Eye Surgery

Well, I got Photo Refractive Kerotectamy (PRK) Eye Surgery yesterday. I was so nervous and worried about it! But you know what??? It wasn't that bad at all! Except for the part where the surgeon forgot to numb my left eye before he started brushing away at my cornea. That hurt a little. But as soon as I said "Hey, umm... That kinda hurts." They numbed nit and went about business. My vision was pretty bad (20/400) before, and now I can see just as well as I could wearing contacts. Anyone that is thinking about having this done should not wait! Go for it! My cornea is healing and filling in the hole they have to "drill" out, so my vision will be great one second and then blurry the next. Kinda freaky. But 90% of the time I can see great. Pain is minimal, but my eyes are a little sensitive to light. (I have my computer screen's brightness almost at the minimum setting). Seriously though, if ANYONE is thinking of having it done, GO FOR IT!

I want to get this done. I hate putting contacts in everyday. They are advertising at a place in my town for 300. what did you pay? How long does it take to heal? Do you need to wear sunglasses for awhile since the light? I heard it only takes 15 minutes.

I'm going to get it done eventualy. Half of my family has done it, and had great results.


Its pretty expensive, my cousin is going in next week and I think he said its going to cost him $3,500.

Well, that's the perks of being active duty military. It only cost me the gas to drive to Biloxi, MS at Keesler Air Force Base. Being a Marine doesn't have too many up saides but this is definitely one of them.

It takes roughly 5 days for your cornea to heal back, but about another 4-6 weeks for it to completely heal.

I did lie about the pain though. At the time I wrote that first post I was amazed at how minor the discomfort was. For the past two hours I have been trying to sleep just so my eyes will stop hurting. lol They gave me some really cool sleeping pills, but they knock you out for like 12 straight hours. Pain level is p[retty high right now.

Alright going back to sleep. lol Don't let this discourage you for getting the surgery. I am still amazed. I thought I was going to be a lot worse than I am right now. And the doctor told me that the pain will come and go. He said at one minute you could feel like everything is perfect, and then the next it could feel like you got hit in the eyes with a sledge hammer. lol

I was shopping for eye surgery several years ago and I had one well known DFW surgeon tell me I was not a candidate for Lasik but that he would do PRK on me. Cost was about the same. I got to researching the recover time of PRK and did not like the pain and healing time requirements. They also wouldn't do but one eye at a time.

I got a second opinion from another, equally well known, eye surgeon and he said Lasik would be no problem for me. So I ponied up about $3500 cash and had them both done at the same time. I got monovision so I read out of one eye and see longer distances with the other. No reading glasses. I was driving the next day, no pain. One side effect has been dry eye. I do keep medium weight eye drops around the house.

I wore glasses for 30+ years. I would do this Lasik again in a heartbeat.

Update:
Day 2 after the surgery sucked!! I woke up feeling as if someone was squirting jalepeno juice straight into my eyes! It felt like that all day long! I went through 8 of my 10 percocet pills that day trying to get rid of the pain and sleep it off.

Day 3 was a little better,. Still some pain but nothing compared to day 2. Took 1 percocet early in the day and saved the last for when it gets bad again. Its hard to keep my eyes open. My eye lids feel VERY heavy and just want to close. Not complaining about that! Most of the day was spent in my recliner sleeping with the dog in my lap.

Day 4. Best day yet. Got out of the house for the first time and for a while. Vision is the worst its been since the surgery though. Pain is almost non-existent. I do get a few short stabs of pain here and there. Nothing worth wasting the last percocet on though. That last pain pill is more of a mind game than anything else. Because when the pain does get kinda bad i think to myself "Don't be a puss! If it gets worse your not gonna have anything to help it!" lol I get my bandage contact lens off tomorrow morning. Might need the percocet after that. They place a contact lens over the area that they grind off so it heals properly and your eyelids don't mess it up. So when they take the lenses off, I will feel how painful it really is. We'll see! If its not too bad I'll keep you guys updated.

My wife did the Lasek eye surgery earlier this year, and she loves the results. Was very easy, and she didn't require any pain pills at all.

Only issue was that one of the eyes changed it's vision a little since the surgery, so they re-did that eye 3 months later for free, and her vision has been perfect 20/20 ever since. Apparently that is kind of common, and a certain % of all eye surgeries must be redone.

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

What was the reason that the 1st doc said NO? Was the dry eye the reason? Read a report that a pre-law student committed suicide from the dry eye. Considering this myself and have heard it is not so good for us older guys, but you are probably the same age as me - what age did you have it done?

Had it done at 46. I'm 50 now. I don't know the reason for the first doc's recommendation. I went to him because he does a LOT of advertising, I was lazy. Didn't do my homework. After my evaluation I found out he makes his $$$ on volume. It took 4 hours of sitting to be evaluated for the surgery. The second doc doesn't advertise as much but is well known. Appointments are usually less than 15 minutes of waiting.

Had LASIK about 4 years ago and am still happy with the procedure. I was lucky and have not really experienced any side effects, to include dry eye.

Well, just got back from the Doc's office. He took out my bandage contact lenses and said my eyes look great! My left eye feels a little "gritty" (i guess thats how I can describe it lol) But he said both eyes are completely healed back.

I think the best part about it all, is that for the first time in my life,.. I can see almost perfectly with no contacts, and no glasses. Just my eyes! I love it!

I was a student nurse and had a placement in eye surgery, made me very faint the first few operations but the patients never ever felt a thing and there sight was always better than before the op. Hats off to the surgeons