Nugget61's PRK Process

[nugget61]

Near vision is significantly better today - can read the monitor from a sitting distance fairly well. Because of that, I was able to read what I had previously posted - sorry for the typos and whatnot. I blame drugs and squinting.

@blake - funny you should say that, my folks gave me Nyquill (sp?) last night and I slept about 14 hours - I think it really helped a lot and would recommend it to anyone at this point the in their recovery.

@feathers - I'm worried about NAMI, but this is the only thing that I can do to help pass - I'll just have to hope for the best when I get my physical. With regards to the phoria, however; I think there might be a surgery. My father had an extreme phoria that they corrected - essentially they shorten the eye muscles by doubling them over on themselves and stitching them that way. Rather painful recovery, but it worked for him and hes a civilian pilot. Don't know if it'll help, but heres the wiki for it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strabismus

@David - Good luck dude, feel free to contribute to this thread.

@ea6b - Awesome, will do.

Day 3:
Near vision problems are much less prevalent and the same can be said for the light sensitivity - my laptop is at minimum brightness, however I have a lamp on in the room and I don't need my Stevie Wonder glasses. Dr P said the contacts would get more comfy today and they aren't bothering me as much. Don't know how much of that is psychological, but he is a great doc. OR emailed and said that they won't hold my pro-rec so my folks caled an O-6 that they know to find out for sure. I don't want or like that kind of attention, but at least I should be able to get some good info outta her - I'll let y'all know how that goes.

 

[exo]

From what my Doctor told me, it's about 1 in 4 that have pain when dealing with PRK. I myself had very very little pain other than what would be expected from lasering an eye ball.

 

[nugget61]

Well let me clarify; my pain has been from my contacts getting frisky, not the actual process.
As far as the vision goes, my eyes feel normal - watching tv at regular brightness, in both well lit and dark rooms.
Get the contacts out in just over 2 days, and everything I hear says it only gets better from there... I'm getting excited.

 

[Junkball]

You already had your consult, right junk? Howd it go?

Scheduled 1DEC. How long are your contacts in for? In the few accounts I've read, they've been left in for 3 days.

 

[nugget61]

Well keep us updated on yours. My contacts were put in on Thurs 20th, and will be removed on Wed 26, assuming that I have grown enough of the epithelial cells back so that Dr P doesn't think that I need the protection of the contacts. He does want me to wear UV blocking sunglasses anytime I will be out in the sun for the next 3 months, however, as the cornea is more exposed till all of the healing is complete.

Day 4:
Went out driving today (to be honest, I think I could have yesterday) and did fine. Having some mild ghosting, mostly only on brightly lit stuff - traffic lights, subtitles on dark screens etc. Finished running the course of Acular and Neurontin, so I'm down to the artificial tears, the anti-bacterial and the steroids. Distance acuity seems to be up today, but not 20/20; will be able to post real stats on my current improvement in 2 days (I do realize it will fluctuate in the future however) just to see if getting rid of the contacts will make it improve.
The contacts are almost unnoticeable - as long as I wet them every 5-6 hours then I don't even notice them in, and actually have to check to make sure I haven't lost them.
Near vision is better too - not much trouble at all reading the monitor and none whatsoever reading print... unfortunately that means I need to get going on the homework I'm behind on.

 

[theblakeness]

Scheduled 1DEC. How long are your contacts in for? In the few accounts I've read, they've been left in for 3 days.

Mine were in for about a week. Felt really nice getting them out. They start to get pretty hazy and your vision really clears up once they are out.

 

[nugget61]

Day 5:
Not much to report. As expected, minor fluctuations are occurring. Seems odd to me that all of the fluctuations appear to be happening in my right eye - ghosting to no ghosting on a hour to hour basis, so I'm going on the assumption that its caused from prolonged contact wear. Contacts come out in the coming morning, so thats awesome. Bit worried by Exo's recent thread about high ocular pressure from the steroids causing a denial of PRK waiver, so I'm going to be checking before Dr P writes anything down in my file.
Expect more tomorrow.

 

[theblakeness]

Day 5:
Not much to report. As expected, minor fluctuations are occurring. Seems odd to me that all of the fluctuations appear to be happening in my right eye - ghosting to no ghosting on a hour to hour basis, so I'm going on the assumption that its caused from prolonged contact wear. Contacts come out in the coming morning, so thats awesome. Bit worried by Exo's recent thread about high ocular pressure from the steroids causing a denial of PRK waiver, so I'm going to be checking before Dr P writes anything down in my file.
Expect more tomorrow.

FML tends to be a better steroid in terms of IOP because it doesnt penetrate the Cornea like other roids do. My doc had me on it for a while and my IOP only rose a little. Dont let that kind of stuff freak you out, just ask your doc what your IOP is at every appointment.

Also be prepared for your eyes to fluctuate at different rates. I had my surgery on Dec. 11th and pretty much sat through all of the xmas holidays with my left eye significantly worse than my right. Now my left eye actually has very slightly better vision than my right. The recovery process is a pretty bizarre experience.

 

[nugget61]

Day 6:
Contacts came out today. Awesome. Unfortunately, I still have the feeling of them in (probably from the scab cells). Dr P says that should go away in a day or two.
I had my acuity test before they removed them and I have indeed gone down - between 20/35 and 20/40 for both eyes and combined. I know, everyone says you fluctuate, but when its your eyes doing the fluctuating its harder to listen to the 'just be patient, they'll work themselves out' part. I do have a ton of faith in this doc, so I'll just be wearing my glasses some for the last bit of this semester.
Doc did change up my meds some - Only taking (over the counter) fish oil now, refresh drops and the FML for the next two weeks, at which time he will re-evaluate me. They didn't take my IOP, so no worries there and I don't have to sleep on my back anymore so thats awesome.
Near vision has yet to be tested, but I'm going to ask Dr P when I'm next there. Kinda concerned its not back to pre-op levels yet, but I guess all in time.

 

[exo]

It was a couple weeks before my near vision got better, so patience is the order of the day for that. As for the scratchiness when you take the contacts out, that only lasted a day for me.

 

[cdmike112]

I had PRK on Nov. 20th, my vision before was -3.50 in both eyes with a slight astigmatism in my right eye. The day after my surgery I was tested at 20/20 in both eyes. On Monday Nov. 24th I had my bandage contacts removed and my vision again tested. My right eye deteriorated a bit to 20/30 and my left eye was 20/20. Since then my vision has fluctuated quite a bit but is getting better everyday. I’ve had problems with ghosting off and on and seeing haloes at night but those problems also seem to be getting better. My next check up is on Dec 12th. I had custom PRK with the wave front scan done in Ontario, CA by Dr. Blanton. It cost me $2045 an eye.

 

[srqwho]

I just went to the eye doc today to make sure all is well before my stay in Newport in January. I had PRK done in January of this year and had BAD vision before the surgery. I tested today at 20/10 and my eye pressure was perfect... such an awesome investment!

 

[nugget61]

Medical Mumbojumbo

Well I've done a ton of research on PRK (and pretty much every other vision correction method), so I figured it might be a good idea to share what I've learned for future reference. Again, sorry if this is too basic.
Alright, there are two basic forms of laser vision correction: PRK and LASIK (and they each have their related surgeries). Currently, PRK is the only approved method for applicants to get and still be eligible to fly (I don't know about other duties). The Navy is doing stuff with LASIK for those that are already winged, however if you had those then you shouldn't be reading this.
You will have to check with your doc for good explanations, but mine told me that PRK, LASEK and epi-LASEK are essentially the same things - just minor differences in the preference of the Doc in the type of surgery that they perform.
I had some confusion about the Advanced Surface Ablation (ASA) line in the waiver guide... essentially ASA is a medical catch all term for any type of PRK derivative surgery (laser energy pounding away at the surface of the cornea, after removal of the epithelial cells). So don't let that stop you.
Now a brief explenation of the surgeries, and to really oversimplify them, think of the eye as having 5 sections (slices, if you will) from front to back. In PRK, the doc will remove the top most layer of the eye (epithelial cells), shoot through layer 2 to modify the shape of layer 3. The critical difference between that and LASIK is that with LASIK layers 1 & 2 are cut partially off (hence the 'flap' of eyeball skin) and layer 3 is shot directly with the laser. The flap is then folded back into place and the edge heals back.
The initial recovery from PRK (and need for protective contact lenses) is for the top layer to grow back. The long healing time is required for layer 2 to grow back and stabilize. (You can look in the waiver guide to see how long you have to wait - either 3 or 6 months). LASIK doesn't have this healing time because the only real healing is the little incision that made the flap, which can grow back in just a few days.

I know that was kinda a quick and dirty, but I got a few questions and wanted to try to clarify some. GL all.

 

[nugget61]

Day 9:
Not much has been happening, but to keep going on this; Near vision is coming back, eye itching after removal of contacts was gone the next morning and not having any problems in the daytime with brightness. Am having some problems with light sensitivity at night with oncoming headlights (however my car is really short so I sit at SUV headlight level). Not worried about it though as even then I don't have glare.
Do still have ghosting when I get tired as well as a decrease in acuity. Does this go away with time or will the vision always deteriorate with exhaustion? (And its not bad, like going from 20/30 to 20/50 when I'm tired).

 

[McBuff]

I remember my vision deteriorating throughout the day. It goes away after 1-2 months if i remember correctly. Now I just notice my eyes get a little dry at night.