For those interested in the upside and drawbacks of SBK laser eye surgery!
Today I spoke to the clinic that did my surgery in December. The bad news is that if my eyes remain at 20/30 vision (which means my distance eye can see at 20 feet what a healthy eye can see at 30 feet), then my prescription won’t be “bad enough” (meaning my cornea or lens or whatever they operate on isn’t thick enough) to qualify for a touch-up. If I get a touch-up with 20/30 vision, there’s a chance I might lose the distance vision I have. So…I might have no choice but to suck it up and get glasses for driving and walking the dog (when I feel the need for the latter).
The good news is that I’m only at the three month recovery point, and my eyes might improve before the six month point that they have to wait before performing any touch-ups, anyway. The likelihood that my distance vision will improve when it has been steadily declining since the day after the surgery…I don’t know what the likelihood is, but I don’t have a lot of confidence that it will improve. However, I did go through that heavy bout of dryness, so I’m holding out hope that my vision will improve.
Also, it might take 7 or 8 months before my vision has stabilized. Now I understand why the clinic provides free touch-ups up to two years after the surgery.
I’m in a wait-and-see mode. But I do feel better about it after talking to the clinic consultant on the phone this morning. I am really nervous about losing the distance vision that I have achieved, so…we shall “see,” haha.
By the way, I just heard about a type of contact lens that you wear only at night, and it reshapes the cornea so that you can see during the day. That sounds pretty cool. Maybe that’s something that will work for me. Or I could suck it up and get driving glasses and then fake that I can read street signs while walking the dog.
Over time, you do get used to not being able to see as well as you could with contacts or glasses. That doesn’t mean I’m happy about it, you understand.
Now, tomorrow is the release date of the audio book of WHERE SHE BELONGS! That’s some news I can get behind. I’m holding a celebratory party and give-away TOMORROW on the blog. So pop back here Tuesday, March 20th and leave a comment in the post that will go live on Tuesday, March 20th, and you’ll be entered to win a copy of the audio book. Note, comments left on this post don’t qualify for the contest. Just tomorrow’s post. So be sure to check back.
Note, you can comment on this post and tell me to suck it up, or say, “Poor Cindy,” but the random number generator which will choose the winner of the audio book unfortunately will not be affected one way or the other.
hey cindy,
thanks for the update. i’ve been toying with the idea of laser correction, but i’ve heard it is often less successful on blue eyes. people are usually so enthusiastic after having it done, makes me want to try it and be able to see like the other kids.
good luck with improvement.
nora
Wow, that’s interesting, Nora. I’ve never heard of that. I have green eyes. What do they say about green eyes? That we’re jealous of the success of brown eyes?
Probably.
Part of the reason I’m providing my experience is that, like you, I’ve pretty much only heard the success stories. And the not-quite-success stories always happen to people I don’t know, so it’s easy to write them. off. I do have excellent middle distance vision in my right eye, and that’s something. So I’m not saying don’t have the surgery. If you yearn to experience a good majority of your life without glasses, then I’d recommend the surgery. But when you read the legal documentation that you have to sign and they say 4% of patients experience regression, or whatever the percentage is (but they don’t say what they consider regression to be) or 2% get this result and 3% get this result, those percentages are real people. I just happen to be one of them. And I think it’s important to consider all potential outcomes.