PRK success -- patience is key

I thought I would post my experience, because outside of this site, I couldn't find much information -- and I got really nervous a few times during my healing. Hopefully this will help someone else.

Started at about -4 to -5 with slight stigmatisms and some occasional dryness and seasonal allergy issues. I was given a choice of PRK or Lasik, but encouraged strongly to go with PRK for a number of reasons.

On 1/8/2009 I had PRK done in both eyes with an advanced laser. The surgery itself was unpleasant, but I had some drugs and it was over so quickly. The doctor did a great job of setting my expectations ahead of time, so I knew exactly what was going on the whole time. Put in the bandage contacts and I was allowed to leave. When it was done, I could see surprisingly well. I wasn't able to sleep right away, so I actually watched TV! Eventually the pain started and I used the drops and oral pain killers I was given. I slept. It took a day or so to learn what to take when because if I let the oral meds wear off, I had extremely unpleasant sensations in my eyes that made me want to die or poke my eyes out. It was worst on days 2 and 3, but I avoided the drop they gave me and told me to use only as a last resort -- the oral stuff and other drop was plenty good.

By day 4, the pain had gone down and I stopped all of the orals, which was good, because I was tired of sleeping. I was able to watch TV some again, so I did that. On day 5, I was so happy to get the contacts out (never had luck with contacts) and to be able to be cleared for legal driving... I was roughly 20/40, but I think it probably fluctuated some and got worse later that day.

I drove to work the next day and it wasn't a pleasant thing. But the drive home was even worse ... it took a few days to get the pattern, but usually I'd wake up seeing ok, drive to work, but after an hour of looking at the computer for work, my eyesight got horribly worse and I'd have trouble driving home (it was also dark by then, and low light compounded the effect -- really awful halos). Sometimes I was good for reading, sometimes I was good for watching TV or other medium distance -- but rarely if ever both at the same time, and often, neither, which became frustrating. I stayed on my pred drops and also determined that my vision would improve whenever my eyes were moist. In general, this was the most assuring thing because for a few seconds, I had 20/20 or better -- so I hoped this would be my final result. Also, on days I avoided the computer, I generally had better results. When I used the computer, generally I had to make the fonts really big to see, and took lots of breaks.

The first two weeks I continued in this manner. There were days and hours that were better than others, but it was hard to really see much trend. Mostly it was just seeing double and triple -- not clear focus -- but also it was hazy sometimes as well. I stayed 20/40 and finally at 2 weeks was about 20/30. But I still had issues with seeing signs and stuff, particularly at night. Reading was a major chore. I started to grow really worried. The only other side effects I was having was my eyes were extremely dry at night, so it was hard to realize that yes I was still healing. During the next 4-6 weeks things improved, but I barely noticed. At about 6 weeks from my surgery, I was 20/25 and could see the computer most of the time without too much trouble. But I was still nervous that something was wrong and that I'd need some touch up. I think the main reason for my nervousness was that people were still telling me that their PRK or Lasik had given them 20/20 after only a few days ... I now believe that to be a myth, or at least that they healed much faster than I did.

But after stopping the pred drops at 7 weeks **like my doctor ordered**, that's when things finally started really improving (vision actually got worse again for 2-3 days, then finally settled in). To that point, I was faithful about the drops because he had stated that if I quit early, I'd have worse long term prognosis, so I only quit when it was ok to stop. At 8-9 weeks, I was just about 20/20, but best of all, I could finally see the computer for hours without problems and driving at night became easier. However, there were still times, particularly at night, when things were hazy and/or full of halos, and I still had issues reading in low light. By this point, the moisture drops weren't helping as much -- the effects would only last a few minutes. I talked to the doctor again, and the recommendation was to switch to the preservative free kind. This helped a lot. I was still healing too...

At the point I'm writing this, it has been 12+ weeks. I am seeing a little better than 20/20 (maybe 20/15 on a good day), no trouble reading, and most days I barely notice that I'm going without my glasses. The doctor says I can continue to expect some improvement -- I'm still healing... (guess I'm a slower healer?) I'm finally extremely happy about getting PRK and going through it all. My only current issue is occasional eye fatigue that has been improving, and continued nighttime dryness (I wake up sometimes unable to open one or both eyes). I've also had a few issues with getting dust and pollen in my eyes -- it has been a little scratchier feeling than a normal spring, but when that happens, I do still use my wetting drops for that (nothing else).

I'll see the doctor again a few more times and will post if anything else changes -- but generally, I've finally reached a state where I'm happy with the results, and the dr has said the dryness and vision will still improve even more from here. If you take longer to heal than most, don't give up -- it will keep getting better for at least 4-6 months after your surgery. Don't believe the hype that you'll necessarily be 20/20 in a week or two, but know that you'll at least be able to get by on your own, even if you have to take lots of breaks from the computer and/or change your font size. I think if I had to do it again, the only thing I would have changed is to do it during a less busy time of the year at work. I clearly struggled for at least 6 weeks, which was longer than I anticipated.