Three weeks after PRK eye surgery I am pleased to say that things are getting better, albeit it is slow process. The differences I am noticing are not day-to-day improvements but I recognize the changes when I see something clearly now that was a blur last week.

I have returned my monitors to their original resolution and moved my work laptop from darkness to light. While it is great to have detail on things several feet from me I am still experiencing blurriness on distant objects. Driving is less of a risk, vehicles seem clear and I can see street signs as I approach them in daylight.

I find my vision is blurry in the morning and after a few hours the text on my monitors sharpen up. I return to the doctor the first week of July for a follow up and I hope that these small improvements continue so I can feel better about my decision for eye surgery.

Until I can see distant objects with detail I will have to leave CanSeanSeeYet.com as a blurry “No”. Even though I can partially see I want to wait until I can see everything as well as I could with glasses. And to have that condition written out under “Yes” would be quite cumbersome.

This is my third installment about my recovery from PRK surgery on June 3rd, which was two weeks ago today.

A common question I get when I tell people my vision is still blurred is “How long is it supposed to take until it gets better?”. They ask exactly the same question I ask myself several times a day. I have seen recovery times of one to three weeks, or even as long as several months but the common theme is: have patience, it gets better.

I am currently in a stage referred to as ‘functional fuzzy’, where I can see objects, distinguish what they are but not see them in any detail. Some days the objects are clearer than others, and other times they have squiggles for text.

I am taking Flarex drops four times daily and Systane Ultra drops about six times a day. I do not find that my eyes get dry but I do not want to take any chances. In fact I notice the more time that passes after I blink the more clearly I can see. I blink and things go fuzzy before slowly sharpening up.

In addition to the drops I have started taking Vitaminc C supplements (500mg twice a day) as a forum I visited on recovery times suggested that it would help the recovery process. At the very least I have a little more Vitaminc C in my diet.

Still, two weeks after the surgery and things have been fairly consistent with their blurriness for the last nine days. My eye sight could be getting better, but it would be so subtle of a change day to day that I may not notice until it is all done. I find I am sitting further away from the computer than I was a week ago, but I am still on a larger 1024×768 resolution so it is no cause for celebration yet.

I am driving a vehicle and playing hockey with no problems. Night driving is a little more tricky since I am unable to read street signs if it is not a well lit area but I get by fine in daylight. This is a slow process, a little tedious at times, but I have to remind myself that I am two weeks into something that may take several months.

The days following my PRK eye surgery have been very frustrating. I knew that after the surgery my eye sight would come and go, there would be waves of pain and discomfort but I never imagined I would be without clear vision for several days in a row.

Even though you know that this is ‘how it is supposed to be’ there is still something aggravating about not having any vision improvements. I have started writing this four days after the surgery and even though the resolution on the laptop has been set to “Grandparent” I can see what I am typing, which is a big improvement and the first time I could accomplish this since the surgery.

Now that I have a chance to share my word, where do I begin? The surgery part was over in a matter of minutes. Every person had talked about how fast it would be, but I had no idea it would be that fast. I will back it up a step however.

Surgery Day
With the PRK procedure the cornea is removed prior to the laser and during this I could see the doctor scrape and brush my cornea away. It was like looking through saran wrap with someone using a paint brush with milky paint to obstruct your vision. It was a good thing I was sedated with Ativan, Tylenol 3 and several rounds of numbing eye drops because that would have been very uncomfortable to sit through otherwise.

The laser part of the surgery was not as strange but still intense. For something so advanced and high tech I expected it to last longer or require a little more effort but I guess that would defeat the purpose of it being advanced.

It took me longer to read my post op sheet given to be me before the procedure than my time in the reclining chair under the laser. The next few days were a blur, both literal and figurative. I slept a lot. It was not uncommon for me to have a several hour nap during the day and then sleep for nine or ten hours at night. I could not watch TV so I would listen to music in a dark room or progress through my Harry Potter audio book.

Recovery Process
The pain was never outrageous, but a Tylenol 3 and a cold pack of peas were always able to sort things out. Friday (two days after the surgery) was supposed to be the most painful day but I found that I was most blind on this day. Things held inches away from my face were still blurry and I had to squint, tilt my head or obstruct my vision with fingers to make letters out.

I would wake up most mornings able to see a photo on the dresser across the room clearly and think that everything was back to normal. Then as I went into a well lit room I was brought down to reality with a world of haze and blur.

Protective Lenses
The day I was to have my protective lenses removed I woke with a sharp and fierce pain in my left eye. No amount of blinking could make it stop. I did my regime of eye drops and the pain eventually subsided. I imagine the contact lens was out of place or sticking to something it shouldn’t.

In any case my appointment to remove the protective lenses later that day showed my cornea was healed fine and the lenses were no longer needed. The bliss I had on Sunday with good vision was brought down a notch as my world was blurry and fuzzy.

One Week Later
It has now been one week since the surgery and there have been mild improvements but they feel few and far between. I have been going through a fuzzy and out of focus world for four days since the protective lenses were removed and any time I think my vision is improving something else is out of focus.

I was cleared to drive a vehicle, but street signs from a distance would not be distinguishable. Until I feel a little more comfortable behind the wheel I will bike to work and get some exercise while I am at it.

As the recovery process goes on I shall post updates and hopefully be able to confidently stand by my decision for eye surgery.

Other posts about my PRK surgery and recovery can be found under the ‘eye surgery’ post tag here.