I went in to have custon LASIK last Friday and ended up having PRK, due to something the Dr. saw on my eye.
My vision is not that great at all (I'm just six days post-op) and have been told that hte healing process is completely different and longer than LASIK surgery.
Has anyone here had PRK and, if so, after how long did you see an improvement? The Dr. took out my protective contacts this morning, but it seems as though I see a little better with them in. I can barely see anything on my computer screen and am unable to change the font in my work computer. I haven't read a paper in a week and, while I can see things on my TV screen, nothing is clear. Is this normal???? And, I can't drive yet.
I went in to correct my vision and now, while I see better than I did without contacts/glasses, I don't see anywhere near as god as I did with them.
Any information from you all is greatly appreciated.
I had PRK on Feb.15 on my right eye and March 1st on my left eye. It will take awhile to heal. After about a week, my right eye was good enough to hold it's own and I could go ahead and prepare to have the left eye done. I had my 1 1/2 month check on my right eye and it was at 20/30 and they are suspecting it will be greatly improved by my next checkup in May. It can take a few months to get to the vision you want. My left eye is doing fine so far, but not yet at it's final vision.
Your eye will get blurry again after they remove the band-aid lens because when they take it out, it roughs up the outer layer again (epithelium). My eyes were blurry for about 4 to 5 days after the lens came out. The blurriness will pass. I was told to expect that.
I think each day gets better and better. The biggest changes will occur during the first month. After that, it will be more gradual and you won't notice huge changes. But changes will continue, a little at a time.
It definately takes more patience with PRK, but it is a safer procedure than lasik and two key benefits: No flap corrections or problems with PRK and with PRK, the dry eye syndrome doesn't happen as badly as in lasik patients. With lasik, some of the nerves are severed when they cut the flap. Those nerves control the amount of fluid in the eye. Without them, the eyes are dry until the nerves grow back. With PRK, nothing is severed, so the dry eye isn't as much of a nuisance.
The healing process may take longer, but I don't think we have all the possible side effects that lasik patients have.
I'm so glad I finally heard from someone! I have been going NUTS after my surgery on March 24th. I was not quite prepared (I was supposed to have LASIK, but the Dr. saw something on one of my eye pictures and she recommended PRK (day of surgery)). My vision sucks. With and without the band-aid lenses. I went in for a follow-up exam the Thursday after the procedure and they removed the lenses. Vision was horrible. I went back in for another exam last Saturday and told them to do something to help me see, as I could not see well enough to do much of anything at work, nor could I drive. So they put in lenses w/a slight correction. It was wonderful. Nowhere near perfect, but I could drive and see better. Then this past Sunday morning, I apparently bumped my eye in my sleep and got an abrasion. So the good lense came out, another one put back in, but without the same correction, as the abrasion screwed up my vision again.
I am completelly second-guessing this decision to have anything done to my eyes, as it's been almost two weeks and I am back to not driving.
The Dr. keeps tellimg me to be patient, be patient. Well, I am one of the most impatient people I know. I want what I want, and I want it NOW. I am trying to have hope that everything will fall into place in the coming days. I don't know how much longer I can go w/o functioning properly. This is ridiculous. It is good to hear from someone who has actually had the procedure. Not that I doubt the Dr., but does she really know what one goes through if she hasn't gone through it herself?
Pardon any spelling corrections. I can't see the screen that well and I have double vision. Did you have double vision, too?
If you thnk of anything else I should expect, please let me know.
When did you start driving, or reading a paper, or seeing your computer screen??
Thanks!
Amy
Quote:
Originally Posted by bowriter
I had PRK on Feb.15 on my right eye and March 1st on my left eye. It will take awhile to heal. After about a week, my right eye was good enough to hold it's own and I could go ahead and prepare to have the left eye done. I had my 1 1/2 month check on my right eye and it was at 20/30 and they are suspecting it will be greatly improved by my next checkup in May. It can take a few months to get to the vision you want. My left eye is doing fine so far, but not yet at it's final vision.
Your eye will get blurry again after they remove the band-aid lens because when they take it out, it roughs up the outer layer again (epithelium). My eyes were blurry for about 4 to 5 days after the lens came out. The blurriness will pass. I was told to expect that.
I think each day gets better and better. The biggest changes will occur during the first month. After that, it will be more gradual and you won't notice huge changes. But changes will continue, a little at a time.
It definately takes more patience with PRK, but it is a safer procedure than lasik and two key benefits: No flap corrections or problems with PRK and with PRK, the dry eye syndrome doesn't happen as badly as in lasik patients. With lasik, some of the nerves are severed when they cut the flap. Those nerves control the amount of fluid in the eye. Without them, the eyes are dry until the nerves grow back. With PRK, nothing is severed, so the dry eye isn't as much of a nuisance.
The healing process may take longer, but I don't think we have all the possible side effects that lasik patients have.
You are really going through a lot. I'm sorry it's not going well. I don't know why they did both eyes at once, because with PRK and the extended healing time involved, most doctors recommend getting one eye done at a time. The soonest my doctor would perform on my second eye was two weeks. They want to make sure that one eye can see well enough to carry on your daily activities (computer, driving, reading, etc), before they do the other eye. My right eye was first to go and after a week (7days) it was good enough to drive with (20/60 at least). In the meantime, while it healed, I wore my normal contact lense in my left eye to drive and read. After the right eye healed (7 days) I quit wearing the lens in my left eye because I had to have it out for 5 days prior to surgery. I was a little nervous without my security blanket, but my right eye carried me through the week. Everyday, it got better and better and the day of my left eye surgery (2 weeks after the first eye), my right eye was at 20/30. Today, it's close to 20/20 but not quite there. Feb. 15th was its surgery date, so it's been almost 2 months.
Left eye went well, and it is seeing as it should. I had it adjusted for monovision so the best it will get will be 20/80 or 20/100. So far, I can read and drive like normal. I do know that the vision isn't quite perfect in either eye yet, but it's getting there.
You might have had an astigmatism that caused you to get PRK. That's what I had and there is a risk of a disease that you could get in the future if you had traditional lasik. Depending on how bad the astigmatism is, the double vision (ghosting) will take longer to correct. I still have a little bit of ghosting but it improves gradually everyday. They do say that it could take up to six months for the eyes to stabilize enough to determine if corrections are needed.
It sounds like your doctor is trying to accommodate your vision needs because other people in these posts said their doctor would not give them any lenses or glasses after surgery to get them by, which I don't understand. I think it's too early to question your doctor's skills. Healing is out of their control after the surgery is over. It sounds like she's keeping a close eye on you (other posts suggest that their doctors could care less once the procedure is done). If your doctor seems interested in your concerns, take that as a good thing. If she treats you like she could care less, then I'd question the ethics. Most doctors want their patients needs met or it gives them a bad rap.
Since your procedure was done on March 24, I would give it another week before I start to be overly concerned. No two people heal alike. My personal opinion is that you should see good enough to drive after two weeks. By three weeks, you should be able to almost read well without strain and by one month, you should be getting by pretty well, with some healing weeks still to go. I know patience is a hard thing when you can't drive to go to work or see the computer. I only suffered that for about five days and it drove me nuts. When it affects your life and your ability to work and drive, patience is not such an easy thing to have. I empathize with you totally, but it is still early for you and the eyes are obviously still somewhat irritated. That irritation could be slowing the healing process. Go as easy on the eyes as you can for the next couple of weeks. Wear sunglasses even on cloudy days and wear them while working on the computer and watching TV. That made a huge difference for more. Less strain. Pamper the eyes, no matter how silly it looks!
Funny you posted today, as I was just getting ready to ask you a question...did you notice your vision comes and goes? As far as clarity goes, I mean? I've noticed I will be able to see, while nowhere near perfect, somewhat clearly for a little bit, then it gets blurry and I see double. Then it will get clear, then blurry. This goes on all day. And it doesn't get clear after I use my eye drops. It just happens. Off and on all day. I don't know if that is a good thing, or if it is something that is expected, but it sure as heck an improvement over lsat week.
I got that abrasion on Sunday (no pain since then, as I was told to expect, thank God), and I almost want to say/hope my vision is getting a LITTLE better. Maybe that's just in my head. I don't know. I go in for another exam tomorrow morning, then on Saturday. Hopefully the injured eye will have healed enough for a corrective lense. In the mean time, I have been wearing magnifying glasses to help me and, they do help a bit.
As far as getting both eyes done at once, I was going in for LASIK and I actually asked about having both eyes done at once w/that. That was no problem. That issue did not even come up when she informed me that the PRK was a better procedure for me.
The astigmatism? I always thought I had it, but I guess I didn't. The procedure may have caused some, but I'm not sure yet.
I'm just at the mercy of my eyes and time.
Again, let me know if you experienced the vision coming and going. I'm curious about that.
Thanks.
Amy
Quote:
Originally Posted by bowriter
You are really going through a lot. I'm sorry it's not going well. I don't know why they did both eyes at once, because with PRK and the extended healing time involved, most doctors recommend getting one eye done at a time. The soonest my doctor would perform on my second eye was two weeks. They want to make sure that one eye can see well enough to carry on your daily activities (computer, driving, reading, etc), before they do the other eye. My right eye was first to go and after a week (7days) it was good enough to drive with (20/60 at least). In the meantime, while it healed, I wore my normal contact lense in my left eye to drive and read. After the right eye healed (7 days) I quit wearing the lens in my left eye because I had to have it out for 5 days prior to surgery. I was a little nervous without my security blanket, but my right eye carried me through the week. Everyday, it got better and better and the day of my left eye surgery (2 weeks after the first eye), my right eye was at 20/30. Today, it's close to 20/20 but not quite there. Feb. 15th was its surgery date, so it's been almost 2 months.
Left eye went well, and it is seeing as it should. I had it adjusted for monovision so the best it will get will be 20/80 or 20/100. So far, I can read and drive like normal. I do know that the vision isn't quite perfect in either eye yet, but it's getting there.
You might have had an astigmatism that caused you to get PRK. That's what I had and there is a risk of a disease that you could get in the future if you had traditional lasik. Depending on how bad the astigmatism is, the double vision (ghosting) will take longer to correct. I still have a little bit of ghosting but it improves gradually everyday. They do say that it could take up to six months for the eyes to stabilize enough to determine if corrections are needed.
It sounds like your doctor is trying to accommodate your vision needs because other people in these posts said their doctor would not give them any lenses or glasses after surgery to get them by, which I don't understand. I think it's too early to question your doctor's skills. Healing is out of their control after the surgery is over. It sounds like she's keeping a close eye on you (other posts suggest that their doctors could care less once the procedure is done). If your doctor seems interested in your concerns, take that as a good thing. If she treats you like she could care less, then I'd question the ethics. Most doctors want their patients needs met or it gives them a bad rap.
Since your procedure was done on March 24, I would give it another week before I start to be overly concerned. No two people heal alike. My personal opinion is that you should see good enough to drive after two weeks. By three weeks, you should be able to almost read well without strain and by one month, you should be getting by pretty well, with some healing weeks still to go. I know patience is a hard thing when you can't drive to go to work or see the computer. I only suffered that for about five days and it drove me nuts. When it affects your life and your ability to work and drive, patience is not such an easy thing to have. I empathize with you totally, but it is still early for you and the eyes are obviously still somewhat irritated. That irritation could be slowing the healing process. Go as easy on the eyes as you can for the next couple of weeks. Wear sunglasses even on cloudy days and wear them while working on the computer and watching TV. That made a huge difference for more. Less strain. Pamper the eyes, no matter how silly it looks!
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