1 month follow-up

I had my 1 month follow-up appointment today. I am seeing 20/15!!! I knew my vision had improved since the last appointment but I didn't expect that it would be better than 20/20. The doctor said everything is healing well. My eyes are still extremely dry and hard to open in the mornings, so he gave me some lubricating gel drops, and I'm still on the steroid drops twice a day for another month. I am absolutely thrilled with the results of this surgery and I'm so glad I did it. I had the swiftest, smoothest recovery I've ever had. My body doesn't typically heal well. Thank you, Jesus!

8/12/09 Recovery Day 7

It was hard to open my eyes when I woke up this morning. The contacts were REALLY dry and my eyelids were sticking to them. I couldn’t get those drops in fast enough. (BTW, the drops taste nasty. You wouldn’t think you would taste them but they come down into the back of your throat.) I had my 1 week follow-up appointment today. The doctor said the tissue is healed but still delicate so I need to be careful with makeup and rubbing my eyes. In another week I can go swimming, which will be nice since it’s about a million degrees here! He took the contacts out and it feels much better to not have them irritating my eyes but now I have some burning. At the appointment I was seeing 20/25 but I’m pretty sure it has deteriorated throughout the day, as I was told to expect. I’m excited about a few things today- 1. I can see 20/25 when a week ago I couldn’t see the big E!!!, 2. I can wear makeup now, 3. No more contacts, 4. I don’t have to wear the goggles to bed anymore, 5. (totally unrelated) I bought some perfect fitting jeans and a cute jacket on clearance. Great day.

8/10/09 Recovery Day 5

No pain today! And it’s clearer! I think the worst is behind me. My eyes still feel dry and a little uncomfortable, like when you sleep in your contacts, but that’s all. I went shopping today. It was exciting to drive without glasses or contacts! I’m still wearing the sunglasses all the time, but now it’s more to cover the bruising since I can’t wear makeup yet. This has been WAY easier than I was expecting. Thanks to all the people who were/are praying for me.

8/9/09 Recovery Day 4

I woke up at 7:00am with clearer vision and no pain. Thank you Jesus! I’m getting sick of laying around doing nothing but I can’t see well enough to really do anything.

8/8/09 Recovery Day 3

Around 5:30 last night, the pain kicked in. Burning, stabbing pain. I’m taking Tylenol and Motrin every 4 hours and that helps. The pain is not constant. I slept all day today, only waking for the drops, drugs, and food. Also, my vision was significantly more blurry today. Not blurry like it was before the surgery, but milky or foggy. It seemed as if I should be able to put in drops and it would become clear, but that didn’t happen. My eyes were also extremely light sensitive. Even with all the blinds closed and sunglasses on, it felt bright. Looking at the TV was like looking into the sun. I put a pillow over my face to sleep. And sleep I did. I think I was only awake for 2-3 hours total.

8/7/09 Recovery Day 2

I went to my follow-up appointment at 9:30am. The doctor said everything looks great. I still don’t have any pain and he said that if it doesn’t hurt now, it may not (let’s hope!). I’m definitely not seeing 20/20 yet, but I’m thrilled at the vast improvement. The doctor said I can expect my vision to get much more blurry over the next couple of days.

I’ve been wearing sunglasses all the time as my eyes are very light-sensitive. Today I use the drops every 4 hours. I can use the artificial tears as often as needed, which is about every 30 minutes.

8/6/09 Surgery Day

I was instructed to eat a light breakfast, take my normal medications, and dress comfortably. I arrived at 8:30 am and went right in. They put in the numbing drops and gave me Valium and Motrin. I put on a hair net and funny slippers. They marked my face with 2 D’s for distance. They gave me a cute little stuffed animal to hold- Mikey the Moose, named after the surgeon, Dr. Michael Walker. They took me into the laser room and my husband sat right outside and watched the whole thing through the window. It was freezing in there! More drops, then one eye at a time they taped my eyelashes up, put a clamp on my eye to keep it open, more drops, then the doc scraped off the epithelium (outer layer of clear skin), then the laser. The machine came over my eye and I saw a green light surrounded by white lights. I stared at the green light, heard clicking, and it smelled nasty. I think this lasted about 10 seconds. More drops. Then they flushed the eye with water, put on a protective contact lens, took off the clamp and the tape, and we were done! The whole thing was very quick and painless. There was a little discomfort from the clamp (I have some bruising) and the water was cold, but not unbearable. I sat up and I could read the clock across the room! Walking in, I didn’t even see that there was a clock! Amazing!! They gave me more drops to take home, and I was out of there by 9:30.

I was instructed to sleep as much as I could (which was easy from the Valium), not watch TV or read, and not be on a computer. I have to wear sunglasses or goggles at all times for the next 5 days so I don’t touch my eyes. I slept for 4 hours as soon as I got home. When I woke up I reached for my glasses as I always do, then I caught myself and smiled because I’ll never wear them again! I slept on and off for most of the day, putting in the drops every 2 hours. The only discomfort I had was dryness upon opening my eyes, which was immediately soothed by the drops.

8/5/09 Pre-Op

Lots of tests, lots of drops. They tested my vision with and without my glasses. Without them, I couldn’t see the big E. The worst part was when they stuck these little slips of paper in my eyes and had me close my eyes with them for 5 minutes to measure my tears. Ouch! The dilating drops made me very light sensitive and blurry for a few hours. They sent me home with 3 different kinds of drops, to be used every 4 hours.