Hi
I am feeling down today, whiny maybe even. Still in the recovery period. I am tired of fluctuation in vision, using the rewetting drops, worrying about all of it and the little pains in the eyes and headaches. Anybody been there, done that and now are happy they had eye surgery? I had my surgery the middle of February.

I totally regret it. I was legally blind for 2 weeks after mine. It slowly cleared, but I had developed corneal edema.
This was in December. My right eye is still not right. I have halos at night, and low night vision. My left eye is OK...not as sharp as i expected.
I am having my right eye redone next month. When my eye was healing, it healed unevenly and i developed astigmatism, which i did not have before.
It was also overcorrected.
I had an excellent surgeon (he did Tiger Wood's eyes) so it just shows that it can happen to anybody.
If i had known all this would happen i would never have done it and would have been happy with contacts....of course hindsight is 20/20

jkm,
Forgive me because I have the worst memory of anyone I know. I think it has to do with my minor insomnia and night terrors but, I would guess that that is another board entirely. Anyway, as I have such a poor memory and am feeling too lazy this AM to go look it up, do I remember correctly that you had PRK? Or did you have regular Lasik? Anyway, if you had PRK, I can't really speak to your situation specifically when compared to mine. I had regular lasik. But, I can tell you that my surgery was not without its post-op complications. I suffered (and still do first thing in the AM and occassionally on some days throughout the day) from dry eye. I am sure I have told you but, my surgery was January 19, 2005. I only just stopped having to use my eye drops every 4 hours 2 weeks ago. And, that was after I stopped using my drops every 2 hours roughly 3 months +/- ago. I still need them in the AM as soon as I wake up because my eyes feel like egg shells. Anyway, for the first 5 months after my surgery, my eyes were blurry throughout most of the days. That was based on the dryness and the healing. It was annoying but, bareable. I think I could deal with it because I just had faith that it would get better and straighten out eventually. The dryness made my eyes hurt. I almost constantly felt like there was an eyelash in my eyes.

Just this weekend, I had a painful moment with my left eye where it felt like there was sand in it and I kept rubbing and rubbing and, the next day, the area around my eye felt like it was bruised. It was so sensitive to touch.

Another complication post-op was that there were some cells under the edge of my left flap. That can be irritating. It can also be a problem if the cells continue to grow. Fortunately, mine didn't. I haven't seen my regular eye doc since September so, I don't know if those cells are gone. But, since my eyes are better now as far as the dryness goes, I am not worried. Anyway, the fluctuation is common. If you are really concerned, you should go visit your regular eye doc...not your lasik doc. Your regular eye doc has nothing to lose by being totally honest with you. My Lasik Doc (while I have no regrets and would do it again) was not 100% honest with me about what I was experiencing, why and any potential dangers that I may face (back then). He just kept telling me that he saw some dry patches and told me to keep re-wetting/using my eye drops. My regular eye doc told me about the cells under my flap, suggested I use different drops, and just explained all of the potential problems I could face with the cells under my flap but, also told me what to look for, and that it wasn't likely that I would have a problem based on what he saw. He ran several tests and did a really thorough exam.

Ok! So, now that I have bored you to death with my saga, I hope that I was in some way helpful. My point is that, it does get better. It can be frustrating and scary. But, when you are really worried, pay a visit to your regular eye doc. He or she will have a vested interest in making sure that you heal well.

Take care and keep in touch.

Hating Glasses,
Thank you so much for posting a reply. I had regular lasik too, on Feb 16,2006. I am driving my husband CRAZY because I worry about how it is all going to turn out, and really, all my post op complaints are normal. However, I do wish I would have been told the possible post op normal things to expect. Maybe they did tell me, but I doubt it. Sat. was not fun,,very blurry and dry, Sunday was a whole lot better. Now today I am way dry again, painfully dry. I am scheduled to see my regular optometrist on May 4. I think that will make me feel better because then a little reassurance, I HOPE!, will be in order! I think in the long run, I will be satisfied, but any recovery from surgery has its ups and downs.
Were you the person thinking about becoming pregnant? How is that going, are you currently pregnant? Its really none of my business, I was just wondering,,,and I have five kids of my own. but we are done!
thanks again for the reply
jkm

jkm,
I am glad to have been some help. It all sounds like what I experienced. I know the blurriness is a pain but, try to keep them moist since, a large part of the blurriness is from the dryness. One thing you might consider is sitting with a moist (warm) towel over your eyes for a bit in the AM. I shower at night so, the steam and moisture from the shower is not something that I can use to bring my eyes out of the dry blurry state in the AM when I first get up. I don't know if you have noticed that your eyes seem to be better for a bit after you shower. Mine always were. Anyway, when I get up in the AM, I put the drops in and then I use a damp cloth to kind of wipe over my eye lids and around them. It helps some. One thing that I found about a week after my surgery was a humidifier. That helps too. Get one or two to have in your house and maybe at your job. If you get one that is small enough to move around, you can just move it from room to room in your house and if you work, you can take it to your job too.

As for wether your doc told you of the possible complications, he probably touched on the more worrisome problems. And, he may have glossed over the dryness and the blurriness because, they are not as worrisome as potential blindness! That is kind of why this board is so great if people find it before their procedure.

To answer your question, I am trying to get pregnant. We really only started trying back in December/January. Then, we weren't working on it very hard of late but, are going to get back to it again! Heheheh! But, no...we are not pregnant yet. We really stressed ourselves out a little using the ovulation kits so, we decided to get our heads straight and let nature take its course from now on. If that makes any sense. Hehehehe!

Try not to worry about the blurriness just yet. You are still so very early in your healing. l really don't think I saw the blurriness go until around my 5 month mark. It was a pain but, I saw a pattern. It would be annoying for the first 3 or so hours in the AM, ok mid-afternoon and then get annoying again around 4 or so. Try to rest your eyes as much as you can. They get tired really easily in the first couple months. Keep in mind that, up until now, they have depended on your glasses or contacts to do the work for them. Now, they don't have to depend on anything but, there is a healing time which, if you think of your eyes as seperate entities inside of you, they can get confused. I guess! If that makes any sense at all. In my own head, it makes all kinds of sense. Verbalizing it is where I have the problem. Heheheh!

Drink lots of water and take a multiple vitamin. Back in the beginning of my healing, I was taking a multiple vitamin and Flax seed oil capsules. It did help but, I have a bit of a problem with routine so, I stopped taking all of that stuff. I can only imagine how much quicker I would have healed if I kept it up. Darn my inability to stick with the good habits! Hehehehe! Much easier to pick up a bad one like coffee in the AM. Hehehehe! Anyway, try to consume the stuff that keeps your body hydrated and healthy. The healthier and more hydrated you are on the inside, the faster your eyes will heal.

Take care and keep in touch!

Hating Glasses,
Thanks again for your input. I think you're right, you are so worried in the beginning of the big problems, you don't think about the potential little ones!!! hahaha! I should try to drink more water, I used to be really good at it,then sunk back to my old ways of Diet Coke and coffee. My next check up seems so far away, not until the beginning of May, but I am not having a real problem, so to speak. The reassurance of a dr. saying, Yeah, you're good, is nice though. :)
Take care
jkm

jkm,
I hear you about the water thing. I really don't like it at all. Fortunately, I do like the Fruit2O stuff. I like the grape flavor. And, since it is made with Splenda, it won't pack on any pounds. Otherwise, I can't drink water. I need flavor and, while water has a flavor, it isn't a good one...IMO. Hehehehe! And, my two preferred drinks are Diet Coke with Splenda and coffee. Niether are good for you...at all! But, they are really my only vices. I could have worse ones!

Take care and drink that water! Heheheh!