Day 5

Yesterday (Day 5) was very comfortable.  No pain, no dryness, and my vision was clear in my right eye, and only slightly blurred in my PRK eye.  I have experienced no starbursts, halos, or glares in either eye throughout this entire process.  Night driving is completely fine.  My vision in the dark hasn't changed, either.  The little ghosting I did have is nearly gone.  The optometrist said that I would experience setbacks in my vision, but aside from that day when my vision got worse as the day went on I haven't had any.  And I think that only occurred because of eyestrain.

My daughter's 9th birthday was yesterday and she went on a "shopping spree" with her grandma.  When they came home, my daughter was wearing glasses.  "They're fake, Mom... they're just for fashion," she explained.  I had to laugh because I just paid $3400 to not have to wear glasses and here she is getting them when she doesn't need them.

Day 4

Woke up this morning with clear vision in my PRK eye and very clear vision in my LASIK eye.  Still no pain, irritation, or light sensitivity.  A bit of ghosting in the PRK eye, but that's it.  I keep forgetting to do lubricating drops in my eyes in between medication drop times.

At my check up, the tech said my LASIK eye is 20/15 and he didn't mention what my PRK eye was, but I know I read like two lines smaller than I could with the LASIK eye, so I'm certain it was even better than that.  The optometrist said that my eyes are healing extraordinarily well.  He even toyed with the idea of just removing rather than replacing the contact bandage, saying that my cornea was about 99% to where he would like it to be.  Ultimately, we both decided to replace it and keep the new one in until Monday.  Especially since the contact is not bothering me in any way.

I am supposed to continue the medicated drops as I have been until my appointment on Monday.  I'm feeling great and sort of wish I had gone ahead with PRK in both eyes!

Day 3 Post-Op

I woke up this morning feeling pretty normal.  The pain is gone!  My vision in my PRK eye is still fairly blurry, but only a little worse than it was when I had my vision acuity check on Day 1.  I can read the text on the computer without enlarging the font but it's a little difficult due to the ghosting.  I drove the kids to swim class again and I didn't even need the ice pack.  The only difference today is that my PRK eye is excessively tearing.  I nearly forgot to put lubricating drops in my eyes, but figured I probably should just in case.

Last night during the height of the irritation, I never wanted to rub my eyes so badly.  I sort of cheated and wiped gently on my closed eyelids.  I also pushed my face into my pillow to put a little pressure on my eyelids.  I went to bed worried that I messed something up.  Contact bandage gets changed tomorrow at 1pm.  I'm sure Dr. Wiley will check my healing progress as well.

I will update tonight if anything changes.

Evening Update:
Well, my vision has gone from bad to horrible in the PRK eye.  I am seeing probably worse than I was before the surgery.  I took the kids blueberry picking earlier in the day so I think the excess straining on my eyes didn't help.  They don't hurt and there isn't even a hint of irritation, only blurriness.

Day 2 Post-Op

I woke up expecting the worst.  My right (LASIK) eye is completely fine today.  My left (PRK) eye was pretty scratchy feeling when I woke up, but wasn’t light sensitive or any more blurry than it was yesterday.  As soon as I did my morning drop regimen, it was mostly fine.  At times it felt as though I had an eyelash in my eye, but it wasn’t even quite that bad.  An ice pack and Motrin made it go away.  The cold sore in my mouth is bothering me way more than my eye.  I was even able to drive my kids to their swim class in the morning.  I noticed that the air conditioning in the car made the feeling worse (drier air), so I opened the windows and was much better.  I created this entire blog today and typed up my entire experience without adjusting the brightness or font on my computer.  As of about 2pm, the vision in my left eye started to get some ghosting of bright or white things, but it is still very much functional even if I close my right (LASIK) eye.  It does help to have that eye to fall back on, though.

UPDATE: Day 2 Evening
By 8pm, my PRK eye was feeling pretty awful.  It's a constant itchy, burning feeling that won't go away even when closing my eyes.  Motrin wasn't helping much, so I caved and took a Vicodin.  I also keep an ice pack handy.  My vision is hazy, like looking through sheer curtains and I have a bit more ghosting--still only bright or lighted objects, though.  Again, it's nice to be able to have the LASIK eye to count on.  Still no light sensitivity, though, so I think I've been spared from that!  Can't wait to go to bed!

First Day Post-Op

My husband stayed home from work to help with the kids because I wasn’t sure how I would feel the next day.  However, I felt completely fine.  No pain, just mostly clear vision.  I woke up at 8am and did my first set of eyedrops.  Then I went to my post-op check-up at 9am.  Vision was 20/40 in the left (PRK) eye, 20/20 in the right (LASIK) eye, and 20/15 for both eyes!  Dr. Wiley was extremely happy with my results.  He reminded me that tonight and tomorrow would be the worst as far as discomfort goes in my left (PRK) eye but that my right (LASIK) eye should be fine from now on.  I continued my 4 times a day eye drop regimen; drops at breakfast, drops at lunch time, drops at dinner, and drops at bedtime.  My husband took the kids out to dinner but I decided to stay home because I was afraid that the pain would hit and I would force them to cut their dinner short.  I enjoyed the quiet and started watching the series House of Cards.  By the end of the evening, I had a very slight burn in my left (PRK) eye.  It just felt like it did when I needed to change my contacts.  Merely annoying, not painful.  Lubricating eye drops and an ice pack made it go away.  I also took a Motrin out of fear that it would get worse.  I put my shields on and went to bed fearing the next morning.

Surgery Day!

My surgery was scheduled for 4pm, so I had all day to worry about it.  I tried to go to bed late and get up early the night before because I had heard the more you can sleep after the procedure, the better you will feel when you wake up.  I planned to go to bed after I got home and sleep until the next morning.  Hah, plans...

I arrived at the surgery center at 3:50, signed my life away and paid in full.  They told me to have a seat and they would call me back.  My butt had barely hit the chair when they called my name.  They took me back to the eye scan machines they had used during my consult and my pre-op exam to triple check my eyes and ensure there had been no changes.  The tech that did my scans joked that I need to play the lottery after I told him about my contact use with no complications.  Then he took me back to the surgery suite.

In the surgery suite, he sat me down in a massage chair just outside the operating room.  There were two other women waiting.  They both had surgical caps on and one was being given a Benedryl by the nurse.  The nurse then asked me if I had my Valium and if I wanted a Benedryl to help me sleep after the procedure.  I declined the Benedryl but took the Valium.  The nurse left the room and the three of us sat mostly in silence.  I noticed that the other two were visibly as nervous as I felt.  They had their legs crossed and were kicking their top foot.  It was funny to see how their feet slowed and eventually stopped as the Valium kicked in.  The first woman was called in and the remaining two of us wished her good luck.  Not long after, the second woman was called in and I was alone.  Then it was my turn.

The tech that did my scans led me into the operating theater and had me sit down in a dentist’s chair next to a big expensive-looking machine.  Dr. Wiley came in and introduced himself because it was hard to recognize him with his surgical garb.  He told me he was going to be putting in the numbing drops.  He placed one drop in my left (PRK) eye and two in my (LASIK) right.  He reminded me that the LASIK procedure would be the more uncomfortable one because of the suction required to cut the flap.  I guess that's the reason for the second drop.  

Flap Cutting:

After several minutes, he taped my left eye shut and approached my right (LASIK) eye with a device that looked like a stick with a small hoop on the end.  I think this was the suction device that I had dreaded so much about the LASIK procedure.  I don’t recall him putting anything in to hold my eyelids open, but I assume he must have so I don’t think I even felt it.  He centered the machine and it lowered down to my eye.  My vision went dark for a second, but it was not scary at all.  It really just seemed like he covered my eye with a black piece of paper or something.  After a few seconds he moved the machine and said the flap was done.  I didn’t even feel the weird sensation most people reported during the suction/flap process.  He removed the tape from my left eye.  I sat up and could not see anything out of my right eye.  Just fog.  He had me stand up and led me to another room where an even bigger, more expensive looking machine was. 

Laser Time:

Again, I laid down on a dentist’s chair.  He moved the machine over my right (LASIK) eye.  There were four white lights in the corners with a green, fuzzy blob in the center.  I asked if I should look at the green light and he said yes, but we were not ready yet.  I stared at the green light anyway, just in case he forgot to tell me when we were ready to begin.  The tech re-stated my pre-op prescription strengths during this time.  After what seemed like an eternity (but was probably only a minute or two at the most), he said it was time.  He reminded me to focus on the green light and I noted lots of tiny, clustered red dots flashing at different points in my peripheral vision.  I started to smell the burning protein but kept my eye on that green dot, which became less of a green fuzzy blob and more of a green dot.  The tech said a few numbers, “20,” “10.”  I think he may have just been counting down.  Then it was over.  No pain, or any sensation really.

Then the machine was moved to my left (PRK) eye.  This time, the white lights in the corners seemed extremely bright and they hurt my eye.  The doctor said this was normal.  I guess the flap made them not so intense in the other eye?  This time, they were ready to begin almost immediately.  Again, I stared at the green dot which became sharper and more defined while the clusters of red dots flashed in my peripheral vision.  When it was all over, the tech sat me up.  I could see!  I turned to thank the doctor and he had already left the room. 

The tech led me through the first flap-cutty room and into another small room with a standard eye checker machine that you would see at any optometrist.  Dr. Wiley came in and had me sit at the machine, chin in the chin-rest and forehead against the frame.  He checked my left (PRK) eye briefly and moved to my right (LASIK).  This was by far the most uncomfortable part of the entire process.  Apparently the flap was a bit wrinkled, so he used a q-tip and what looked like a wooden cuticle stick to smooth it out.  I guess the numbing eye drops were wearing off because it felt like he was poking my eye over and over.  Finally, he was done and said everything went very well.  He said he would see me the next day for my first post-op appointment.  

A nurse came in and went over my discharge instructions.  She marked my eye drops “1,” “2,” and “3” for the order in which I was supposed to use them, followed by lubricating eye drops.  She gave me two sample packs of those.  She said for the day of surgery you usually do the drops every two hours, but that I didn’t have the start the drops tonight if I went to bed when I got home.  She said definitely start them four times a day tomorrow.  Then she taped my eye shields over my eyes and sent me on my way. 

I had the front desk call my husband to come pick me up and sat down in the waiting room to wait.  My right (LASIK) eye was very irritated and was watering like crazy.  I put my sunglasses on over the eye shields but it didn’t help much.  My left (PRK) eye was fine.  I couldn’t wait to go home and go to bed.

At home, I took an Ambien and went to sleep.  It was about 7pm.  I couldn’t sleep anymore at 9pm, I don’t know if it was the excitement or the kids being loud just before bed.  I got up and did the four eyedrops, then ate some dinner.  My eyes felt fine, if only a little different.  I dozed between 9pm and 11pm.  I woke back up, did my four eyedrops again, then read some emails and did some more LASIK/PRK blog reading.  Mostly, I marveled at how clear my vision was without glasses or contacts.  I finally went to sleep for the night around 11:45.  

Pre-Op Exam

I removed my contacts forever one month and one day before my pre-op exam.  Wearing glasses was weird for me and I hated every second of it.  Hated being blind at night and blind in the shower.  My kids always had to touch my glasses and smudge them up, so I hated the smudges that were impossible to clean.  My daughter, who is nine years old, absolutely loved me wearing glasses and was disappointed when I explained that they were temporary and soon I would not have to wear them ever again.

During this time, I researched PRK.  I was scared by the recovery horror stories I was reading.  If it were not for these, I may have opted to get PRK in both eyes because of the benefits of PRK over LASIK.  I was weirded out by the possibility of LASIK flap dislocation, but I was far more terrified of the crippling post-op pain I had read about with PRK, along with the weeks (months, in some cases) of blurry vision.  Eventually, I was comforted by the fact that I would have one “good” eye post-op to depend on.  Especially since I could only take a week off of work.  I also did not want to do two separate surgeries and so my decision to go ahead with PRK in one eye and LASIK in the other was solidified. 

The pre-op exam was very similar to the consult exam except they used dilating drops to more accurately map my eyes.  They called in the prescriptions for surgery day and gave me a kit to take home that included an eye shield, tape, and some rockin’ sunglasses.  I was instructed to bring the kit back on surgery day.  I wore the sunglasses home because my dilated eyes hated the sunny day.  Here is me being awesome in my new shades: 

The prescriptions they gave me were for three different eye drops; Ketorolac (analgesic for the PRK eye), gatifloxacin (antibiotic for both eyes), and prednisolone (steroid drops for both eyes).  They also gave me a script for two Valium to take before the surgery.  Altogether, the scripts cost me around $150, which I had not planned on, and was not totally happy about.  I wished they had mentioned the extra cost of prescriptions during the consultations, but perhaps it is my own fault for not anticipating it.