Laser Eye Surgery

It's certainly been a while since the last post but that isn't because I'm blind!

I got my enhancement on the left and the eye test afterwards was promising since I could see much more clearly already.

It's been a couple of months since the last op and the eyes have pretty much settled as far as the focusing goes. The right is still definitely better than the left but they are both at an acceptable level. I passed my driving test and now I officially don't need glasses while I drive.

I'm still experiencing dryness but the last exam with the doc he said that they cornea didn't look too dry. I had made the decision not to do anymore enhancements regardless of what he said anyway.

So, my final verdict? I'm happy enough with the result but have realised that I came into this process with my expectations way too high. Perfect vision doesn't seem to be something that can be attained by this; in fact visual quality was something that the doc said might diminish. The other thing that worried me a little is that after the laser surgery the healing process and results seems to be a bit of a lottery, just put everything back and hope for the best!

There are thousands of people who are very very happy with the results they have; pretty much 100% of my friends are in this category. I'm happy too but with the benefit of my 20/20 hindsight would I do it again? Probably not.

I had my reassessment last friday and it's been decided that they need to do an enhancement. Apparently 1 in 20 need an enhancement done....that seems rather high to me!

My sight has been bareable this last month. The eyes have certainly settled. Sometimes I think that it's getting better but the doc said that it hadn't changed since the post op visit. In fact he found that I had a slight astigmatisim in the right eye too but nowhere near as bad.

I've been playing tennis without much problem. I suppose seeing a tennis ball (at night) doesn't require 20/20. It's reading in the mid range that causes me most difficulty. Because of the blurriness sometimes I can't read the words....

Dryness hasn't been too bad either. On occasion I need to put eye drops in but overall I don't do it much anymore. Maybe I'm used to having dry eyes from my contact days.

So, the second op is meant to be much less risky (!). Hopefully i walk out of there with great vision this time.

Unfortunately things are pretty much the same as the last time I posted. It sure looks like I’m managed to be one of the few that didn’t get it quite right…..

I succumbed to the pressure in the end and decided to ring up and come in a bit earlier. I was worried about that left eye…. A check and it was confirmed, I have astigmatism and slight short sightedness…. Gutted. I didn’t have an astigmatism before and I’ve discovered that they are a bit of a pain since things are blurry close AND far. At the moment I’m in a wait and see period to see if it comes right or not; I’ve got a month. The right eye is pretty good though and that is allowing me to operate pretty much normally.

Because of the left eye being a bit wack everything looks like it has a bit of a haze around it. I also get the occasional headache from it too although it’s hard to really pin down cos it’s only been a week. Dryness is not overly bad, grittiness is much, much better.

Bedside manner is still leaving a bit to be desired. Information is hard to extract from the doc but that might be something to do with me not asking enough questions. I’ll try better next time. Next up for me is another appointment in about 3 weeks where an assessment will be made if I need an adjustment. At the moment I would probably take it since the current state isn’t acceptable but I would rather roll the dice again if I had too.

I am still not in a position to recommend this procedure yet. Hopefully that will change in the coming weeks.

Well I think it's day 4 at least!

My first day back at work anyway. The eyes are feeling better. The right has never felt that bad but the left feels like there is some dirt or something in there. Apparently that is dryness? The left also has a little blood in in the white (but i'm not concerned). Neither are sore.

The vision has a similar ratio. The right is better and borders on clear most of the time (sometimes cloudy). The left is fuzzy.

I'm having problems looking at stuff close up and as a result I had to up the res on my computer screen and move it closer! Gutted ;O) It's definitely better looking at stuff further away, esp outside in well lit areas. The night vision hasn't really been tested properly yet.

I'll continue to wait and probably give it to the end of the week before I go screaming back to the doc.

The eyes are feeling alot better but the left is still pretty blurry. I can still feel that there is something in that eye so I guess the flap is still dry. It’s getting less and less though.

The sight is still better than without contact before. I'm watching TV and I can drive etc so it's all manageable while I wait. I did have a read of the FAQ's on the Eye Institute website and it did say that the results are not instantaneous so maybe my expectations before were slightly misguided….

One thing I’ve definitely learnt from this experience so far is that when you put eye drops in your eye that you can sometimes end out tasting it in the back of your throat! It’s pretty crazy but someone was telling me that there is some sort of passage….makes sense I suppose.

I’ve got three sets of drops that I’m putting in 4 times a day. An antiseptic to keep out infection, a steroid one to help healing (this is the horrible tasting one) and one just for dryness.

So still feeling a little nervous about the results. I hope the left eye gets better than this!

Okay, I've finally gotten the plastic sheilds off this morning and had my first of two scheduled check ups with the Doc.

So have I got 20/20 vision? Not quite.... In fact I'm having trouble reading the computer screen at the moment! Time for panic stations then? Not quite yet.

Although I've heard plenty of stories of people having perfect vision the next day I suppose not everyone comes out with that. My left "flap" is still quite dry which contributes to it not being that great; it still feels like there is some grit in that eye. The right feels much better but the vision still isn't the same as it was with contacts in.

Am i disappointed? Yes, I suppose I am but I did have high expectations.

Am I worried? A little. I not going to cast final judgement yet of course. A better time for that might be when I go back for my second checkup on the 20th. Hopefully by that time I will already have much better vision than I have now.

So for now it's just more sitting around and waiting.

Okay, This is just a quick post to say that it's done. Apparently it's better if I rest my eyes and keep them closed as much as possible.

At the moment my eyes feel like they are full of sand but other than that i'm not in any pain or anything.

Due to go back to the doc's for a post op check tomorrow morning when i'll post up more about the experience.