Bad blogger. Lazy blogger. Intermittent blogger.
Yeah, yeah.
Okay, we have two things goiug on here.
- 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.
- 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.
Cindy, I hope everything clears up for you. I need glasses for reading and the computer, and I’ve dreamed of having LASIK for it, but until now, my optometrist has been telling me they haven’t perfected it for reading.
Now I’m wondering if he’s simply trying to keep me as a customer. 🙂
I have an appointment with him on Monday for new glasses. I’m going to discuss the possibility with him.
I have one question. If you had it to do over, would you still have the surgery?
Laurie
Hi Cindy (and Laurie! It’s been a long time!)
I’m in my forties and had SBK to correct my nearsightedness last spring. My experience was not nearly as bad as yours. The first afternoon post-surgery, in the hotel was awful. I was crying but also stoned on the Valium they’d fed me prior to the surgery so I had a couple ibuprofen and went back to sleep. Then I went out for dinner with my husband but I didn’t remember that until I was going through the bills from Kelowna two weeks later. “Honey, when did we go to Milestone’s?” Aptly named.
I did have some haze problems and yes, felt like I was wearing dried out contacts for a couple of weeks. I had had the consult Thur, surgery Fri, follow up Sat and made it back to work on Monday. I had horribly bloodshot eyes and some light sensitivity, but I worked full days at the computer and did some writing at home.
I already knew I had a sensitivity to preservatives, so I used ONLY Refresh Plus drops. (I recently tried their other flavour and that was horrible. Very gummy feeling.)
I also got the monovision, but again, my problem was being nearsighted so basically they just didn’t correct my left eye completely. I do notice it at night when driving or when I’m tired and watching TV I find myself squinting one eye closed. Very sexy Bill The Cat look.
Nine months post-surgery, I’m so thankful to be out of contacts. I’m a poster child for SBK and talk it up all the time for nearsightedness, but I have a friend who has astigmatism and I always wondered how affective it was for that problem. I hope your complications clear up soon and you can just enjoy not using solutions and and glasses!
Laurie, I would definitely call a clinic that offers the surgery. They usually offer a free consult and you’d find out if you’re a good candidate and for which procedure. As you say, your optometrist is more invested in keeping you in glasses. 🙂
Dani
Okay, you’ve totally talked me out of any of these surgeries.
I had actually considered — someday — doing something with my left eye, which is about 10 times worse vision than my right. And my right eye has astigmatism.
But after reading this nightmare, I think I’ll stick with my glasses as long as I can stand it.
Hi Laurie,
It’s too early for me to answer that question. I was really starting to have a rough time with my contacts, which were multi-vision but set up mainly for the left to read and the right to see distance. I was taking them out by 7 p.m., but I have worn contacts since 16 (glasses since 10) and I loved my funky purple glasses but they were bi-focals and also driving me nuts. I like to read lying down, and I was always sticking my nose in the air to see through the right part of the lenses. Plus, I missed peripheral vision in contacts.
My next follow-up isn’t for 2 months, so I’m going to do a lot of experimenting. Like, my left eye (other than the dryness, which is a lot better when I’m not at computer), is perfect for reading!! I didn’t have LASIK, but SBK. A friend had LASIK and says he can read for short periods of time but if he’s reading for a couple of hours he still puts on reading glasses to prevent eye strain. I haven’t felt that need.
At the grocery store, I have great mid-range sight for seeing what’s on the shelves, etc. I can see landscape in the distance very well. It’s the damn driving distance and reading road signs. But laser surgery doesn’t do “multi-focal” so I might have to accept that the range I have with my right eye is the range I have. Example, if they correct for driving, then I might not be able to see the cans on shelves on grocery stores. That was my mother’s experience. She wound up having her left eye (near eye) redone because she said she’d rather wear reading glasses around the house than have to get an RX pair just to go grocery shopping.
I would take the consultation. They are usually free. But they give you a boatload of side effects that you MIGHT wind up, and here I am one of the (un)lucky ones so far.
Good luck!
Dani, thanks, I had hoped to hear from someone who’d had SBK.
The astigmatism might be the bear holding me back. SBK is supposed to get rid of astigmatism, so maybe I just need an “enhancement.” I just don’t want to go through the discomfort and severe dryness I experienced for the first 5 weeks again, though. I wonder if an enhancement would have the same effect? I have a few months to wait to see where I really am with this thing.
Yesterday, I spent the day away from the house as we were helping move our son into a new apartment in another town. The dryness was not anywhere near as much an issue and the road signs were even better, though not perfect. It’s the street signs I have an issue with. So I’m crossing my fingers that as the dryness gets better, so will the astigmatism. At one week, I was told the astigmatism would likely improve. At one month, I was warned it might not.
Jeff, that’s what I did, stuck with the contacts and glasses as long as I could stand it. Our son had PRK a year ago and it has a much longer recovery time but now he’s very happy. He was 22 at the time. My uncle, in his sixties, had PRK several months ago and is very happy.
This fall, I had had it with my vision issues, and I have been talking with my optometrist for a couple of years to see when I was “ready.” (FWIW, his isn’t the office that does the surgery). So when our extended medical benefits plan was “full up” for my vision element (meaning I had all the money they would ever give me for a two year period to apply to the surgery) I decided to go for it. Otherwise, I needed a new glasses lense for my left eye because its reading had decreased and my vision was bad enough that one lense would cost $200. I figured I might as well put the whole $600 available to me toward the surgery.
I can’t say that I REGRET having the surgery. I am just quite frustrated at this point with the dryness and totally did not expect that if I could read street signs a day after the surgery that it would be a fight one month later. And some days are worse than others. This is why they say to give it six months.
Laurie, I’ve been thinking about your reading comment. There are two ways to choose to do LASIK, if that’s what you’re considering. At our age (ahem), if you are nearsighted and need reading glasses, you can choose: (a) to only be corrected for distance, in which case you will still need the reading glasses. or (b) to get mono vision, which is when your dominant eye is corrected for distance and your non-dominant eye corrected for reading. I chose mono vision after much thought.
Some people, it takes a couple of months to adjust to mono vision, because the brain can feel “split” between two eyes. Because I was wearing contacts that kind of simulated mono vision, I’d already gone through that adjustment.
Now, my dh has very dry eyes and only needs to wear glasses for driving or one contact lens when he’s playing sports. He was considering getting only the one eye done. But with the issues I’ve experienced with dryness following the surgery, he’s reconsidering. However, his Rx is peanuts, so maybe the laser wouldn’t be on his eye as long. I don’t know.
I came over here after reading your comment on my Facebook, Cindy. I’m actually glad to hear some negative experiences because I never have before. All the people I know who’ve had laser eye surgery have raved about it.
I’d never consider monovision. I cringe at the very idea of it, and don’t think I could ever adapt. 🙂 I haven’t had my eval yet, so I don’t even know if I’m a candidate. Because of my age and the extremeness of my prescription (-6.25 and -7.5, I think), I might not be able to expect full correction. But given that I’ve worn glasses since I was 6 and can’t see my hand in front of my face (literally, in full daylight), I’d be happy with whatever.
I’d never heard of SBK, so I looked it up. As far as I can tell, it’s essentially all-laser LASIK with a thinner flap. Ironically, meant to reduce the likelihood of dry eyes! You just HAD to defy the odds, didn’t you, Cindy?! 🙁
I hope things continue to get better for you. It sounds like it really sucks!
Natalie, you’re right, trust me! After all, I had two breech births in a row, and the percentage of that happening is very low, too.
Your prescription is very bad! Mine was not that bad. Around the -5 point. I could see my hands four inches in front of my face.
I had “multi-focal” contacts for several years so I could stop wearing reading glasses over my regular contacts. The multi-focal aspect didn’t work for me because my left and right eye had different prescriptions for reading. So I had one multi-focal set up mainly for distance and the other mainly for reading. And I adjusted for that fairly easily, so adjusting to mono vision, aside from my right eye being so dominant that it’s seeing the computer screen sometimes when it wasn’t set up to do so (!), has been a snap. I didn’t go through the two months of adjustment they say is average.
I am happy to report that at the 7 week point, after setting up a humidifier in my office and finding eye drops with different ingredients that seem to moisterize my eyes better, I am FINALLY making an improvement in my distance vision. I hope it continues!
At this point, we have two people remaining in our family who will probably eventually get the surgery and they both have dry eyes to begin with, whereas I didn’t. So I think I’d recommend them to get PRK.
Good luck with your evaluation! And, remember, someone has to be in the small percentiles of things that go wrong. So if I’m there, more reason for you NOT to be. 🙂
LOL I like the way you think, Cindy. And I’m so glad to hear things are finally getting better! I hope in another month you’ll be saying this was the best thing you ever did, and the problems were worth it for the end result. 🙂
I hope I can say that, too. For now, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.