Day 45 (Right), Day 35 (Left)

My vision is quite good, however, it's still in flux. Some days my left eye sees more clearly than the right and some days it's the other way around. I still have some irritation in my right eye, but using drops more frequently and the gel drops do seem to help. Hopefully, the irritation will completely go away with time. My monovision eye is reading easily now. My distance eye can read, but the letters are blurry. Distance reading is fine, though. My eyes continue to be a little more light sensitive than they were before the surgery. Although my vision isn't perfect, I'm very happy that I got the surgery. It's great to be able to see well without wearing contacts or glasses. I especially like being able to see when I wake up since this is still novel to me.

If you're reading this because you're planning to get or have already had epi-LASIK (PRK),  here's a little tip: You may be able to return your unused boxes of contact lenses for a refund. I took mine to my optometrist's office to ask if I could return them and, to my surprise, the answer was "yes". I was refunded what I had paid after my vision service plan (VSP) discount.

Day 36 (Right), Day 26 (Left)

I had my one-month, follow-up appointment today. My left eye tested 20/20 and my right about 20/25, which I found a little surprising because my right eye is my distance eye and has had 10 more days to heal than my left. I would have expected my monovision eye to test under 20/20. My vision is still somewhat in flux so things will likely change more before they settle into place. The eye doctor said that my vision will fluctuate over the next few months.

I did describe the irritation I have in my right eye when I blink. The eye doctor said it was most likely due to dryness and should resolve itself. She gave me gel-based tear drops and said I should use them rather than the regular tear drops because they last longer. I'll give them a go.

I also let her know that my reading vision in my right eye is still blurry. She said that it's possible that it will remain that way in my distance-corrected eye. I hope it doesn't and that it sharpens over the next month or two.

I also showed the technician the two pairs of glasses I hung onto and asked if she could tell me what the approximate prescription was. She said that one pair is about a +1, which makes them reading glasses. The other pair is about a +0.25, which makes them computer glasses. She said that I should keep them because I might want to use them even after my vision correction surgery, so I'll hang on to these two pairs. I'm actually wearing the computer glasses now for no particular reason. They seem to make the words on the screen just a bit bigger.

My next follow-up appointment is two months from now. That's all the latest!

Day 35 (Right), Day 25 (Left)

Tomorrow I have my one-month follow-up appointment. I'll also have follow-up appointments at three months, six months, and one year, I believe.

I want to ask the surgeon if the irritating sensation I have when I blink my eyes is normal and whether it will go away. I'm noticing it primarily in my right eye at this point.

I'm also eager to know how my vision tests and whether all is on track for my one-month follow up. My vision is getting crisper, but is still in flux. I can read well with my left eye and with both eyes together now, but not with my right eye alone. I'm more light sensitive than I was before surgery.

To satisfy my curiousity, I also want to ask if the surgeon knows what causes the different color perception between my right and left eyes. (This question is unrelated to my surgery. My left eye sees with a slight red filter and my right eye sees with a slight yellow filter. My eyes have perceived color this way as long as I can remember.)

I have two pairs of reading or computer glasses from before my epi-LASIK surgery. I don't recall whether they're reading glasses or computer glasses or both. I want to find out what the correction is in the lenses and if the glasses may be of use to me in the future (or even now after surgery).

I'll post an update after my appointment tomorrow!

Day 30 (Right), Day 20 (Left)

It's been a month since I had surgery in my right eye. I still experience a persistent "foreign body sensation" in my eyes when I blink. Surprisingly, it's more noticeable in my right eye than my left even though the surgery in my left eye was more recent. The feeling is similar to wearing a contact lens with a very small nick in it. I'm hoping that the sensation will clear up with time. The wetting drops seem to help.

My distance vision in my right eye is very clear. My near vision (reading vision) in my right eye is getting clearer, but still a little blurry. The double vision I experienced when reading has gone away. It's possible that my reading vision in my right eye will remain a little blurry. When nearsighted eyes are corrected for distance in someone over 40, the need for reading glasses can sometimes be immediate. Nearsightedness can mask the need for reading glasses and once the nearsightedness is removed, the need for reading glasses is more noticeable. Here's an article about it.

I'm just shy of three weeks post-surgery for my left eye and reading is very crisp with my left eye now. My distance vision with my left eye is blurry, but seems to get a little clearer each day.

My one-month follow-up appointment is next Wednesday and I'm very curious to have my vision tested.

Day 25 (Right), Day 15 (Left)

Today while shopping, I realized that I'd forever closed the door on any future career as a great impressionist painter. The thought crossed my mind when I eyed this dress in a store:

I had heard that Monet and other impressionist painters were nearsighted. This idea seems reasonable to me because that's pretty much how I saw the world without my glasses. Apparently, the idea has been put forward that the impressionist movement wouldn't have happened without painters with poor eyesight. (Click the link you may have overlooked in the previous sentence to learn more.)

In addition to being near sighted, Monet developed cataracts that changed his color perception. He painted in redder hues before a surgeon removed his cataracts. (Search on "remove his cataracts" on this Wikipedia page to learn more.)

While I pondered my more limited set of future careers, my mom tried on this dress, but decided against it:

It's not known for certain, but it's possible that Van Gogh's prominent use of yellow (link) was because he saw more yellow than the average person due to taking digitalis, which some have said one of his doctors prescribed to him for epilepsy.

Day 24 (Right), Day 14 (Left)

I'm two weeks out after my surgery in my left eye so stopped using the antibiotic eye drop and only need to use the wetting drops several times a day for the next couple of weeks (or longer, if my eyes are uncomfortable). My vision in my right eye is great now for distance (I'd guesstimate 20/25), but blurrier for reading than my corrected vision before surgery. That said, I'm beginning to be able to read with it even though it's my distance-corrected eye.

I'm able to read now with my left eye too, which was corrected a little over two weeks ago and corrected to hopefully result in mini-monovision (0.5 diopters undercorrected). Reading with my left eye is a little blurry, but has improved dramatically over the past two weeks since the surgery.

Both my eyes have a "foreign body sensation" in opthalmology jargon, which is to say that I feel like I have something in my eyes. I've felt this pretty regularly (although not always) since the surgery. It feels like there's a little roughness on my cornea when I blink. I feel it only when blinking. My eyelids sometimes feel like they almost want to stick closed for an instant before opening again. My eyes also feel dry and tired in the morning when I wake up. It takes them awhile to feel ready for the day.

From what I've read about epi-LASIK, these post-surgery symptoms are typical and can take awhile to resolve themselves as the corneas heal.

Day 22 (Right), Day 12 (Left)

And now for a little test to see if my younger sister and mother are still reading my blog...

Here's a fashion show of my frames and you can each pick 1-2 of them. Whoever responds first gets first choice. This plan sounds fair to me!

Pair 1: DKNY Diderot

These frames are very small. You could say that they're dinky, but they're DKNY. The frame color is bronze. Chic and sophisticated. DKNY case included.

Here's what they look like on. They even raise your IQ by 10 points. (Click the link you probably just missed in the previous sentence to learn more.) I added the pencil behind my ear to raise my IQ by another 10 points.

Pair 2: Neostyle from Germany

This pair is Neostyle made in Germany. The frame is a beautiful tortoise shell. They're a bit larger than the pair above, but still perfect for higher myopia prescriptions, meaning the edges of your lenses will be thin! No coke-bottle effect.

And here they are on:

I can't really see in any of these photos because I'm doubly corrected, but I'm still feeling the IQ boost.

Pair 3: Koali by Morel Lunnettes

These are creative and colorful Koali frames by Morel. Made in France. This pair is... drumroll please... metallic copper and purple. The style completely hides the outside edges of your lenses. Perfect for higher myopia prescriptions.

They even have cute flowers engraved on the sides.

And here they are on. My, don't I... I mean they... look smart!

Pair 4: Flexon

These frames are ultra-lightweight in violet. Flexon frames are flexible and super comfy. You forget that they're even on.

Before I forget, here they are on:

Ok, that's the end of our fashion show. Let me know which ones you want!

Day 21 (Right), Day 11 (Left)

My eye drop regimen is much simpler now with only 2 different types of drops in my left eye multiple times a day and only 1 type of drop in my right eye multiple times a day. My dear analytical other half made an eye drop chart and schedule for me right after I had surgery in my right eye because there were 5 different eye drops each with their own frequency.

He also told me just recently that he had to read The Heart of Darkness during his senior year of high school and present his findings in his English class. He said that he analyzed the frequency with which different words appeared in the book and graphed them in a polar plot. He said that by adjusting the coordinates for just one of the words, the plot looked remarkably like a map of the Congo. He got an A. My, the ways in which future physicists appreciate the finer points of the classics!

My vision has really sharpened in my right eye and I can read with it now even though it's my distance-corrected eye. My left (mini mono-vision) eye is still blurry, but coming along nicely.

Day 20 (Right), Day 10 (Left)

I've graduated from taping a plastic disc over my left eye at night. It's been 10 days since I had surgery for my left eye and the surgeon's office recommended wearing the disc at night for a week. I caught myself lightly scratching my eyelid last night. My eyes have sometimes been a wee bit itchy post surgery and I've avoided touching them.

My vision gets a little clearer each day. Today, I found myself reading small text on my iPhone without struggling as much or thinking about it. The text on my computer screen is starting to become clear. It was just a few days ago that text was still very blurry with a double vision effect. I'm so happy about the progress my vision is making. I'm comfortable driving now (even though my vision isn't yet 20/20).

I had lunch today at the same Japanese noodle shop I had lunch at after surgery nine days ago and noticed how much clearer everything was than it was then. I'll be curious to see how I take to mini mono-vision once my vision stabilizes.

My eyes have always seen color differently. My right eye has a rose filter on it and my left eye has a yellow filter. This continues to be the case now after surgery. I don't give it much thought and it doesn't bother me. I'd like to remember to ask the surgeon if he knows what causes this phenomenon when I see him next. I have my one-month, follow-up appointment toward the end of this month.

Day 17 (Right), Day 7 (Left)

Yesterday was my first post-surgery, follow-up exam for my left eye. My vision is blurry for reading in both eyes, which I have been concerned about. I told the optometrist about the blurriness. She looked at my eyes with a microscope and said that I'm healing well. She said the blurriness is typical at this stage and to be patient, little grasshopper. She said that it can take up to six months for vision to stabilize after PRK. She also said that because my right eye was corrected for distance, my reading vision may remain somewhat blurry in that eye (I found this statement unsettling). But she emphasized patience. I asked her about the likelihood of needing touch-up surgery given the level of blurriness I have now. She said that it was extremely unlikely and that it wouldn't be possible to assess it until four months out.

She put a numbing drop in my left eye and removed the bandage contact lens with a metal implement that I couldn't see (tweezers, I think). The previous tech removed the bandage contact lens in my right eye with her fingers (with a little pinch) and that hurt quite a bit more and made me have a psychosomatic, germophobic moment about fingers in my eye.

In my vision exam, I was able to read about half the letters correctly on the 20/25 line with my right eye (14 days after surgery) and all the letters correctly on the 20/50 line with my left eye (5 days after surgery).

Now, keeping the advice of one of my most loyal readers in mind, I asked the optometrist about the "Must Wear Corrective Lenses" notation on my driver's license. A moment later, she handed me a little card and said I could put it in my wallet.

Thank you, Dr. Bindi.

Day 16 (Right), Day 6 (Left)

There comes a time in a post-laser surgery patient's journey when they ask themselves, "What will I do with all this stuff?" What stuff, you ask? Here's what I'm talking about:

I have quite a selection of frames ideally suited to narrow oval faces with highly myopic eyes (as well as nearly a year's supply of -7.0 and -6.5 daily wear disposable contact lenses). Do I offer the frames to my younger sister? My mother? Perhaps I can ask them each to pick a pair or two and hope they don't want the same ones.

Today, Jon and I needed to fix up a rental for new tenant's who move in Thursday. I drove for the first time since surgery to buy eight bags of gorilla hair mulch and weed screen staples for the yard. Alas, I couldn't actually spread the mulch around because I'm still in dust-avoidance mode. Jon will do that tomorrow while I stay safely at home in a dust-free zone.

I ventured out again in the car at dusk and drove myself to the gym for the first time since surgery to take a body pump class. My vision is blurry, especially in my left eye, but I didn't experience any night vision issues. My follow-up exam for my left eye is tomorrow. I'm eager to ask if the level of blurriness I'm experiencing is typical for this stage in the healing process.

Day 14 (Right), Day 4 (Left)

Seventy-two hours have passed since having surgery in my left eye, which means... I can exercise today. :-) I did a spinning class and a yoga class with no problem, other than not being able to see well, especially in my left eye. I would sometimes keep my left eye closed and wondered if anyone noticed.

I'm taking Ibuprofen and various anti-inflammatory and antibiotic eye drops at scheduled intervals. If, like me, you're interested in the finer points of language, take a second look at the hyphenation in "anti-inflammatory" and the lack thereof in "antibiotic." Why the difference? The neighboring identical vowels are the reason. Words like "antifreeze" and "antichrist" are not hyphenated, but words like "anti-inflammatory" and "de-emphasize" are. I think peppering my posts with controversial words like "antichrist" might boost my readership, although it might not necessarily draw the right kind of readers. Let's see.

I'm still sleeping with a plastic disc taped over my left eye and will do that for a week. It's not uncomfortable until the morning when it comes time to rip it off.

Day 13 (Right), Day 3 (Left)

My eye stopped watering this morning and the swelling has gone away. Day 3 is so much easier than day 2 after surgery. Day 2 is the worst. I went out to dinner last night with friends even though my eye was red, swollen, and watering. Interestingly, one of them, who just retired from the military, had PRK in the military. He said it was the best thing that the army did for him. Interestingly, the military only does PRK on personnel. LASIK isn't allowed since the corneal flap weakens the cornea. He was a tank mechanic. His wife had had LASIK and was thrilled with the outcome.

My vision in my right eye is very crisp today. I'm feeling like it's approaching 20/20 for distance, but reading is still blurry.

My post-surgery follow-up appointment for my left eye is Wednesday at 4:00. The bandage contact lens will be removed at this appointment. I haven't exercised for two days and have one more day to wait before I can exercise. I have been sleeping as much as possible and wearing sunglasses most of the time to speed up healing.

Day 12 (Right), Day 2 (Left)

Today, I'm staying in a dark room with sunglsses on as much as possible to rest my eye. Day 2 is the most painful day. It's actually not that bad, but my eye is red, swellen, watering, and stings. I'll sleep as much as possible today and avoid attempting to read or work on the computer because it's very straining on my surgery eye. My eye feels strained after a few minutes of close work. I can't read well. My distance and intermediate vision is very good, but my close vision is blurry. I took Vicodin last night and will take it today. For my right eye, I needed Vicodin only the first night and the day after surgery and I'm expecting it to be the same for my left eye. I now have a better idea of what to expecxt and know that my eye will feel much better on the third day after surgery.

Day 11 (Right), Day 1 (Left)

I went ahead with surgery on my left eye Friday, June 27, 2014. The surgery was very fast like the first time. The laser was on my eye for 14 seconds or so. I could feel the instrument that holds the eyelids open more than the last time and mentioned it to the surgeon and he made it a little less tight. The music was Pink Floyd once again: Wish You Were Here followed by Breathe. My vision was very clear immediately following the surgery (before any corneal healing starts) and it went smoothly. My eye started to sting and water a few hours after surgery, presumably when the numbing drops wore off. I kept my sunglasses on and listened to an audiobook. I slept 12 hours the first night after surgery. I think I heal much faster when I'm asleep. I'm doing all the various drops for my eyes on schedule and sleeping with a protective plastic disc over my eye so that I don't risk rubbing it at night. I know the second day after day surgery is the most painful and that it gets much easier after that. It's really nice to have my vision more balanced between my two eyes. My right eye feels like 20/40 and my left eye like 20/100. Just a wild guess.

Day 9 (Right)

My vision continues to improve and I'm reading more easily, so I'll go ahead with surgery in my left eye tomorrow. I tested several monovision contact lenses (-5.75, -6.0, and -6.5) in my left (non-dominant) eye before having surgery in my right eye. One benefit of doing surgery in my right eye first is that it gave me more time to contemplate whether to do monovision in my left eye. My left eye is a -7.0 and the -5.75 and -6.0 contact lenses felt too undercorrected. I was aware of the imbalance between my eyes at this level of undercorrection. A -0.5 undercorrection (the -6.5 lens) was comfortable, though. At this level of undercorrection, I didn't perceive an imbalance in my vision or the undercorrection. Although this is a small level of monovision ("mini-monovision"), it will likely mean at least an additional five years without wearing reading glasses. I'm excited to get surgery for my left eye tomorrow.

The vision in my right eye gets a little clearer each day. It's not quite as clear as my left eye with glasses, but it's getting very close. I do have the sensation of a bit of roughness in my right eye and it seems to be gradually diminishing.

Day 7 (Right)

Today was my first follow-up appointment for my right eye and also my tentatively scheduled appointment for surgery on my left eye. The surgeon's assistant put a numbing drop in my right eye and then removed the bandage contact lens. Removing the contact lens was painful because the outer membrane of the cornea adheres a bit to the contact lens bandage. The past two days, I've had some discomfort in my eye most likely caused by the bandage contact lens itself after a week in my eye. The surgeon's assistant said that it's common to feel the edges of the contact lens after it's in the eye more than five days.

My vision in my surgery eye has improved quite a bit, but is blurry. In today's vision test, I was able to read some letters on the 20/20 line and got some of them wrong. The surgeon looked at my eye with a microscope and said it's healing well and that my ability to already read some letters on the 20/20 line means that my vision is on a good trajectory. I was actually surprised that I was able to read some letters on the 20/20 line. My guesstimate was that my vision would be about 20/100, but apparently it's considerably better than this. I'm beginning to be able to read with my surgery eye, but small letters are blurry.

I decided not to go forward with surgery on my left eye today. I scheduled a tentative surgery appointment for Friday instead. If by Friday, I'm able to read reasonably well with my right eye and I'm confident that my right eye can carry the load while my left eye heals, then I'll go forward with surgery on Friday. I decided I wasn't comfortable going ahead with the surgery until I'm able to read consistently with my right eye.

The surgeon was very understanding and flexible about when I do the surgery on my left eye. He and his staff have been excellent!

I did a spinning class and a yoga class today (in a non-heated room) and had no issue with exercise. I was careful to keep sweat away from my right eye.

Day 5 (Right)

Last night, I did a night vision test. My better half drove me around for 10 minutes at night so that I could look at lights. One concern I've had about the surgery is whether it would create night vision issues (halos and starbursts). I'm happy to say that my night vision last night in my right (surgery) eye was fine. My night vision behaved the same in my right (surgery) eye as in my left eye wearing glasses. I'll continue to test my night vision over the next couple of nights. Given how my vision in my right eye is improving, I'm feeling comfortable about going forward with surgery in my left eye next week. Today, I'm starting to be able to read with my right eye, although text is blurry. I stopped taking Ibuprofen today.

I exercised again today and did a body pump class. I also went to a yoga class. I left the yoga class after 15 minutes of sun salutations, though, because it was in a heated room and I felt like the heat might dry out my eye and the bandage contact lens. The surgeon's office indicated that I'm not supposed to be in a steam room or sauna for two weeks and the heated yoga room felt a bit too much like a sauna.

Tomorrow, I'll be going on a 7-mile hike at Mount Tamalpias. It will be my first post-surgery hike. I'll be careful to avoid getting dust in my eye and wear sunglasses the entire time.

Day 4 (Right)

The pain in my right eye is minimal today. Every once and awhile I feel like there may be something in my eye like a bit of dust or the bandage contact lens itself. My distance vision in my right eye is very good today. I would guess that it's about a -1.5 or -2.0. My intermediate vision is also good, but my near vision is blurry. I can't read with my right eye. The surgeon's office instructed me not to exercise for the first three days so today will be my first day of exercise post-surgery. I'll do a body pump class in half an hour and try not to sweat into my eye. :-) I'll either rely on my surgery eye only or wear my glasses with one lens removed. I'm feeling very optimistic about the progress with my vision in my right eye. I'm continuing to sleep with a plastic protective shield taped over my right eye so that I don't inadvertently put any pressure on my eye while I sleep. I highly recommend using an eye shield, especially if you tend to sleep on your stomach or side. My vision is not yet good enough to drive.

Day 3 (Right)

The swelling has gone down quite a bit in my eyelid and the pain is much less than yesterday. My epithelium must be growing back. :-) My vision in my right eye continues to be blurry, but much better than it was before surgery. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say the vision is about -3.0 and fluctuating. It was -6.5 before surgery. I'm still primarily resting my eyes today. I took Vicodin the first night and during day 2, but haven't needed it since then. The Ibuprofen seems to be doing the trick.

Day 2 (Right)

From everything I've heard, day 2 is supposed to be the most uncomfortable, which gives me hope because it's not that bad. My right eyelid is swollen today, my eye has a burning sensation (similar to what you feel chopping onions), and periodically waters. It is painful, but tolerable.

I took Vicodin last night, wore a protective plastic shield over my eye during the night, and slept reasonably well.

I'm light sensitive, so am wearing sunglasses today and staying indoors. I'm keeping my eyes shut as much as possible to rest them. I'm taking the various eye drops when needed and also 800 mg of Ibuprofen/day and 1000 mg of Vitamin C/day.

My vision in my right eye is blurry, but continues to be much better than what it was before surgery.

I am sleeping more than usual. This could be the Vicodin or my body needing more sleep while it mends my eye.

Day 1 - Surgery (Right)

I'm typing with one eye closed. :-) I had epi-LASIK (custom Wavefront PRK) on my right eye Tuesday, June 17, 2013. I decided to take a conservative approach and do my right eye first (correcting it for distance), assess the outcome, and then do the left eye.

Epi-LASIK (PRK) is similar to LASIK, but recommended for people who have a thinner cornea. In regular LASIK, a flap is cut in the cornea, folded back during laser surgery, and then put back in place after surgery. In Epi-LASIK, no flap is cut in the cornea. Instead, the top few layers of cornea membrane are removed by polishing them off, laser surgery is completed, the eye is flushed with liquid, and a bandage contact lens is placed on the cornea while it heals. The healing time for epi-LASIK is much longer than it is for LASIK because the outer membrane of the cornea needs to grow back. In regular LASIK, the result is immediate and there is virtually no healing time (other than the flap resealing). 

Epi-LASIK, like LASIK, is done using Wavefront, which means the laser treatment is customized to your particular eye. A "topographical map" is taken of your cornea and this information is programmed into the laser. The laser reshapes your cornea based on this information.

The epi-LASIK surgery itself was very quick. It took about 10 seconds. I was given half a Valium beforehand and they played Pink Floyd during the surgery. I think the song was "Breathe." The surgeon talked through all the steps as he performed them and put a "bandage" contact lens on my eye that will stay on for a week. It wasn't painful. I was given sunglasses to wear afterward and my better half drove me home. I'll be light sensitive for about a week and my eye will hurt for about three days while the outer membrane (epithelium) of my cornea grows back. 

As I left the surgeon's office, I asked one of the assistants to remove the right lens from my glasses so that I have them available to wear once the vision in my right eye improves. 

My vision in my right eye will be blurry for 1-2 weeks before it starts to stabilize. Right after the surgery, however, my vision in my right eye was much clearer than it had been before the surgery. It was blurry, but much less blurry than before. I'm not supposed to exercise or get dust in my eye for the first few days.

I'll go in for a post-surgery check up in a week. They'll remove the bandage contact lens then. I have a tentative appointment to do epi-LASIK on my left eye after the check up.

I'm excited to see where my vision in my right eye lands once my eye has healed and my vision has stabilized.