It has been over four months since my surgery, and yesterday I had my final appointment of 2009. I have not noticed any improvements or discomfort over the last few months, it has felt natural; almost like I never had glasses at all. I was seeing 20/20 in July, but I had to guess on some letters. Yesterday I was still rated at 20/20 and some of the letters did not seem as fuzzy before, or maybe I exaggerated how fuzzy they were originally; either way my score remained the same. I do wish my eye sight was a little stronger, but 20/20 is the optimum eye sight so I shouldn’t be too upset over being normal.
The doctor has recommended I stop taking Flarex as part of my daily regime as there was no scaring or haze on the eye. He did note that my pressure was high and told me that about 10% of patients who use Flarex have increased pressure in the eye because of it. When I go for my next appointment in six months my pressure will be re-evaluated then and we can see if not using Flarex helped, or if it was related to something else all together.
With a clean bill of sight I feel good about my decision. The weeks following the surgery were difficult, but not having to travel with glasses, contacts and appropriate solution is amazing and worth the frustration I had in June. If I play hockey I can just get my gear and go. I don’t have to plan my day around when I put contacts in or if they need to go through another round of solution to make sure they are sufficiently lubricated.
I am not sure what to do with my glasses. I have some frames I like a lot, but I will never wear them again. When I need to wear glasses again it would cost more to get the new prescription put into the frames than to order a new pair online, but throwing them out is like Kerry Weaver walking for the first time without her cane. I will think on this further and hold onto the frames…for now.
In the mean time, can Sean see yet? Yes!
Hiya:
Just a quick note to say thank you for your PRK recovery updates.
I recently had surgery and am now (day 10 today) going thru a very frustrating, and very similar, recovery process. Reading your blog, and others, has given me some much-needed reassurance.
I am gong through long periods of ‘functional fuzziness’ in the midst of which i find myself doubting the outcome and thinking “is it possible my sight will be WORSE…..WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?!???!!!”
Then i wake up the next morning with clear vision (which is still fleeting) and calm down. Reading your experiences has helped get me through the ‘panic’ periods and i am ever grateful for that.
Many many thanks.
c ya
c
I am glad that my experience has helped ease some of your concerns. It can be a long road, and not every day will have improvements, so it’s important to stay patient. When I was going through the ‘functional fuzzy’ faze I often questioned if I made the right decision. Things do get better and hopefully you are through the ‘fuzzy’ sooner than later because it can be quite difficult to stay positive through days of blurriness.
Hi Sean,
I am getting my surgery done a week before Christmas. I was so hoping I would be recovered by then but after reading your posts I see that I have a long road ahead of me and I’m worried. I’m in my last year of University and I need to be able to do school work. According to your posts you were able to do work after two weeks, is that right? Can you tell me what kind of work you were able to do? Typing, reading, writing?
Glad to hear that you’re doing well!
I know someone who had PRK surgery a week after I did, and when I went for my two week follow up I was fuzzy and they were seeing a clear 20/20 (which would have been just over a week after their surgery). However, they had a more painful recovery when mine was relatively smooth. Two similar surgeries that had entirely different outcomes. My point is that it is possible you could be given a go ahead to drive by Christmas time and have clear vision but the way each recovery is different I would not expect to see a perfect 20/20 by then.
I had my surgery on a Tuesday and I was back at work the following Tuesday. I could have returned a day earlier but I was having my protective lenses removed and found the eyes to be a little too sensitive to return at that point.
I do computer work and when I came back I took it slow. I have read of the two week recovery time so I tried not to push myself. I went home early the first few days because my eyes were tired, so it would be important to not read too much at once and retreat to darkness when you feel pain.
At work I increased my monitor resolution to 800×600 and leaned towards the screen to make out the letters. Even then typos were common. I worked in a low-lit area for a few weeks and during that time I was able to slowly move further back from the monitor and increase my resolution.
It could be a long road to recovery, and even though there will be days you may regret your decision to have surgery it is important to hang in there and have patience. Four months after my surgery I can’t believe how easy life is without glasses and getting the freedom back after being tied to corrective lenses was worth the weeks in the dark and surrounded by blurriness.
Good luck!
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