|
I'm glad this thread popped back up. I have LASIK scheduled for this Thursday the 24. I'm pretty excited. I'm going through Michigan Eye Institute, which is a pretty large office with lots of patients. I have never felt rushed, and all the people there are very friendly and helpful. I opted for the Intralase blade free procedure. I know there's only a tiny risk of complications with a blade, but I decided to reduce those even farther and forgo the blade entirely. I will also be having the CustomVue wavefront procedure. My eyes are bad. -5.50 in one eye, -6.75 in the other. I have no idea what that translates to as far as 20/x vision. I just want to be able to stop worrying about contacts. Like another poster said, it's a safety issue as well as an inconvenience. I always wonder what would happen if there was a fire, break in, or any other kind of emergency while I was sleeping. The surgeon I'm seeing has done thousands of these, and performs LASIK one day a month at this office. My consultation was just one week ago, so I happened to get in just at the right time with hardly any wait. I know they offer you a Valium before the procedure, and an Ambien to help you sleep later. So while I'm not nervous about it, I'll at least have some fun drugs to look forward to for a few hours. Assuming my eyes are still in my head, I will post a trip report here later in the week.
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2009 18:12
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 2, 2024 15:49 |
|
|
How long did you guys have to wear "protective eyeshields" for after the surgery? That's the part I'm really dreading. If I have to sleep with poo poo on my face for a week, well, I won't sleep for a week.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 22, 2009 19:25
|
|
|
I'm currently unemployed, so I suppose even if I don't sleep very well it's not like I have to be up at six AM. The Ambien suggestion is appreciated though, I may ask for a prescription for seven pills or so, and fill it if I really can't sleep. For those of you that wore contacts before the surgery, how long did you need to leave them out for? The place I'm going recommends two weeks but will vary that based on the scans of your eyes at your initial appointment. When I had mine done, everyone that saw them was surprised I wore contacts full time(not at night), and they said my eyes are "remarkably healthy". So I only needed to wear glasses for about six days. I suppose I'm worried though, how do they know that my eyes are their normal, unaltered state? Can they tell this from the scan? I keep worrying that my eyes won't be perfect with only six days of glasses wearing, and my surgery won't have the desired effect. They reassured me many times that if there was any question, they would make me wait. I'm definitely just freaking out because it's T-17 hours to my appointment.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 23, 2009 19:59
|
|
|
Thanks for the info. I'm not too nervous, more just concerned about the contact removal thing. Since everyone is saying two weeks minimum, and my doctor said five days was plenty, it worried me a bit. Yes, they did all those tests and I believe they do some of them again on the day of surgery. I'm twenty three, and I'm getting the bladeless LASIK as well. I just wanted to be sure my eyes would be back to "normal" shape in that short period of time so that I got the best possible result. I am definitely a little nervous, but I know I'll be fine. Especially once they start handing out the Valium. Thanks for the reply, it's reassuring to hear my doctor is not the only one allowing contacts to be out for less than two weeks.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 23, 2009 21:20
|
|
|
Well, turns out I am in the "big baby" category! I've had some surgical stuff done before that's never bothered me, but something about having the flap cut in my eye really freaked me out(even with a double dose of Valium!). I almost fainted after that, and they were very understanding and offered to let me take as long of a break as I needed. I decided to drink some juice and go right back at it, just to get it over with. The actual laser correction was very easy and didn't bother me a bit. It was the flap part that did. Though it was pretty uncomfortable having the spring and the shields inserted in my eyes to keep them open, those pinched my eyelids quite a bit on insertion. Once they were in it felt fine. It was very cool how the light you focus on starts out very blurry and difficult to see. As the laser corrects your eye, it gets clearer and clearer as you watch. I asked "Is that thing moving closer?" They said, "Nope, that's your vision improving." If I had taken my Ambien right when I got home, I would have slept through the worst part of recovery. But once the adrenaline wore off, the Valium kicked my rear end so I was way too woozy to take anything else. So I laid around for a few hours while my eyes hurt like mad. About six hours of that and I was able to get up and put the eye drops in. After that, I have been great. I can actually see quite well, just a bit of blur. I would say my eyes are 95% clear, which is what they told me I could expect. I can get around, type, read, and watch TV. No pain at this point, just a little dryness. Every time I doze off and wake up, my vision is more clear. Oh and I did ask about corrections, they are covered for up to two years with the Intralase procedure that I got. Apparently they will know within six to twelve months if a correction is necessary, and it doesn't happen often. But it's great to know. Also thanks to Elijah for suggesting the Ambien prescription, they wrote me one for twelve pills though I only asked for seven. I will be filling that tomorrow, it's only $9.50 so that's worth it for a week of sleep. Kitten Smoothie, those are the same sunglasses and foam lined goggles I got. I'm wearing the goggles right now, actually. Pretty sexy. To sum it up, I would recommend LASIK so far, and Michigan Eye Institute to anyone in the area. They were really nice and accommodating, gave me tons of time to ask questions and go over everything. The laser techs were very cool guys, and pretty hilarious. They also didn't mind me swearing and bitching so that was a plus. It really wasn't that bad, I just have this thing about my eyes being messed with that made it more nerve wracking then it should have been. But I'm fine, and it was worth it.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2009 02:10
|
|
|
Things are going pretty well, but today I woke up and my vision was slightly worse than yesterday. Has that happened to anyone? If it gets worse I can call the answering service for my doctor, but they're not open over the weekend. It's kind of freaking me out actually. It's not terrible, but my eyes are bit more like the first night after surgery. I did watch a lot of TV yesterday, out of boredom, and they were pretty tired by the time I went to bed.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2009 18:55
|
|
|
Puck42 posted:I had my pre-op exam yesterday. Awesome, that's the situation I was in. Ideal candidate, one of the people likely to have 20/20 vision or better after surgery. I think it was four years since a prescription change for me. I wonder how things will go for you with the PRK. Personally I had about eight hours of "oh god why did I do this to myself" after the LASIK because of the burning. The weirdest part was that I physically could not force my eyes open for more than two to three seconds during that time. So when I got up to make some food I would walk a few steps, open my eyes and check my position. Close my eyes, walk a couple more steps. Must have been pretty funny to see. If I had just taken a couple Tylenol or my Ambien I'm sure I would have been fine, so in retrospect I should have done that before I laid down. I was also nervous about having my boyfriend drive me. He's not really a terrible driver, but we hit some crazy construction and I really hate not being the driver in most any situation. Good luck, update us on your progress.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2009 20:34
|
|
|
blue_kameleon posted:Hey, does anyone here have experience with pink eye after lasik? I'm pretty sure that's what I have, can I go to a regular doctor or am I better off waiting until tomorrow and going to where I got my surgery? It's not affecting my vision or causing me any pain, and I'm using the anti-pink eye drops I have left over from my surgery, which seem to be helping. Is it pink eye as in a bacterial infection, or pink eye like your eye is red and looks bloody? The bloody eye look is common, its from the suction applied to your eye. I still have it at a week and a half, and it will stick around for a few more weeks. It's not a big deal and doesn't hurt your eye at all. They probably gave you an antibiotic and a steroid after surgery, just use them for as long as you were told to. I'm betting you just have some burst blood vessels in which case you don't need to do anything, they will get better in time. Also it sucks that your eye doctors had you pay for those prescriptions, mine gave me samples of everything so I wouldn't have to pay out of pocket. I don't have insurance, so they specifically told me they wanted to avoid me paying the $89 for the drops.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 4, 2009 19:44
|
|
|
blue_kameleon posted:This is six months after my surgery, and I'm assuming its bacterial because I haven't had any recent eye trauma that would have otherwise caused it, and so far it's only in one eye. I see, I thought you just had surgery and you didn't mention eye gunk in the first post. Yes it's probably a bacterial or viral infection, often broadly termed "pink eye", and your drops are probably an antibiotic I'm guessing? They may have called them pink eye drops because it's the same stuff commonly used to treat that. I had a viral infection in my eyes a few months ago, and my eye doctor said that it doesn't need antibiotics if it's viral. He told me the usual way to discern the difference is if it lasts for more than two weeks, and if the discharge is green or yellow tinged. Apparently viral infections just have a discharge that looks a lot like the stuff you have in your eye when you wake up, and bacterial infection gunk is a different color. Mine was viral and I had minimal inflammation, so I was instructed to rinse my eye several times a day with saline very thoroughly. I also used washcloths soaked in cool water to lay over my eyes. That really helped with the inflammation and itching. It cleared on its own after about four weeks total, but it was not a very severe infection to begin with. I wouldn't freak out and run to the doctor, since you said there is no pain or vision change. Making an appointment at all is kind of a personal judgment call, like when you're sick and not sure if you should go to the doctor or let it clear up on its own. But it's not an emergency room or urgent care situation. I'm not trying to diagnose it or say you should self diagnose it by the information I posted, just sharing my experience. It's up to you whether to give it a couple more days or get an appointment right away, and the receptionist at your eye care place may be able to ask your doctor what they would recommend based on your symptoms.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 5, 2009 00:19
|
|
|
My eyes are doing awesome after LASIK. I was a little too paranoid about my vision right after, and worried about the slight blurriness. It is more than gone now, and I can see wonderfully. The halos at night are all but gone after three and a half weeks, thought I still have a teeny tiny bit of ghosting around bright things in dim rooms. It's so minimal I rarely notice, and it gets smaller every week. Eyes are still pretty dry, I wake up and feel like I had cotton in them all night. But it's easily remedied with preservative free drops(annoying little containers but they work). If I use the drops a ridiculous amount through the day, my eyes are better when I wake up. Just wanted to update and say my eyes are still contained withiin my head.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 19, 2009 19:08
|
|
|
Another "no regrets" here. Currently nine months after LASIK and doing great. I had the predicted dryness and night vision problems after surgery. After a couple months of making sure you have eye drops at all times, and seeing halos around lights at night, I got used to it and quit worrying about whether it would clear up. Then I stopped noticing the incremental improvements, until it hit me last week- "Hey, I haven't needed eye drops first thing in the morning for over a month!" I also feel my night vision is as good as before. When driving last weekend, I slowed as a cat ran across the road. My friend couldn't see it, and that's when I realized I'd gone weeks without even considering my night vision. My prescription was awful, -5.50 and -6.75. Loving my eyesight now. For a couple months, my eyes burned if I used very minty toothpaste, or leaned over an open bottle of Listerine. That's all gone, except I can't loving cut onions. I used to be completely unaffected, now I better be wearing waterproof mascara. If they give you an Ambien to take right after surgery, do it. If I had slept through the first few hours, I would have woken up feeling slightly uncomfortable. I was tired, so I thought I would just skip it and lay down. Spent three hours hating myself and dry crying. It's apparently not that uncomfortable for everyone, but if you have the option to be unconscious, you may want to utilize it just in case.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 23, 2010 20:42
|
|
|
Trent-Easton posted:I've had the operation one week ago and that's exactly what's hapenning. Right now I'm wishing I could just go back in time and cancel the operation. I can't see poo poo for half the day, and now I can't put my glasses on whenever I need to. Are you sure your eyes are actually staying open? My eyelids felt like absolute sandpaper for the first few weeks, and I know I wasn't sleeping with them open. This was despite lubing the poo poo out of them before bed, and using drops all day every 20 minutes or so. If your eye doctor didn't specify these already, you may want to try the preservative free drops in the little tubes. They are less irritating and more hygienic. The one problem with them is that they are thinner than the gel type drops, so they don't last as long. When you can, switch to a thicker drop and that helps a bit. It's not terribly unusual, don't worry too much. I had the same doubts about my decision as you and exactly the same post-op symptoms. I also felt like poo poo about the fact that I had pretty large halos around all lights, all the time. Both the dryness and halos got very gradually better, until I just didn't think about it much anymore. I think most people have a lot less issues than us, so when all you hear about is how great people felt immediately after, it made me extremely uncomfortable that my experience didn't match. I regretted the surgery regularly, and kept getting nervous about whether or not my eyes were hosed up. I even went for an emergency appointment with my doctor because I had a steady pain in the back of my eye that wouldn't go away, and I was convinced the pressure in my eye had built up and it was going to pop. It was completely fine, but when everyone says "no, I didn't have any pain" I figured it must be serious. Sorry for writing such a novel, I just hope some of it helps even a little. I'm completely happy with my eyes now, but I had major doubts. Basically, -use eye drops everywhere, all the time. I felt silly, but put drops in every 15 minutes at restaurants, anywhere. -As much as you are able, avoid computer use and TV. I had trouble focusing my eyes for the rest of the day after even an hour of computer use, totally back to normal now though. None of this stuff will fix you right away, I know, but you will be ok as you gradually heal.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 25, 2010 01:21
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 2, 2024 15:49 |
|
|
Trent-Easton posted:Well, this is kinda reassuring. I use the drops like 2-3 times a day, and the other bottle before sleep once (like they told me). Sorry I missed your post. Pretty much what furushotakeru said, you'll see a massive improvement. I still use drops in the morning and before bed, but I have always done that. I would say my eyes are a bit more prone to dryness, but I believe that is because I used to always wear contacts, which protected them from the air.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 7, 2010 22:56
|
|