Laser eye correction - feedback?

[khtm]

^ Haha well that makes perfect sense then. Sorry!

[cdnsir]

My update with AST at MEC. So far I'm happy with it and don't regret it at all. But the recovery progress is a bit slower than I had anticipated. I guess that is the reason why most people would choose lasik over this or any other variations of PRK.


Day 1
- The procedure was about 15 min for both eyes, there was no pain or discomfort at all. That's with them taping and clamping the eye open, then removing the epithelium (top "skin" layer of the eye) with a brush-like tool. The actual laser was bright but not stinging at all. Within 30 seconds, your cornea will be reshaped and a protective contact will be placed on your eye. The moment you step out, you'll notice that you are seeing a lot better than before.

After the numbing eye drops had worn off, you do feel a bit of a burn. Almost like the burn you'll get from trying to not blink for a while. A lot of drops (fake tears and medications) are needed afterward. To the point where you have to wake up every 2 hrs at night to drop in the fake tears to keep the eyes moist.


Day 2
- I woke up and I can't barely even open my eyes. My eyelids pretty much refused to lift as I was extremely sensitive to light. The burn I mentioned from day 1 is now constant and my eyes would water as soon as they are even slightly opened. Drops are still being applied every 1/2 hour or so. By far, this was the most uncomfortable day.


Day 3
- Like the previous couple of days, I kept a pair of sunglasses on at all times. But now I no longer feel the burn. However, my eyes will get tired pretty easily. So once a while, you'll need to close your eyes and rest a bit. Drops are now only 1 hr apart and you no longer need to wake up in the middle of the night to apply the fake tears. The Discomfort level is almost completely gone, but just not quite there yet.


Day 4
- All discomfort is now gone. I can even walk around without sunglasses on. Your vision will be blurry, but you can now do more things like watch the TV a little bit at a time. Just consciously remember to blink more often than usual, and rest in-between whenever possible.


Day 5
- Back to the clinic to remove the protective contacts. They'll give you a quick eye test, I scored 20/30 and 20/25. They say the eyes will slowly improve as most patients will have blurry/ghosting vision for the first week. I'm getting the ghosting effect as I'm seeing one line of image right on top of another for both my left/right eye. Sorta like seeing a double line like this "=" when there's only a single line like "-".


Day 6
- Drove the car and back to work for the first time. Not doing too bad at all for staring at the monitors all day. I do noticed my eyes are a bit red at lunch, so I put some fake tears in. 2 more days until one full week after surgery, I'll be updating then about my double vision.

[benyl]

what was your prescription before?

[cdnsir]

Right. As a reference, mine was -3.5 and -3.75 with something like -1.75 for astigmatism.

[hampstor]

I've got a consultation next Wednesday at Western Laser Eye with Dr. Penno: http://www.westernlasereye.com/about...son-penno.html

My optometrist referred me there and recommends PRK over LASIK for me. I'll let you guys know how it goes...

[em2ab]

Originally posted by eblend
isn't it true that any lazer surgerry reduces ur night vision?

I didn't read the whole thread (or the other 25 page thread on this) but this is a myth. Lasik gives you startbursts around bright lights for a few weeks afterwards where people think they're healed and tell all their friends how bad their night vision is now with all the glare. Then after a few weeks it goes away and your vision is normal again but it's not like they're going to go around and make sure they correct all their friends and tell them it's fine now. I had mine done at Lasik MD, worked out fine except my eyes are extremely dry now (might have been before too, not sure). But I don't get the full benefit of my vision until I use my eye drops. If I find myself squinting at a monitor or book, I just put drops in my eyes and I'm fine again.

[hampstor]

I'm a candidate for PRK. My vision is -6.5 and -8.25 (not factoring in astigmatism). Because my cornea is thin in 1 eye, I can only perform PRK once on that eye.

She believes i only need 1 operation with no followup ones (claims she's never had to do a followup in 5 years).

Recommends Friday surgery, come in on Saturday for checkup, phone call checkup on Sunday, back into the clinic on Monday for another checkup and to have the contact lens removed. The worst day for pain is normally saturday, or sunday, then it'll get better. I should be able to go back to work Wednedsay, and be able to drive by the weekend. It's not recommended I drive at night for 2 weeks.

Aside from the normal risks, the main risk I face : my right eye is at the limit of what PRK can do because the cornea is thin. Post PRK, my eye will be ~ 340 micrometers, which will make a followup impossible if it is needed.

My prescription has changed from 8.00 to 8.25 in my right eye in the last 3 years. She said if it gets worse, there's nothing they can do because they can't perform any more surgerys after the initial one. I can do it now, or wait a few years to see if it progresses anymore. Since I am extremely left eye dominant (my contacts do not correct the high astigmatism in my right eye - and it has no effect on me), I can perform it PRK now. If it does get worse, by the time I need reading glasses (in my 40's), it won't be any more than -2.00 in my right eye.

Other options we talked about: EPI LASEK is not an option for me because I have some scarring in my left eye. LASIK itself is not an option period for me.

[aznexec]

hampstor,

Not sure if you booked in or are thinking about it further...

Did she seem hesitant about you going forth with the right eye? i believe a healthy amount of cornea post surgery is 350 microns...however, that's not the big concern as I'm thinking 10 microns is not huge......However it is correcting such a high degree of myopia w/ astigmatism that would be the big think to consider...you would likley be high risk in terms of vision quality impact...ie ghosting, double vision, etc.

In Dec 2008, I went back to both MEC and Gimble to see if anything changed in terms of technology or prognosis...

1. MEC who originally said not a good candidate for lasek was consistent..they suggested the p-iol artiflex ~ 3100 per eye

2. Gimble who hesitantly said i was ok for PRK this time came back saying I was not suitable...due to the likelyhood of quality of vision afterwards.... I was more comfortable with this visit then the first. They suggested their Visian ICL. ~ 3600 per eye

My eyes were a similar prognosis to your right eye and both places said I should not go forth. With the economy being as is, I won't be doing anything right now..

Get a second/third opinion before moving forth...laser surgery is not reversable. Perhaps consider the IOL /ICL on the right and laser on the left?

good luck!

[hampstor]

Originally posted by aznexec
hampstor,

Not sure if you booked in or are thinking about it further...

Did she seem hesitant about you going forth with the right eye? i believe a healthy amount of cornea post surgery is 350 microns...however, that's not the big concern as I'm thinking 10 microns is not huge......However it is correcting such a high degree of myopia w/ astigmatism that would be the big think to consider...you would likley be high risk in terms of vision quality impact...ie ghosting, double vision, etc.

In Dec 2008, I went back to both MEC and Gimble to see if anything changed in terms of technology or prognosis...

1. MEC who originally said not a good candidate for lasek was consistent..they suggested the p-iol artiflex ~ 3100 per eye

2. Gimble who hesitantly said i was ok for PRK this time came back saying I was not suitable...due to the likelyhood of quality of vision afterwards.... I was more comfortable with this visit then the first. They suggested their Visian ICL. ~ 3600 per eye

My eyes were a similar prognosis to your right eye and both places said I should not go forth. With the economy being as is, I won't be doing anything right now..

Get a second/third opinion before moving forth...laser surgery is not reversable. Perhaps consider the IOL /ICL on the right and laser on the left?

good luck!

What Dr. Penno told me is there is no consensus for a 'healthy' amount of cornea. Everyone you visit wil tell you something different. She said some will tell you 400+, while others are say there is no limit. She told me she is comfortable with 320. She didn't hesitate, but what I left out was she also gave me the option to postpone - they constantly improve the procedure and will find new ways to use less tissue in the eye when doing PRK.

That's what i'm doing, postponing it for now.

[benyl]

what are her prices like compared to everyone else?

[hampstor]

Originally posted by benyl
what are her prices like compared to everyone else?

$1990/eye for PRK - flat rate regardless of prescription.

[benyl]

Includes wavefront and all the doodads?

[aznexec]

Originally posted by hampstor


What Dr. Penno told me is there is no consensus for a 'healthy' amount of cornea. Everyone you visit wil tell you something different. She said some will tell you 400+, while others are say there is no limit. She told me she is comfortable with 320. She didn't hesitate, but what I left out was she also gave me the option to postpone - they constantly improve the procedure and will find new ways to use less tissue in the eye when doing PRK.

That's what i'm doing, postponing it for now.

I asked the same question to Mitchell regarding improvements in technology and it was his opinion was there would not be anything new in the near future that would significantly reduce the amount of cornea needed for these lasik/prk procedures... I've actually waited 3 years and nothing has changed for either clinic (one actually said I was borderline okay the first time came back and said they now will not do it it as they have had more surgeries and have moved to a safer range due to complications/risk)....

To me the quality of vision is the most important thing (not just seeing far) and with both places expressing concern about the potential of negative side effects in terms of vision quality ...I figure the best bet if I want to correct is go go with the P-IOL or ICL...

Postponing or thinking through it more is a good choice imo....Best bet is to go get evaluated at more then one place to be sure!

Cheers,

[aznexec]

Originally posted by benyl
Includes wavefront and all the doodads?

KEY THING TO REMEMBER: Just be sure to ask for all the 'DOODADS'

[cdnsir]

Here's an update to my AST with MEC. Just did my 1-month follow-up, and on paper, I am 20/20! But a couple of issues still bug me. First and most noticeable for me is when I play video games at night for over 2 hrs straight or so, my vision will get blurry. Not so blurry that I can't see, just that you notice light shadows around images. I asked the eye exam person about it, she said it's probably just dryness from tired eyes and it should go away soon... and I sure hope so...

Clinically, one issue she noticed is that one of my eye regressed faster than expected. Regression is all part of the recovery process so it's nothing to be too concerned about. As a matter of fact, she actually told me they over-correct your eyes to accommodate for the regression that is to be followed.

Because of that, she told me to use the same eye drops that I've been using all along, but just use it 3 times instead of 2 times a day. And also gave me an additional type of eye drop to be used twice a day to counter any side affects to my added dosage. All together, that's a lot of drops! I hope they can cut back on it on my next 2-month follow-up. Will update then!

[brown911]

My brother and grandma have gone with Dr. Mitchell for various things, and they have had amazing results with him, my brother had a consult with the people over at Gimbel but he just didnt feel right about going with them.

Either way, I know a ton of people who have been to Gimbel and I have only heard good things on that end as well. If I were to get mine done down the road, I probably would only consider these two places.

[gatorade]

got an appointment with lasik md on the 28th!

[ArjayAquino]

Originally posted by gatorade
got an appointment with lasik md on the 28th!

Nice, I had mine done there last february. Best decision I've made yet.

[Supa Dexta]

Is this something one would consider if you've never worn glasses? I know things are getting blurry for me though, but I have no desire to wear glasses. I guess how bad does it have to be, before this is worth while?

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
Is this something one would consider if you've never worn glasses? I know things are getting blurry for me though, but I have no desire to wear glasses. I guess how bad does it have to be, before this is worth while?

Probably to the point where you can't either safely drive or legally drive, whichever comes first.

Sounds like your eyes aren't very bad at all and the correction should be very slight. Go for an assessment and decide after that.