it’s not just the continued dry eyes that make me wish i’d thought a bit longer on scheduling the epi-lasik. its all the other random things that have happened to my eyes since then. oh, how i sometimes miss those contacts and lenses that used to protect my cornea.
so, for anyone who finds themselves reading this because they want to know more about lasek recovery, here is my brief update on the past year:
- jan-june: dry eye status quo (daily genteal moderate drops, genteal severe dry eye gel at nighttime, and warm compresses a few times a week)
- july: vision test shows slight astigmatism in left eye: ~ .25
- august: broken blood vessel in left eye, two weeks with a blood-shot eye
- november: comment received on this blog suggests this method for opening dry eyes in the morning: sit up, tilt head back wards, and eyes can open immediately. It actually works, and I am happy for exactly one month.
- december: stringing christmas lights for a work event, a small bulb pokes me in the left eye (there was a little tension in the line from the person with the other end). i go to the mirror and can see the scratch in the cornea, but its not nearly as bad as the snowball incident, so i just had a few days of rest. but because it happened at work, i decided to use the insurance to get an exam, just to be sure things were okay, b/c things seemed a bit blurrier than normal. vision test now shows astigmatism in left eye at ~.75
And so the year ends, with me typing away on a new computer, the LCD source of my suffering, wearing a new pair of glasses that help my tired eyes read the shapes of the words in front of me, wishing I had been able to find these words three years ago, and wondering if it would have done anything to change my decision back then.
Advertisement
Anne said,
January 23, 2010 at 9:44 pm
I have had nothing but problems with my epi-lasik and I’m so glad to read your story. According to the doctors, at first and still, all was well. But I never had 20/20 and now both eyes are -1.25 (4 years later). Also the dryness is horrible. My left eye is the worst. I’ve been trying contacts but they kill my eyes. So I too, am in glasses and think about the horrible decision I made 4 years ago every single day!!! Thank you for your blog.
ImpatientOne said,
April 23, 2010 at 6:34 am
Hi, so sorry to hear about your complications. Can you tell me the details of your surgery? Epi-lasik is newer than other procedures so not all doctors do it the same way. I scheduled my advanced exams so I might get the surgery in one month (5/2010).
Do you recall if they used alcohol solution when removing the Epithelium? Was the epithelium replaced back on your eye or disposed of? Did they use an Epikeratome or brush to remove it?
Thanks so much for your feedback and blog