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  1. #1
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    Laser Eye Surgery - 2 Months Later

    Some of you may recall that I had Photo Refractive Keractectomy (PRK) a couple of months ago. It was performed on 31 May and I had some discomfort for a couple of days and then a bit of trouble healing but since that time I've been really comfortable.

    I was supposed to have a 1 month follow up at the end of June but I missed it as I was on leave in CA and when I got here in Japan a couple of weeks ago they didn't have appointments until today.

    I was kind of wondering what my vision was in both eyes because my vision was a bit odd. My right eye sees clearly but it sees objects "smaller" at a distance than the left eye. The left eye can see forever it seems but the right eye can't see as well so I was curious what the Optometrist would say.

    And the verdict is...

    I have at least 20/15 in both eyes and probably better in my left eye because they only measured to 20/15. I was kind of relieved that my right eye was fine but I guess my left eye is just that much better. Optometrist actually noted that they overcorrected slightly so I'm a bit farsighted right now but it is normal for the eyes to regress a bit in months 3-6 and so when they settle it should go back from being a bit farsighted.

    He also noted a very slight amount of corneal hazing but noted that it was a 0+ on a scale of 0 to 4.

    Anyway, I'm pretty excited. I knew I was seeing well but finding out I have 20/15 after wearing glasses for my whole adult life is kind of cool. I go back at the 6 month point to see how I'm doing then. Corneal haze supposedly develops most in months 4-6 so they need to check me at 6 months to make sure that's not happening.
    Rich
    Husband, Father, Retired Marine, Geek

  2. #2
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    Congrats!

    I've been thinking of getting it as well. While it can be expensive (if you have to pay out of pocket), the results are well worth it. Not to mention that I have to buy glasses every 2-3 years, contacts every 6 to 1 year, and constant checksup.

  3. #3
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    Congratulations, and good luck Rich. I have always been very lucky with my sight, I have had very good vision all my life, I just hope it stays.

    I have a friend who, when sat on a chair in his room, could not see the football score on the TV, I would hate for my eyesight to be that bad.

  4. #4
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    I have a friend who, when sat on a chair in his room, could not see the football score on the TV, I would hate for my eyesight to be that bad.
    I feel the same. But I can't do a surgery, as I had a classic one done about 2 months ago on my left eye. And it still isn't perfect. Imagine having 3 needles stuck in your eye, then a 45 minute surgery performed on and around your eye. A live surgery (local anesthetic) because it was a one of a kind surgery at the hospital and all the interns were there to ask questions, before, during and after the surgery. I'm never going to have that surgery ever again, even if it's needed. It's a nightmare.

    But you're lucky. You're close to have 20/20 vision
    Lorand R. Minyo
    Co-Founder @ Neveli

  5. #5
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    Lorand, that sure sounds bad. I have only ever had surgery once, I was out for the count during it, and that was bad enough, I cannot imagine been awake during the surgery, more so when it is around my eye. <Shudders at the thought>

  6. #6
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    Lorand,

    What kind of surgery was it that required a needle in your eye?

    Yikes.
    Rich
    Husband, Father, Retired Marine, Geek

  7. #7
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    It was something called "shalazion". 2 needles were actually inserted right beneath my eye and one 2 mm left of my tear duct(into eye). It's a feeling I can't begin to describe.
    Lorand R. Minyo
    Co-Founder @ Neveli

  8. #8
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    =D Congrats, i wish I had perfect vision.

  9. #9
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    Originally posted by Sting13
    =D Congrats, i wish I had perfect vision.
    I second that. (I wear glasses)

    I'm not exactly sure if I have a condition .. but for whatever reason, whenever I mow the lawn for about 10 minutes or more.. If I look at one spot for 5 seconds, everything else starts moving in towards it like a black hole.. I'm still not sure what it is

    Havn't had it checked out since I havn't been up there in a while.
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  10. #10
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    I think the last time I had my vision checked was four years ago, at my pediatrician's office. My left eye was apparently 20/16 and my right eye 20/20. Someone I know has 20/6 in both eyes; he should go into the Air Force.

    Congrats on your recovery and subsequent better-than-perfect vision, Rich.

  11. #11
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    My eye site if I go back 1m from the 17" monitor without my glasses on I can't read the text..
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  12. #12
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    Originally posted by Mituozo
    My eye site if I go back 1m from the 17" monitor without my glasses on I can't read the text..
    Yeah. We measure things in yards, but I went back approximately two meters, and I could still make out the text (1152x864 resolution), albeit not that clearly. However, I don't think my vision is any longer 20/16 in my left eye, what with all this extended computer use for the past four years.

  13. #13
    My eyes are pretty bad then. If i take off my glasses while sitting infront of the comp, i cant read the text!

    But i wear contacts almost everyday, so i feel like I have 20/20
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  14. #14
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    DevilDog, can you now drive a car without glasses or contacts? Any problem in working on a computer?

  15. #15
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    Congrats Good on you, you dont wear glasses anymore... no more problems...
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  16. #16
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    Anything farther than a foot from my face (without my glasses) is a big fuzzy blur to me. I think I'm one of those people whose eyesight is so bad I'd still need glasses after surgery.

    Anyway, glad to hear it went well!
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  17. #17
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    Originally posted by iThink
    DevilDog, can you now drive a car without glasses or contacts? Any problem in working on a computer?
    I can do everything without glasses now. No problems with near or far vision. I'm 37 though so I'll probably need reading glasses in a couple of years.

    Originally posted by P-nut
    Anything farther than a foot from my face (without my glasses) is a big fuzzy blur to me. I think I'm one of those people whose eyesight is so bad I'd still need glasses after surgery.

    Anyway, glad to hear it went well!
    They have surgery where they actually can install lenses on your eye that are supposed to be quite safe. Easy to install and remove later if need be. There are some opthamologists that believe it is the only procedure that should be done because it is so safe.
    Last edited by DevilDog; 07-25-2005 at 06:17 PM.
    Rich
    Husband, Father, Retired Marine, Geek

  18. #18
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    Congrats DevilDog

    Originally posted by Lorand M
    It was something called "shalazion". 2 needles were actually inserted right beneath my eye and one 2 mm left of my tear duct(into eye). It's a feeling I can't begin to describe.
    Wow..never heard of that one before
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  19. #19
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    DevilDog, hopefully you won't get corneal haze. This is one of the reasons I wouldn't get PRK but rather lasik or intralase

    I haven't read up too much on corneal haze... hopefully it's not a permanent condition in the less minor cases. I pasted some info on it below.... for the heck of it:

    A major problem with PRK in its early development was corneal haze. PRK related haze continues to be a problem to this day, although some techniques have been developed to control its severity and treat its occurrence. Corneal haze is caused by the cornea’s wound response. Surgery is an insult to the cornea, and your cornea really doesn’t care if you want this insult, it is going to respond as if it has been wounded. A part of that wound response causes opaque cells to form. This presents as white hazing of the cornea, restricting light from passing through, and reducing the quality of vision.

    Lasik literally “fools” the cornea into not knowing it has been wounded. This is why LASIK normally provides no pain, has an almost instant vision recovery, and almost never causes corneal haze; the cornea doesn’t know it has had surgery. You could call this microsurgery’s own “ignorance is bliss”. This major advancement allows correction of very high refractive error without a high risk of corneal haze and subsequent loss of vision quality

  20. #20
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    Thanks Frosty. I remember you being a wealth of information when I first had this done.

    I have slight corneal haze right now as noticed but will probably pass. They give you steroid eye drops for a month following (4 months following for more radical corrections) to ameliorate the problem.

    The reason for the condition is that PRK violates Bowman's layer. Lasik was meant to eliminate some of the complications that PRK had but then presents its own complications in the form of flaps coming loose or even protein formations forming at the cut and migrating across the eye.

    As complications go, PRK has proven to have less complications than LASIK but, it must be said, both have fairly low complication rates.

    Intralase is a new procedure that they hope will eliminate the complications that LASIK introduced but, as my opthomalogist pointed out, it takes about 10 years for them to get enough data on the complications of a given procedure. As with LASIK, intralase may solve some complications but introduce new ones.

    Anyway, looks like my haze is extremely minimal (dots that can be seen under light but nothing that affects vision) but 4-6 months is when it usually presents itself. The 4 cases of problematic corneal haze that have formed in the Department of the Navy (of the thousands performed) mostly had to do with folks who spent too much time in the sun without protecting their eyes.
    Rich
    Husband, Father, Retired Marine, Geek

  21. #21
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    Congrats on the sucess of the surgery.
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  22. #22
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    DevilDog, so all in all your PRK was a success... I'm sure you will be very happy with it and thankful you had it done... it's got to beat wearing irritating contacts everyday for the rest of your life!

    And I'm sure after the regression stage or sometime down the line your farsightedness will also be ok even if you were just slightly overcorrected... and will just be the normal amount most people experience as they age.

    I'm getting intralase in less than a year with Dr. Filutowski from www.filutowskieye.com ... he seems to be very good and well known so hopefully mine will turn out to be a success as well.

  23. #23
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    I want it so bad. I have to wait till I grow a little more as I am too young...I have Negative 5.7 vision in my left eye, and Negative 5.9 in my right.

    it's an absolute pain...if i don't have my glasses on I literally walk into walls.
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  24. #24
    Originally posted by Rob83
    Congrats!

    I've been thinking of getting it as well. While it can be expensive (if you have to pay out of pocket), the results are well worth it. Not to mention that I have to buy glasses every 2-3 years, contacts every 6 to 1 year, and constant checksup.
    Yayayay! I want to get that too, i wear glasses, but i was thinking of contacts, but i heard from a friend you can get cancer or something, i was thinking about lasic, because i have one of the best medical/dental/vision plans out in my area, i might get contacts, and have to pay only $20 for each box or something, though i think each eye for lasik costs $5gs i still might concider it.

  25. #25
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    Originally posted by ImageTutorials
    I want it so bad. I have to wait till I grow a little more as I am too young...I have Negative 5.7 vision in my left eye, and Negative 5.9 in my right.

    it's an absolute pain...if i don't have my glasses on I literally walk into walls.
    Assuming your vision gets no worse, you're a candidate for PRK since your refractive error is < 6.0. The Department of the Navy has studied PRK and LASIK fairly extensively since military work can be quite rigorous (more so in the USMC). They primarily stick with PRK because, while it has its own set of complications, they are marginally less than LASIK. The eye is never cut in PRK and it uses the exact same laser. It is actually debated whether PRK is actually surgery (LASIK clearly is) and, in some States, optometrists are permitted to perform it since it is a relatively simple procedure.
    Rich
    Husband, Father, Retired Marine, Geek

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