told me to stay home, in shadow, and nap. Seems negligent. Luckily, my eyes are still intact, thanks in large part to my near-mutant healing factor.
As for comfort, it feels like I have spent hours swimming in a pool of chlorine; my eyes are sore, and water often, and lights have little haloes around them.
But I can see pretty darned well. Very exciting.
Thanks to everyone who called or emailed to wish me luck and check in on how I’m doing. I really appreciate it.
PRK Laser Eye Surgery Smells Like Burning Hair
Posted by yoursinwriting in Everything Else on January 22nd, 2007
This is what I look like before going to bed. Seriously. This is to keep me from rubbing my eyes in my sleep. Which I would definitely do.
I don’t know where to start about the surgery. The smell of my burning corneas? The almost Rainman quality of my surgeon? The enormous oil painting in the waiting room of Jesus touching the shoulders of two surgeons working on a patient? It’s too hard to choose.
However, I will say that I am doing well, and my vision is already incredibly clear. I am experiencing very, very minor discomfort, and I have crazy drugs and drops to help deal with it. Also, I am not supposed to spend any time in front of a computer or TV screen, so for the health of my eyes, I must go.
More later.
How to Fix Vision Problems For Dummies
Posted by yoursinwriting in Everything Else on November 10th, 2003
So yesterday was a lazy Sunday. I got up kinda late, brushed my teeth, put in my contacts, got dressed, went out for a greasy breakfast at Dunn’s Deli on Elgin Street, and then came home and had a nap.
Four hours later, I got up to do some work. I have lots of work to do. Just like you, I’m sure. I swung my legs out of bed, reached over and put my glasses on, and headed downstairs to get some dinner. After all, I’d been sleeping for four hours with only a huge plate of bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns and toast to sustain me.
When I got downstairs, I felt a strange sensation: I couldn’t focus. My eyes just weren’t doing their regular focusing stuff. I had to really work to get them to put what I was looking at into sharp detail.
I tried not to panic. I’m not prone to hypochondria, but having just turned thirty, I’m ready for my body to tank on me at any moment. All evening, working in front of the computer, I had to constantly refocus on the screen, my notes… everything. I was getting a headache and my eyes seemed really dry.
Just before bed, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I took off my glasses and put them on the sink. Looking into the mirror, I realized that suddenly, I could see perfectly.
I had my contact lenses on the whole time.
RSS Subscription
Recent Comments