PRK Recovery (Jan 4, 2007 surgery)
I had PRK done in both eyes on 1/4/07, due to the thinness of my corneas. My prescription was about -9.00 in both eyes. The first two weeks were really tough. While the bandage lenses were in, I had foreign body sensation in the eyes (but never in both eyes at the same time - weird, huh?), that were only alleviated by the pain killers I was prescribed (I had a 5 day supply). I was in the bandage lenses for about 6 days. At my one day post op appointment, I was about 20/40 in one eye, but worse in the other. Between then and two weeks post surgery, my vision fluctuated A LOT - I only felt safe driving about 6 days after surgery - due to pain in the eyes and light sensitivity. It was also hard to do any computer work for a week after the surgery due to light sensitivity and imperfection in vision (halos and other transposed images) - I mitigated that by changing the settings on my computer to EXTRA LARGE fonts, and using a privacy screen and sunglasses. Reading was a very hard activity, and I pretty much gave up on it during the first week and a half of recovery.
I agree with other posters that during this time, I had 5 minutes of clarity first thing in the morning, but the went away. Light sensitivity was present after surgey but it became less and less severe, and totally went away for me after 9 days.
I saw the doctor again this past Monday (1/22), and my vision is 20/20 in one eye and 20/25 in another. During the weekend, I finally started feeling like I could see again. I'm still not seeing crisply, but I've been told it may take up to 6-8 weeks post surgery to see clearly, and every patient recovers differently. I still get headaches at the end of the day due to eye-strain, but my ability to read at night has gotten a bit better.
I read this blog and comments last week, and it did make me feel better that my recovery wasn't out of the norm. It's one thing for the doc to tell you, but it's another to hear it from other people who've had the surgery. Thanks to all who have posted! Just remember - if you have PRK, hang in there - recovery is tough, but for the first time in 19 years (I've worn glasses/contacts since I was 11) I'm not dependent on any corrective lenses!