I had my six month post op appointment yesterday. On the visual acuity test, I tested 20/20 in both eyes and with both eyes open I could read the 20/15 line without difficulty. In fact, they didn’t test my eyes individually at 20/15, but I believe I could have easily passed. Incredible results – I was actually surprised since my last check-up, several months ago, had me testing at 20/25.

My night vision is crystal clear without halos or other distortions. I haven’t had any other complications like dry eye or floaters. Overall the results are better than I could have imagined. Strangely, I still have intense pain when I get an eyelash stuck on the ablated area of the cornea. My surgeon explained that this is due to the epithelium and it may take up to a year to heal thoroughly. Its a minor issue and I’d say the surgery was worth it.

I have another appointment in 6-months to mark the 1-year check-up. My vision has been stable for three months, and I don’t expect that to change.

Left Eye: post-op day 47
Right Eye: post-op day 33

I had another check-up Monday and it went well. I’m currently -0.25 diopters (20/20) in my left eye and somewhere between -0.25 and -0.5 diopters (20/25) in my right eye. Visual acuity is mostly stable with some (almost imperceptible) fluctuations in my right eye. Both eyes continue to appear healthy with no signs of haze or other complications. While I’m disappointed that my right eye is not 20/20, I understand that I  really need to reevaluate at the 6-month mark, because these subtle changes will continue until then. I’ve also completely discontinued using eyedrops (including steroid drops) and its possible that my right eye is asymptomatically dry, reducing visual acuity.

Still, 20/20 and 20/25 is nothing to complain about. I find myself starting at signs in the distance and expecting to read them no matter how small the text is. When I can’t read the text I start to worry that my vision is deteriorating – fortunately its all in my head.

Left Eye: post-op day 15
Right Eye: post-op day 1

After two weeks of suffering monovision, yesterday I finally had a PRK performed on my right eye. The procedure went much as it did for the left eye with the only difference being my immediate post-op vision was blurry and smudged with an almost grayish glow. The staff in the surgery room assured me that every eye is different and my vision would clear up soon. They were right. A few hours after the procedure, the blurred vision was gone. Strangely, the ice-cold eye drops didn’t cause as much pain this time, while my post-operative pain was much greater than the left eye. On my way out of the surgery center yesterday, I threw my crazed, scratched glasses in their trash. You have no idea how good that felt!

This morning I had my day 1 post-op doctor visit while en route to the FIRST Robotics Competition in Portland. Amazingly, my visual acuity was 20/25 and it has remained very sharp throughout the day. My surgeon noted that my epithelium had healed about 30% and again asked me to take the Pred Forte and Zymar four times per day. I also have some Bromday drops for pain, though these drops apparently slow the healing process so they are to be used sparingly. While my right eye vision was excellent throughout the day, I am starting to see my visual acuity worsen significantly, both for distance and near vision. As with the left eye, the healing epithelium causes a sharp but temporary decline in vision as it slowly covers the surface of the cornea.

I had my visual acuity checked for my left eye this morning and it was still at 20/20, though just barely. This is not an unexpected result since my visual will continue to fluctuate for the next few months.

Yesterday I had my one week post-op appointment, although it was day 11 after the surgery.  The vision in my left eye tested to 20/20 +2 (Meaning I had 20/20 vision but was able to read two of the characters from the 20/15 line). They told me that my visual acquity is excellent given that my eye is early in the healing process. This is welcome news although I understand PRK has a very long healing process and my vision will continue to fluctuate in the coming months. These visual changes can be attributed to both the steroid eye drops and dryness. Apparently, toward the end of the day, the eye tends to dry out creating subtle disturbances in vision. I haven’t experienced any symptoms of dry eye, however if I treat with preservative-free drops, my vision becomes crystal clear again (at least temporarily).

My surgeon didn’t notice any signs of haze or infection and asked me to discontinue taking the antibiotic eyedrops. He asked me to taper my dose of the steroid drop. Three times per day this week, two next week, etc. He was still able to see the gray-colored collection of cells where the epithelium fused, though I am not experiencing any visual disturbances. Early on, this created some ghosting and a smudge-like blur effect.

I’m scheduled to have my right eye lasered this Thursday and if all goes well I’ll be free of glasses.