Seven days ago I underwent LASIK surgery. Here is an update on how things have gone since. (A report of my initial experiences can be found here.)
I wisely chose to spend most of last weekend indoors. Although I’m not having a lot of light sensitivity, I decided to err on the side of caution. I picked up a pair of cheap wraparound sunglasses from Amazon and those served me reasonably well when I ventured out to walk Buddy. For the most part, though, I stayed inside and took it easy.
On Monday I returned to the doctor’s office for a checkup again, as my distance vision had been good, but not quite where it should be on the Friday before. This was much better. Interestingly, although things were a trifle blurry when I covered one eye and tried to read the smaller print on the eye chart, when a diffraction grid (piece of plastic was many small pinholes) was placed over my eye, everything snapped into focus nicely. This is how the doctor differentiates between problems due to an inaccurate prescription cu into the corneal flap and deficiencies due to the eye needing to heal more. In this case, my prescription is perfect, my eye just needs more healing time.
At work, things have been pretty good. I haven’t had to expand fonts or zoom in on documents. I have a 22″ monitor that I have about 18″ away from my face right now (I’ll be moving that back as things progress). My 14″ laptop screen is about 30″ away from my face and I need to lean in to read that still. My friend Jet had an excellent suggestion, though – once an hour (or so) I try to turn my attention away from the computer and let my eyes relax some – walk to the bathroom, get a drink of water, or just close my eyes for a few minutes.
The other thing that I’ve noticed is that I am definitely having “good eye days” and “bad eye days,” as demonstrated by my consumption of eye drops. My doctor has been kind enough to supply me with 30 boxes of Refresh Optive eye drops (each box contains 5 plastic vials, and each vial is good for about 3 uses). On a “bad day” I’ve found that I may go through 10 vials, applying drops every 15-20 minutes. On a “good day” I’ll use half of that. Because the free samples will only last so long, I have ordered a couple of bottles of Systane Ultra eye drops from Amazon. The price is a little less than the Refresh Optive, but from my research it appears that Systane is slightly better at relieving dry eyes. I expect to continue to have good and bad days for the next 4-6 weeks, but it’s a minor annoyance compared to the overall improvement of vision I have after the surgery.
One thing I haven’t mentioned is the eye guard that I’ve had to wear each night while I sleep. Imagine something like goggles, held on by an elastic strap that goes over your head. For the last week I’ve slept rather poorly because this guard tends move around on my face and requires re-seating every so often. It’s been a minor annoyance, but nothing debilitating. The good news is that I only have to use that for a week, so tonight will be the last night with it, and then I’ll be done.
The purpose of the eye guard, of course, is to prevent you from rubbing your eyes while you sleep. I had a heart stopping moment a few days ago when I woke up, removed the eye guard, and rubbed my eyes. Waaaaugh! Fortunately, there was no harm done, but man that is an unpleasant way to wake up! It just goes to show that you have to think about what you’re doing whenever your hands go near your eyes, even if you’re only half-awake!
I have another follow-up appointment with the eye doctor on Monday, and I’m expecting to see even more improvements then. I’ll be sure to post more updates as time goes on!