Post PRK Days 4 and 5

Yesterday was day 4. It was probably one of the worst days so far.

I had read about this in several blogs that day 4 is probably one of the worst days. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't read anything. I couldn't make out faces on the television. Anything with any sort of bright light was like a laser beam to my eyes. I ended up wearing my sunglasses most of the time yesterday. Besides that, I had to have a follow up appointment with the doctor.

It was a very discouraging day.

So what did I do? I slept. I don't think I have slept so much in my entire life as I have the last four days. It doesn't seem like it would take that much out of you, but when you add the stress, the minimal discomfort this surgery gives off, and the sitting around waiting for things to get clearer, there really isn't much to do but sleep. I did manage to make it back in one piece from the drug store, because I was in dire need of refreshing moisturizing drops for my eyes. They seemed to help some, but when you can't see anything, a cool relief is a minor solace in comparison.

I think the biggest concern that went through my mind was whether or not I would be able to see again, or whether or not my vision was going to be like this forever. I kept telling myself that it wouldn't. But, the problem was, I was not very convincing to myself.

I went to the doctor. The nurse, who had asked me to read the eye chart, told me to cover one eye and read the letters on the screen. I couldn't. The letters got larger. I still couldn't. The letters got larger again, and I could barely read them. It didn't help much when the nurse exclaimed, "wow, your eyesight is worse than the last time we checked it."

I wasn't very amused.

The doctor then checked my eyes again. The corneas were not yet healed completely, which meant that I needed to continue my antibiotic drops and my anti-inflammatory drops for another two days, in addition to keeping the contact lense "bandages" on my eyes. For those of you that have worn soft contact lenses, imagine wearing your contacts in your eyes for 4 days straight, sleeping in them and all. Yes, that's what my eyes felt like.

I went home, very disconcerted, hoping that my eyesight would improve, which the doctor assured me it would. So I sat, again, in the dark, waiting for my eyes to improve once more, and fell asleep early in the evening, not awakening until 5 am this morning.

Today, by contrast, I actually notice a big change. Things are a little clearer, although my left eye seems to lag about 1 day behind my right eye. Though, today, I am able to read, read street signs, and the haze is for the most part gone. I am able to actually read text messages from friends on my phone (not that I get many of them, since I really don't text a whole lot). In fact, the first thing that I was able to do this morning, was to read the crawling news items at the bottom of the news channel I typically watch. This was quite encouraging. In addition, I was able to see the street signs on my street a bit clearer, as well as see individual blades of grass and the buds on the trees. Refreshing eye drops seem to help quite a bit, as they make my eyes feel less dry, in addition to helping bring clarity to some things that I see.

So on all, today was a much better day. Again, I am waiting for my left eye to catch up. I'm hoping that everything will be well for day 6, tomorrow, as I have another doctor's appointment to check my eyes again. Apparently I happen to be one of the 25% of the cases where the cornea takes a bit longer to heal.

Lucky me.

I will say that I feel a bit more confident that I am going to get through this thing. I'm certain that the end result will be more than I could expect. I guess when it comes to healing, I'm not a very patient person.

I need to learn patience.

PRK Day 3

It's actually day 3 and then some. I wok up yesterday, Sunday, and noticed that my eyes were very sensitive to the light. It seemed like the waterworks were turned on, and someone forgot to shut the valve off. My eyes felt really tired. Part of the issue could have been all of the activity that I had the day before hanging out with friends for the day, but part of it seems like it is a norma part of the process. I was able to get going in the morning, although it seems that the hot water from the shower and the steam from the water make my eyes sensitive.

Anyhow, I was able to go to church with my family, though somewhat strange that I wasn't having anything to do with the service. It seemed as if I was at work, but just observing (as best I could with the eyes that I have right at the moment). While able to see about 85 percent of the stuff on the bulletin and in the hymnal (with a few added words to make the song my own), I managed to get through everything ok. By the time I got home, I was ready for a nap.

I slept most of the afternoon on Sunday, waking up again to the gauzy hazy views that seem to be part of this journey. At first in the morning, I thought I may have lost both of my protectived contact lenses. It was a little disconcerting to find my super cool plastic eye shields laying on the pillow next to me. Apparently I had taken them off during the night. Well, no worries.

The evening constituted a day of resting, laying in the recliner, and not doing much of anything but looking at a fuzzy television screen. At least I was able to hear most of what was going on. I ended up going to be early, and by early, that tould be 930 pm.

I slept pretty soundly, though I woke up at about 645 am and wasn't really able to get back to bed. Much like yesterday at church, my eyes felt like an auto zoom lens on a camera that had run amok, or at least had a mind of their own. I have no idea what was going on, but the best thing I could do was just to shut my eyes for a little while until my eyes settled down.

I was actually able to see quite well out of my right eye this morning, and my left eye seems like it is about 2 days behind. Nothing like having two separate eyes doing their own things.

Most of the day today I spent sleeping. I actually slept all morning, getting up just before noon. Even though I thought I could try to drive to pick up my dogs, that foolish thought dissipated quickly after about 2 blocks down the road. Luckily I had the common sense to turn back around. My brother was a saint, and assisted me in fetching my dogs from the kennel.

This afternoon, all I have done was sleep, sleep, and sleep. I don't think I have ever slept so much in one period of time like I have lately. I keep getting reminded by my dear friend Naomi that I had major surgery. I suppose she's right.

The hardest part right now is just waiting for things to clear up. It would be nice to be able to read, be able to see things with a bit more definition, and not have my eyes totally water at the first sight of any kind of light. I now know what a vampire must feel like.

Besides the waiting, I am truly grateful to have my dogs home again, as it is nice to have company during the day. I know in the end everything will be wonderful, at least I keep telling myself that. But I am really trying to learn how to ask for help when I need it, which is an extremely hard thing for me to do given my independent streak I have.

Anyhow, I am hoping that tomorrow and tomorrow's doctor's appointment goes well, and that things are progressing as they should. Only time will tell. The biggest thing now is just to stay positive, patient, and know that things will work out. Sometimes waiting is the hardest part.

Day 2

I am starting day 2 of my post PRK journey. This morning my left eye felt like complete shit. I felt as if I had gotten caught in the middle of a sandstorm, and a bunch of sand was thrown in my left eye. Putting the drops in burned like hell, only hotter and more intense than probably hell has to offer.

Anyhow, I was overwhelmed this morning with being able to see the outline of the numbers on my alarm clock. So after trying to do as much as one can do in this circumstance, my friend Naomi again took me to my follow up appointment today.

They were completely ready for me. They asked me how things went, and I explained my situation to them. Perfectly normal they said. It then came time to read the eye chart. My right eye is seeing at about 20/30, and my left eye (when it wasn't gushing tears like Iguazu Falls) was seeing about 20/50. I was told this is really good progress. I'm encouraged.

Things look as if I'm looking through a piece of gauze, but on the whole it's amazing to realize that I'm seeing as much as I am without the assistance of corrective lenses.

It's overwhelming, but I'm looking forward to seeing how this journey through PRK (which actually means photorefractive keratectomy) is going to go.