PRK success -- severe myopia, astigmatism, pre-existing dry eyes
Hi. Just wanted to share my recovery story, as I was a pretty tough case for laser vision correction.
I had a -10 prescription on my left eye, a lot of astigmatism, and preexisting dry eyes (that my doctor did everything he could to treat before PRK).
I was not a candidate for LASIK because it would have worsen my dry eyes.
So, we opted for PRK on the left eye first, and to let that eye completely heal before proceeding onto the right eye (4 months later)
The doctor's predicted "best correctable vision" was 20/25 on the left eye (I reached 20/20!).
Here's how it went for my left eye.
Hope it provides some valuable info for people who are considering or getting PRK.
9/15/2007
9:30am-10:25am PRK on Left Eye
Went home with teary eyes
Slept, woke-up with "normal" feeling eyes, can see with treated eye well enough to read wall-clocks.
9/16/2007
1 day post-op
Vision: 20/60
A lot of haze
A lot of nighttime halos and fluctuating ghosting
9/18/2007
3 days post-op
Vision: 20/50
A lot of haze
A lot of nighttime halos and fluctuating ghosting
9/21/2007
6 days post-op
Bandage contact lens removed
Vision: 20/40,
Moderate haze
A lot of nighttime halos and fluctuating ghosting
Went home with much blurrier vision, and gritty feeling in left eye
9/25/2007
9 days post-op
Vision: 20/60
Moderate haze
A lot of nighttime halos and fluctuating ghosting
Severe dry eyes identified.
2 temporary Punctal Plugs applied to treated eye
Resume Restasis (previously prescribed for existing dry eyes before surgery)
Clearer vision by evening
10/2/2007
16 days post-op
Vision: 20/30 (minus 1 letter)
Very slight haze
Moderate nighttime halos and fluctuating ghosting
30% less dry eyes
10/9/2007
23 days post-op
Vision: 20/25 (plus 3 letters)
No noticeable haze
Moderate nighttime halos and fluctuating ghosting
Dryness immensely reduced.
10/23/2007
37 days post-op
Vision: 20/30
Moderate nighttime halos and fluctuating ghosting
Very dry, irritated eyes due to smoke/ash from Santa Ana winds and California wildfires 
Start 4x daily Pred Forte Treatments
10/30/2007
Vision: 20/30 (plus 3 letters)
Mild nighttime halos and occasional ghosting
Dryness immensely reduced.
Continue Pred Forte drops
12/5/2007
Vision: 20/20 YAY! 
mild ghosting upon waking up in the morning -- lasts 15-30 minutes
FML drops 3 times a day
12/26/2007
Vision: 20/20
mild ghosting upon waking up in the morning -- lasts 15 minutes
Otherwise very clear vision.
Discontinue drops, dryness under control
Ready to have PRK on Right eye next week!
PRK/Day 9 & Holding
My PRK experience so far has been somewhat miserable.. I started out with -10.75 in the left and a -9.5 in the right, both with an astigmatism.
The day of surgery(1/2/08) was somewhat of a nightmare. First of all I didn't take the sedative, which I would soon regret. The first part of the procedure was going very smooth, the epithelium was scrapped away and it was now time for the laser. The laser, well it died. As they were attempting to reboot the laser, I was slowly moved to the side and was told to keep my eyes closed(which made matters even worse) as they worked on the laser/computer. They ended up moving me to a different room, and the procedure finished for both eyes.
The next few days were rough, pretty much what others have said. A lot of burning, irritation, and EXTREME
sensitivity to light. I walked around the house with sunglasses on, my kids thought I looked "cool". The biggest recommendation is to rest, rest and more rest. You really can't do much more, as you can't read, or watch TV, you pretty much are miserable for the first 2-3 days.
Just when thing improve, the 5th day becomes blurry again. My protective contacts came off on the 5th day, with anticipation of things improving. The improvement idea was incorrect, as things immediately were blurrier than ever.
Today is the 9th day, and I feel like I am living in a cloud. The vision is still very rough in the right eye, I see shadows and it's really making me miserable. The left eye is much better, but it's still blurry and far from perfect. My Dr said to be patient, that it's going to take a full month for things to come into focus. He also recommend NOT wearing reading glasses, as my eyes are still in an adjustment period.
I will keep my patience, as I hope that things will begin to improve soon. Even though every person is different, you must go into this with a lot of patience and make sure that you know how to change your computer setting to increase the FONT SIZE!!
Thanks for the writeup
kimidimuse: Thanks for tracking your experiences.. I think these kinds of things really help people set their expectations properly.
Greenier: I hope it gets better for you.. it took me a full six months to be fully happy with my vision.
-Matt
Potential PRK or ICL?
Wow. I am so happy I came across Matt's blog. I have severe myopia with an astigmatism, and after years of wearing contacts, my eyes are rejecting them. I have developed severe dry eye, and I have ocular rosacea. I also found out that I have cornea damage. My eyes tear constantly, and I usually look like I just smoked a lot of weed. I walk around with a "baby bottle" size of tears. It's ridiculous.
I know that my eyes have to heal to consider a surgical option. I just had lacrimal plugs inserted, and the ophthalmologist mentioned that PRK might be an option for me. I had actually asked her about the implantable contact lens (ICL). I am looking forward to my eyes healing, so I can either have the PRK or ICL. It sounds like people have mixed experiences with PRK. Though the ICL option is more expensive, I'm not sure it requires the down time that PRK does? Anyone have an opinion? I am a researcher, and I am building a site for my union so I am worried that I will not be able to work for a few weeks or so.
At any rate, I appreciated those who took the time to tell their PRK stories, and Matt, thanks for dedicating part of your blog to vision correction. btw, I really like your blog format. i'm looking for a good template in Wordpress for a blog and CMS. Thanks Again.