Have you thought about getting a second opinion (while the surgery is still "fresh")

9/23/2016 2:09:20 AM

I'm not sure what good that would do at this point. It's too early for any type of adjustment surgery because they are concerned the eyes aren't fully healed, and I'm guessing most of them would tell me to come back in at the 3 month mark.

9/24/2016 9:18:21 PM

Quote :

"st had it done last Friday. The meds helped, but man that procedure just felt...weird. A lot of pressure too with that suction device. One question. My left eye seems to be doing pretty well, but my right is still a little blurry. I saw one reply that it took months to see any improvement, but what is everyone else's recovery time? I'm guessing 3 days is way too early to tell if I need a retouch or if it didn't work, but just still curious."

I had surgery on Friday, had my first follow up appointment Saturday. My vision was good enough for me to drive myself in, but I was under no false impressions that I would have 20/20 vision within 24 hours. I'm currently sitting at around 65 hours and still don't have 20/20, nor am I worried. My doctor (Dean Dornic) said it would take some time.

At this point I would say my right eye is at 95% (daytime vision) and my left eye 80%. My weak light/night time vision is still horrible and blurry as shit however. My eyes had a pretty severe adjustment however, so I assumed (knew?) this wouldn't be an overnight fix.

My eyes were -6.0 and -6.50, with a moderate astigmatism.

10/17/2016 8:30:19 AM

My GF just got PRK on both eyes on Friday. The first day wasn't too bad but Saturday and Sunday were pretty bad. She was in a huge amount of pain and essentially had a blackout mask on all day. She's feeling a little better today but still super sensitive to light.

10/17/2016 1:09:49 PM

Can I ask why she went with PRK? Was that her only option given her eyes? It's widely known that PRK is considerably more painful (from what I've seen at least).

10/18/2016 2:13:05 PM

Yeah she had a -8.5 in one eye and that was her only option. She could have done Lasik in the other but to be safe her doctor recommended PRK in both. PRK is much less risky and a safer procedure. With Lasik they actually slice open your eye but with PRK the laser is applied to the outside.

10/18/2016 2:26:10 PM

Hehe, with LASIK they cut the surface and flip back the outer layer to reshape the cornea more directly. With PRK they straight up just burn away parts of the outer layer. Both LASIK & PRK use a laser on the outer layer of your eye.

LASIK is less painful and faster healing b/c you don't have a ragged and raw section of your eye just exposed to outside elements.

[Edited on October 18, 2016 at 3:17 PM. Reason : ]

10/18/2016 3:17:05 PM

Except they slice your cornea with Lasik. With PRK they just remove the epithelium. There was a doctor and medical student standing next to me talking about how much safer, less risky, and easier PRK is compared to Lasik. Lasik still has very low risk but overall PRK is a much cleaner, quicker, and safer exercise. Sure you've got 5-6 days of pain as the outer layer regenerates but in the grand scheme of things it's not a huge deal.

--I didn't have it done I don't know why I'm talking about it haha.

[Edited on October 18, 2016 at 3:23 PM. Reason : s]

10/18/2016 3:19:11 PM

werd

10/18/2016 4:15:04 PM

Going in next Thursday to discuss my options, and going to ask questions about the enhancement. Has anyone done that?

Not a lot of information that I can find online about the increased risks of a second procedure compared to the first.

10/18/2016 9:09:22 PM

Alright here's a summary of my procedure:

First off, let me say that I've never taken Valium before, but seriously it's some pretty weak shit IMO. I didn't notice any effects from popping 2 Valium pre-surgery.

Got to LECC and had final eye evaluation/measurement on their machines. Had to fill out a few disclaimer forms. I was told to show up at 2pm for a 2:45 procedure/appointment. However, it took considerably longer than that, I don't think I had my procedure until closer to 3:30. After filling out those forms the nurses told me I could take a Valium. A few minutes later they asked me how I felt and I said fine, but a bit nervous. So they suggested taking another Valium. Did that, still don't think it made any difference.

Went into surgery room. Laid down on fully reclined chair. Chair swiveled to one side where, one at a time, that suction device was put on my eye for the first laser, to cut the flap. The suction device felt very uncomfortable, and is a strange sensation to describe. During part of that process you lose vision in the affected eye, which is a strange thing to experience as your eye is open.

After having that done for both eyes the chair swivels over to the other machine, with the laser that reshapes your eyes. The eye not being initially worked on is taped closed with a bandage. The eye that is being worked on has its eyelids taped down. You're then instructed to stare at the blinking light and when the laser starts up it makes a weird cracking noise. During this time the nurse counts down the time it takes for the laser to work on your eye. In my case, it was about 55 seconds per eye. After the lasers reshaped each eye Dr. Dornic did something with fluid on each eye (I think?) before and after placing the flaps back into their correct positions. I didn't find this uncomfortable - almost seemed soothing. After he was done with all that, you're helped into a sitting, and then standing position. Then given instructions for the medicated eye drops (1 antibiotic, 1 steroid, 1 pain) given sunglasses and left with my friend.

During neither procedure did I taste or smell anything burning. I had been warned about this happening but was happy to not experience it.

During the ride home I kept my eyes closed most of the time. It was around 4pm in the afternoon and was a sunny day. My eyes were still dialated so very light sensitive. When I got home I wanted to go straight to bed so I took the 3rd Valium pill I had. Again, the Valium had no effect on me and I had difficulty falling asleep. My eyes were tearing a lot and were quite uncomfortable with eyelids open or closed. I took the painkiller drops (which you're told to use sparingly as they slow down the healing process) and they took effect immediately. I popped a Zaleplon (insomnia med) and fell asleep shortly thereafter. Woke up around 11pm and could see well enough to heat up some food to eat, and took my dog outside for the night.

Woke up around 8am the next day and could see well enough to drive myself in for my 930am followup appointment. Only had enough discomfort that first day to warrant using the pain killer drops once more (haven't used them since). Mostly laid low all day, watching some football. Went out at night to a party for about 90 minutes but that was it. Night driving was difficult. All vehicle headlights looked like they're in fog.

I still have the starburst/halo effect when driving at night, which I've been minimizing doing. Doctor said it should go away over time and that it takes 3 months for eyes to completely heal. I'd like to mention that when I had contacts I also had the starburst effect at night, though not to the level I'm currently experiencing.

[Edited on October 25, 2016 at 12:13 PM. Reason : k]

10/25/2016 12:09:04 PM

Just had this done out here in SF. Insanely expensive, although the results from the place I went are insane.

Happy to report that I'm 20/15 in both eyes.

10/30/2016 7:43:12 PM

how much is insanely expensive?

10/30/2016 8:01:14 PM

I think my GF's total cost was like $3,600 or something for PRK in both eyes. Looks like the national average is $2,081 per eye.

10/30/2016 11:45:18 PM

I paid just under $4000. PRK was available to me, but not recommended. It's also less expensive.

10/31/2016 9:44:03 AM

After 3 weeks tomorrow my GF is at 20/20 in one and 20/25 in the other with prk. She said it's awesome.

11/3/2016 6:07:54 PM

I can see 20/20 but it's not technically correct, in my opinion or my doctor's. I'm 20/15 in my right eye but only 20/45 in my left. Left eye is noticeably "off" and currently farsighted. Doctor gave me eye drops to take to help fix it (??) for the next few weeks, but if that doesn't work there's a distinct possibility I'll have to get my left eye "touched up".

Ugh.

11/17/2016 10:08:20 AM

I guess i'll do it at some point, but it just doesn't bother me that much to wear contacts or glasses.

11/17/2016 10:40:07 AM

^^ How did it end up?

I'm 1 year after my surgery and still not satisfied with the results. I'm technically 20/20, but it's always blurry and not crisp. I'm being told it's just dry eye and nothing else can be done but I just don't get it. Everyone else around me that I know has gone down to crystal clear 20/15, and I'm stuck with blurry 20/20. I've asked for some type of touch up, and they say that nothing can be done to correct that.

7/24/2017 8:38:57 AM

Left eye has improved, at a glacial pace, however it's still not "quite" as good as my right eye. But overall my vision is good enough and it's highly doubtful that a touch up procedure would change anything.

Still happy overall.

7/24/2017 8:53:47 AM

when I had PRK, it took months before my eyes improved to any better than they were before the procedure (20/30). Then, they finally rapidly improved to 20/15 in both eyes.

Now, ~15 years later, they've slipped to 20/25 or so.


Also, PRK hurt like a motherfucker for several days, at least in my experience.

7/25/2017 12:37:38 AM