Category: The Non-Writing Life

I just returned from my three-month post-op follow-up after having SBK laser eye surgery on December 16th. I’m doing the follow-ups with a local optometrist, because I didn’t want to drive in the winter to the clinic in another town where the surgery was performed.

My dryness issues have improved a lot since the one-month point. I began experimenting with eye drops rather than just sticking with those recommended to me, and what I’ve discovered is that I need drops with either mineral oil or castor oil in them. Those work the best for me.

I also dug out an old humidifier and put it in my office. I run it when I’m working in here. This is especially important if you live in a dry area, and we had a very dry winter. If I had it to do over again, I would not recommend having laser eye surgery in the middle of December if you live in a dry climate. However, I had no way of knowing how dry December and January would be. The typical March weather we’re having now, I’d have the laser surgery in a minute.

If you’ve been following my posts, it’s obvious I haven’t been happy with my distance vision (I had mono vision, and the left eye, my reading eye, is a marvel). At the three-month point, I have 20/30 vision. I was told at the one month point that I would probably need glasses for driving long distances at night. “Forget long distances,” I told the optometrist today. “I don’t feel safe driving to the corner store at night.”

I haven’t tried a lot of night driving since having the surgery, because one episode of twilight driving freaked me out. But last week I had to go sit with a relative for a few hours, and the only way to get there was to drive. I realized I need glasses to drive short distances at night. At night, I should always wear driving glasses.

That would be okay, but I feel the need for glasses even driving during the day. Road signs swoop down on me, and that’s not good when you’re looking for directions. Around my own town, if I’m just doing the grocery shopping, etc., then it’s okay. But toss in some rain or anything other than bright sun, and I’m nervous.

Then, several days ago, I went to the mall. And realized I needed glasses in the freaking mall. Either that or squint so I could see the stores coming up. And I already have “natural” squint lines (ie. from age). I don’t need them getting any deeper!

The most aggravating part, though, is feeling the need for glasses when I’m walking the dog. Again, this comes down to an acuity issue. I can see landscape, but letters on roadsigns are where I have an issue, depending on their size.

Thankfully, my local optometrist agreed with me and has asked the laser eye clinic to give me a call. We’ll discuss my options. I’m hoping for a “touch-up,” but you have to wait at least six months, to give your eyes enough time to properly heal.

So while my optometrist was thinking (at the one month point) that he would give me a prescription for “occasional” night time driving glasses, he now understands why I’m not happy with my distance vision. Hey, SBK is expensive. If the clinic can help me achieve better results with a touch-up, I’m all over that action. And this time I’ll know what to expect in terms of pain as your eyes thaw and in terms of dryness. I know which products work for me and which are better left to someone else’s eyes.

So…I’m happy. I mean, in a perfect world, I would not WANT a repeat of laser eye surgery. That wasn’t my goal going in. My goal was to be clapping and jumping up and down because I was so pleased with my vision.

That’s still my goal. I just haven’t met it…yet.

I am now at 7+ weeks post-SBK laser eye surgery. Finally, I have a tunnel and some light to report. A few days before the 7 week point, I was very down. My eyes were so bad after working on the computer for only a few hours that I could barely see street signs while walking the dog in the afternoon OR in the morning (before getting to the computer). I was at my wit’s end. What else could I do to encourage more rapid healing or give myself some hope that I wouldn’t need to get glasses just to walk the dog? If there’s anything I can’t stand, it’s not being able to see. Those of you who’ve worn glasses from an early age will identify.

Then I woke up last Thursday morning and it was a misty day. My eyes felt great in that mist, so I dug out an old humidifier and put it in my office. I noticed an improvement that afternoon while walking the dog, and on Friday I actually saw some street signs clearly while driving (instead of having to squint).

I made another change. I had been using the various brands and forms (with preservative/preservative-free) of eye drops and ointments that had been recommended to me, and they really weren’t working all that great. Some would make my eyes feel dry again too quickly, and others were too gummy. My optometrist’s colleague had recommended Liposic ointment for night time use. Well, I decided to use it during the day, because it only obscures eyesight for a few minutes yet is very comforting. And I began using Refresh Lacri-Lube ointment at night. THAT I can’t wear during the day, because it’s almost akin to putting Vaseline on your eyes. The vision blurs, but who needs to see when they’re sleeping? Lacri-Lube at night and Liposic during the day made my eyes feel so much better. Not only are they gel ointments, but both have different ingredients than the Refresh Tears (regular eye drops) and Refresh Celluvisc that had been recommended to me.

While stocking up on eye drops (I should buy stock), I noticed another brand called Refresh Endura (that might not be available in the U.S.—see this forum—but is in Canada. The U.S. has something called Refresh Optive that I can’t find here, so I can’t compare them). Endura is not as gummy as Celluvisc, and is a different formula (Celluvisc and Refresh Tear/Refresh Liqui-Gel share various levels and viscosity of the same ingredients). Well, lo and behold! My eyes love Refresh Endura, and I am now using that in conjunction with the Liposic ointment and the humidifier, as well as continuing to limit my computer time during the day, then using the Lacri-Lube at night. When I just need something “light,” I use Bion Tears (also no preservatives).

This morning, I saw wonderfully while walking the dog. Today I had to drive to a nearby town to conduct some writing business, and I noticed that day-time driving is okay while on this combination of eye drops. The slower I’m driving, the easier it is to read the signs. So while I might still need driving glasses for highway driving, twilight and night driving (to be determined at the 3 month point—until then I’m just not driving at night or twilight), I now have hope, hope, hope (!) that “everyday” seeing (like taking walks) will turn out okay.

I can’t tell you what a relief this is.

I’ve also come to the conclusion that if you (1) live in an area with very low or almost non-existent humidity and (2) it’s a cold, DRY winter with barely no snow, that you should (A) NOT HAVE LASER EYE SURGERY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAMN WINTER. Let people in Florida get laser in December. If you live in a dry climate, for God’s sake, do it in March.

Now, I should temper that advice with the fact that I happen to be one of those in the minority of 2%, or whatever it is, who wind up with very dry eyes following SBK. There’s no way of knowing, of course, if you will be in that minority until AFTER you get the surgery. Unless you have very dry eyes to begin with, which I didn’t.

My other piece of advice is to experiment with the various eye drops/ointments on the market. Don’t think that just because your optometrist recommended one brand that it’s THE right brand for YOUR eyes. Because eyes are different. If I had stuck with my original regime, I doubt I’d be writing this post today. It’s just too coincidental that my eyes began improving when I changed to drops with different ingredients (although made by same company)…and then of course the humidifer helped, too. But on its own, it wasn’t enough. I needed that Endura. Sweet, sweet Endura.

So…at the 7+ week point, I’m thinking I would do it again, just not in mid-December. Or in July/August. Where I live, March and April sound perfect. So does June (it always rains in June). At least then, no matter how dry it is inside, you can go stand in the rain with your eyes open and get some relief.

By the way, did you know the chances of having more than one breech baby are very low? Well, guess who had two in a row? That’s right, me.

I just like being in the low percentile, I guess. Or, my body does. Whatever, I am now holding out hope that I will eventually no longer feel like I am wearing a pair of old contact lenses I can’t take out.

Bad blogger. Lazy blogger. Intermittent blogger.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, we have two things goiug on here.

1. I hurt my rotator cuff about 15 months ago and REALLY whacked it all to heck nearly 7 months ago, and I’m still recovering. I’ve made great progress since July, but I’m not 100% by a long shot and I am still in treatment despite having had a cortisone shot in August.
2. My laser eye surgery resulted in very dry eyes that curtails my computer time. Whine, whine. Yes, I know, I’m ungrateful. But I’m sharing my experience in case you’re considering eye surgery, too. You might find it helpful.

Six weeks ago today, I had SBK laser eye surgery. SBK is supposed to combine the benefits of PRK (where they remove the surface layer of the cornea before the laser gets to work) and LASIK, where a corneal flap is created by use of a surgical instrument. PRK takes up to 6 months to heal/achieve best vision, and day 3/4 is a bear (I can attest to this because Eldest Son had PRK last year). In SBK, they create the corneal flap with the use of another laser, instead of a surgical instrument. This is supposed to be safer than LASIK, but it’s also more expensive. At least in my part of the country. But apparently you can “go back to work” 72 hours after SBK surgery, and I loved the idea that I would be able to drive within 3-4 days, so despite the extra cost I went with the SBK (also the clinic now no longer offers LASIK). I went with Monovision. This means that my right eye was corrected for distance and my left eye for reading/working on the computer.

The first day, as the eyes thawed out after surgery, was very, very painful.

We had to drive to another town for my surgery, so I couldn’t quickly go home and “sleep through it.” During my one-day follow-up, only one fellow reported that he had been able to sleep through the de-freezing process, and I think it was because his mom filled him with more drugs than we were provided at the clinic. So, day 1 was pretty much a horrorshow.

Day 2, back to the clinic I went, and I was pleased that I could read 20/20 “minus one” on the eye chart with my right eye. This means I missed one letter. But…the letters I was reading weren’t super clear, and I thought that would improve over time. Meanwhile, my left eye was nearly reading the smallest line on the reading chart, and I had never expected it to be able to do that. I thought, at best, my left eye would do me well for computer and desk work, but that I’d still need reading glasses to read a book or pill bottles (this has been the experience of friends who’ve done LASIK monovision).

I had another follow-up on Day 4, with a local optometrist this time. I was doing okay but my vision hadn’t changed since Day 2.

Fast forward to 1 Week follow-up. Because it was Christmas and Boxing Day, I didn’t actually see the optometrist until Day 12. And my regular optometrist was still on holiday, so I saw his colleague. At 7 days post-surgery (a few days before this follow up), I was to stop using the steroid drops and anti-bacterial drops. And so I did. To me (the uninformed), my right eye was healing nicely, but my left eye felt like it had something in it, and it hurt! No matter how many drops I put in, this irritation continued until the day or two before my follow-up (10 days). I thought it was part of the healing process for left eye. But the optometrist told me I HAD probably had something in my eye. But now it was gone.

At this one week (12 day) follow-up, I had realized my eyes were very, very dry, which is a side effect of the surgery. They felt like contact lenses I couldn’t take off. But it turned out that as well as having dry spots on both eyes (especially the right), there was a haze on my right cornea. I had to go back on the remainder of the steroid drops and keep up my regimen of fake tears, various brands so I wouldn’t develop an allergy (some brands have no preservatives and some brands do). I also had to book an extra appointment for the following week. That unnerved me.

Day 18. Because of New Year’s Day, I had to wait until Tuesday for this extra follow-up. The good news was that I no longer had a haze on my right cornea, but my eyes were extremely dry and I could sit at the computer for maybe 20 minutes at a time. So the “you can go back to work after 72 hours” thingie? Not! Maybe if you work outdoors or even inside in a store. Maybe if it’s not an extremely dry winter (December and half of January were horribly dry where I live). Maybe if you aren’t middle-aged and so produce more natural tears. Maybe if you aren’t a writer! Maybe just if you aren’t me!

On Day 18, I still had the dry spots on both eyes, though not as bad, and I was told to continue taking eye drops (various brands depending on the time of day) every hour and to use an ointment at night. I was told to do this until the 1 Month follow-up.

Day 18, the vision in my right eye had decreased, but my optometrist hoped it was a result of the dryness. The vision in my left eye had improved. I could read the tiniest print they gave me.

Those next couple of weeks, I used so many eye drops that it began affecting my skin below my eyes. So, not only have I not worn mascara since before the eye surgery, but I now had a bit of eczema (which might have happened regardless because of the cold dry air, but I’m sure the constant use of tissues didn’t help). (I finally wised up and found some super soft cotton and cut it into “hankies” to use, and then the eczema cleared up…with the help of a skin ointment.). I was, as my husband likes to say, “a wreck.”

My One Month follow-up occured at about 4.5 weeks post-surgery. So, mid-week last week. I was relieved that the hourly use of eye drops had eliminated the dry spots on both eyes and I could now begin reducing my use of eye drops. And I have, but working on the computer (like writing this blog post) REALLY makes me need the eye drops, so you can understand why I’m rationing my computer time.

The good news at One Month was that my left eye thinks it’s bionic, and I only have to use cheap drugstore readers for super tiny pill bottles. I can work at the computer and at my desk and read before bed no problem, except that my eyes get more light sensitive after working on the computer and so I’ve been hitting the sack early pretty much since the surgery. I’ve also discovered a night eye ointment (Lacrilube) that I really like. It’s like wearing Vaseline on your eyes. You can’t see, but, man, the moisture.

The bad news at One Month…well, to me it’s bad news…was that my right eye no longer sees distance as well as it did at Day 1 and Day 4. And the astigmatism doesn’t appear to be letting up. My optometrist advised me that if the distance is the same at 3 months, I will likely need driving glasses for night.

If my right eye continues like it is, if it doesn’t improve, personally I feel I will also need driving glasses for daytime use. And that would be okay except sometimes I even feel the need for them when I’m walking the dog. The strange thing is, I can see the houses on the hill across the lake well enough to satisfy me. There’s an odd mid-range that’s escaping me. And…my dumb right eye, which is supposed to allow the left to work on the computer…the longer I’m at the computer, the more my right eye thinks it should get in on the act. I’m just starting to realize this. So after working on the computer/at my desk, I go to walk the dog and my distance vision, IMO, is crappy. I am not at all happy with that turn of events.

To me, I feel that if right eye continues being a rebel, I might need what they call an enhancement (my mother needed an enhancement following her laser eye surgery, so maybe we both have rebel eyes). But you can’t get an enhancement until minimum six months post surgery. So for now I’m working on the computer when my eyes allow, faithfully taking eye drops in hopes the dryness will continue to improve, and trying very hard not to squint when I’m walking the dog and see a street sign. Plus, I’m talking to my right eye and trying to get it to understand it’s meant to see distance, NOT the computer. Shape up!

Hey, if you can talk to plants, why not your eye?

If you’ve had laser eye surgery, I’d be interested in hearing your healing experiences., whether you’ve had PRK, LASIK or SBK.

I’ll follow up again at 3 months.

I’m having (gulp) laser eye surgery tomorrow. I’m excited yet also nervous. I’m having SBK, which combines the faster recovery time of LASIK with the benefits of traditional PRK surgery.

Eldest Son had PRK last year, around this same time. SBK wasn’t in our area then, or he would have likely been a candidate. I remember him lying on the couch with frozen peas over his eyes, and he was quite light-sensitive. PRK has a more uncomfortable, longer recovery period than LASIK and now SBK. But in traditional LASIK, the “flap” is created with a surgical instrument. In SBK, it’s created with a laser. Which sounds safer and less intrusive to me.

Evidently, my downtime will run 24-48 hours. The whites of my eyes will be red for a week (and my irises are green–Merry Christmas!). But I have no clue how sensitive I’ll be to the computer screen. So I really have no clue when I’ll be back on-line.

Wish me luck! I’m celebrating the release of WHERE SHE BELONGS by practicing my imitation of Malcolm McDowell.