Saturday, March 31, 2012

Day 3 (afternoon)

3pm- My eyes actually got better fairly quickly after I took my painkillers and drops.  I ate some food and laid down and then went back to the computer about an hour later and things seemed fine.  No more burning and stinging and it felt like the 'eyelash' that I had in each eye disappeared.  Vision is still somewhat blurry but to the level that was last night.  Star bursts and halos are still present but not annoying.  

I can't believe I've been able to get back on the computer and use my phone to text.  This morning I was sure I was done for the day.  Maybe just needed some time to adjust but I've heard eyes normally get worse as the day goes on, not better.  

Also, light sensitivity also disappeared around the time I could use the computer again (about an hour after I posted - 11am).  I was just doing some laundry and organizing some things in my room.  The pictures below shows how bright it was since it stopped raining.  I didn't need sunglasses and didn't need to squint being in the room and doing things.  I was even looking around outside.  Amazing. 

A surprising turn for the best this afternoon!  I'm off to do more cleaning and maybe go outside for a walk and some fresh air.  :)


Day 3 (morning)

10am- I woke up with my goggles on with my eyes stinging and burning.  All I could see was blurred objects.  5x blurrier than when I went to bed last night.  The room was pretty dark (it's raining and we're surrounded by redwood trees) but that doesn't seem to matter.  Air and light are my enemy right now.  On go the post-op sunglasses.

I knew this was coming.  Hyver's office even underlined the following in the post-op instructions: "The vision you experience in the first 2 days will become blurrier and more distorted the third day." Why did I think I would be different?  All I want to do is rub my eyes for a few minutes.  But  I actually can't rub my eyes for 2 months. Shit.

As I write this, I am putting in all my drops and I just took some painkillers.  I can't really read the bottles but I've memorized the colors so I know which is which.  Maybe they will help?  There are emergency comfort drops they gave me but they are only to be used after calling the doctor's office.  Comfort drops are apparently the numbing drops they used in surgery.  But I read that it slows recovery so I'm going to avoid unless it gets worse than this.

To summarize the morning of day 3- burning, stinging pain in the eyes with the feeling that you have eyelashes stuck in each eye that you're not allowed to get out.  Extreme light sensitivity to the point you need to close your eyes for relief (even with sunglasses on).  Extremely blurred vision like the picture I posted last night but 5x worse.

I'm typing this with my eyes closed so I hope there aren't too many typos.  If there are I will correct them later.  I'm an Exec Asst by day so I should be able to type with my eyes closed anyway. ;)

Day 2 (evening)

The day for the most part was great!  I was telling everyone how amazing I felt and how well I could see things.  I spent most of the day on the computer doing work (and on my standard screen size).  I was pretty shocked.  I even called Dr. Hyver's office to make sure that being on a computer wouldn't set me back with the healing.  They said it was fine - I could do anything that I could handle.  But then they cautioned, "Please be aware that your vision will definitely be fluctuating in the next few days." It made me think...it is really only 24 hours after surgery so it's not yet day 2...

But in comparison to other people's blogs, I still seem to be on a fast track.  Or maybe I'm just more tolerable?  I'm staying on the Vicodin for a few days so I can stop any pain before it arrives.

My coworkers were telling me to get off the computer but since I was doing no harm I kept up on emails and other outstanding items during the day.  I got a call and the below arrived.  I really work with the best. :)  I'm happy tomorrow is Saturday and I have a few days off work with no temptation to keep up with work.
I love my coworkers and my boss - this made my day.  And I can SEE it! :)
My vision started to change around 6pm tonight.  I noticed that even having distance vision back it was blurry.  Not like it was before surgery where things are completely unrecognizable but from the table in front of me to the tree out the window down the street, all had the same degree of blurriness.  Does that make sense?  It is so hard to explain. I saw someone post somewhere that it was like trying to see through a greasy contact.  that's probably a pretty accurate description. 



Starbursts


 The star bursts have started as well with small bright LED lights.  Looks like the picture on the right.  It doesn't really bother me.  It's kind of pretty actually.  :)

How I see things tonight
Right now it's pretty late so my eyes are tired and I'm seeing even more blurs and a little bit of double vision.  The picture to the left is how I am seeing things right now. Its not so bad because it goes in and out.  It's still better than it was walking around without my contacts or glasses.  I'll take it for now.  I know it's only going to get better over the next few weeks.  I honestly feel pretty calm about it.  I think because I was ready for this.

I walked out of Hyver's office with perfect vision.  He did his part and now it's my cornea's job to grow back.  I've had a lot of people approach me already about my experience and expressing some interest in getting PRK/Lasik done in the future. 


I'm not even in the clear yet but I'm already asking myself why I didn't do this sooner. I'm in a wonderful state of mind and can't wait to wake up tomorrow.  Hopefully showing more progress!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Day 2 (morning)

I woke up this morning and I COULD SEE!!! Sorry... haha.  I guess this is something that I need to get used to. :)

When I opened my eyes after a 9 hour sleep they felt normal for the most part.  I have heard stories about people having their eyes stuck shut overnight but I had none of that.  Besides waking up with my cool goggles, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  But I should note that even though I can see as good as when I had my contacts, it's a bit blurry at times and things aren't totally sharp like they will be eventually.  But the distance sight is there.  I could probably drive too without a problem if I had to. This is to be expected for a little while and was explained to me before and after surgery so it's no surprise. 

With the computer, I notice that even on the lowest brightness display can be difficult.  After about 10 minutes it's hard to keep my eyes open.  It's like I'm increasingly cutting onions until it gets unbearable.  Then I go off to do something else and they get 'normal' again.  I'm on a computer 5 days a week all day so I should be using this time off work to stay away from one!  But I want to keep this blog updated as things are happening.  And I'm kinda bored already.  I've cleaned out all the kitchen cabinets and ready to move on to something else when I'm done. :)

No pain yet at all but I took a Vicodin as a precaution.  To be honest, I don't think I need it.  More later in the PM.  For now, it's all good!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Surgery day - Day 1

Shortly after my last post, I was taken into the back and had my vision tested again (by Hyver's other doctor) to get the perfect prescription for surgery. I also got my Valium (he gave me 10mg instead of 5!) and we went over the post-op instructions. Another eye/vision test and a nurse took me into the surgery prep room.

There I had my hair pulled back into a hairnet and had booties put on over my shoes.  Then came the first round of ibuprofen eye drops and iodine to clean my eyelashes.  After waiting 5 minutes,  another nurse came in to give me the first round of numbing eye drops then brought me straight into the surgery room, taking my glasses as we were walking in.

I walked in and saw someone behind a big machine.  It was a very blurry Dr. Hyver ready to go.  The nurse had to help me walk to the table to lay down since I couldn't see much on my own. 

Once I laid down it went by very quickly. The nurses gave me another round of numbing drops and then Dr. Hyver propped my eye open with 2 devices - some tape and a clamp I think. I didn't feel any discomfort at all.  He talked me through the next steps.  "Focus on the green light no matter what." 

When he started, it felt like he was sweeping the surface of my eye with an electric toothbrush or something.  Haha, it's hard to explain but that's what it seemed like to me.  Again - no pain! Just a little pressure.  I believe this is the part of surgery where he cleaned and lasered off the corneal layer.  

After this, he cleaned the eye and then I needed to focus on an intense green light as I heard a series of beeps and they told me not to blink.  This is the laser vision correction part.  This is also where the smell came in.  I had heard some gross stories about this but my boss made a joke not to worry that it smelled like bacon.  Haha.  To be honest, it was a mellow smell and reminded me of getting my tooth drilled at the dentist. Not really gross at all.  15 seconds - or maybe less - and I was done!  
After the laser treatment, Dr. Hyver came back over for a cold water flush and a sweep of anything left on the eye where my epithelium used to be.  Another flush and in went the bandage contact to protect my cornea. (The contacts are removed on Tuesday morning- 5 days after surgery.)

***(Repeat the above for the other eye.)***

After he finished the left eye (my bad eye I was worried about), I was done and they said I could get up to leave.  As soon as I sat up I looked around and everything was clear.  I looked at Dr. Hyver and he was so clear.  There was a painting on the wall.  There were 2 nurses there not one.  I was totally in shock.  Yes, I knew what I was doing would give me perfect vision but I don't think you can possibly prepare yourself for how it really feels to see with your own eyes.  Impossible to describe... felt like a miracle. I just bought myself a miracle.

So I left with the sunglasses they provided (they look kinda cool!) and went out into the world.  My boyfriend drove us back home and I was looking all around reading street signs and looking at the sharp images everywhere.  But soon my eyes started to tear and I needed to close my eyes.  It felt like I had cut 10 onions. I needed to keep my eyes closed til we got home.  I think it was light sensitivity but who knows.

Arriving home around 7pm,  I needed to sit in the living room with the lights off with a hat and sunglasses on.  I sat back to relax and called my mom to tell her the good news.  I stayed that way for awhile.
Not used to light yet.. 
About an hour later I decided to turn on the computer to see if I could install some of the back up files to put on our mac with the new OS.  All of the sudden my eyes adapted and I was fine.  I've stayed this way for the last few hours without any significant fluctuation.

Eyes were tired but glasses were able to come off by night time!
I know that things will get worse in the next few days but I just need to document how wonderful things are today. I can only hope that by some miracle my recovery time is minimal.  Fingers crossed  for tomorrow.  :):)

Waiting room - Day 1

It's 5:13 and I'm in the waiting room...waiting.  I was actually able to get some work done and I'm staying busy.  It's one hour until the surgery and there is no one left in the waiting room except for me.  People coming out look happy and mellow (probably partially from the Valium - haha).

I've had to wear glasses for 2 weeks prior to surgery.  In an hour I will never need them again!
I received my post-op kit and now just waiting for my own Valium and pre-exam.  I'm still really, really nervous.  Need to breathe.  More after surgery if I can stand to look at a computer screen!

Night before surgery

It's the night before surgery and here I am again at 1:52am.  I've been spending my time upgrading to Lion on my mac and getting all my programs and music back.  I guess I want something to fall back on after tomorrow.  As long as I have a working machine with music I can at least sit around and listen to good playlists if I am not able to see/read/type. Judging from what I have been reading about recovery I just don't know.

I'm itching to read the other blogs again but I'm going to hold back and just get the procedure done tomorrow.  What happens is going to happen and it won't be like anyone else's experience.  I'm happy to have a bottle of Vicodin left over from my dislocated knee back in November.  I'll start that with the Valium they supposedly give before the surgery.

I'll report back after I am done.  My appointment is at 6:15pm so keep your fingers crossed for me.  I don't know why I'm so scared.  I need to stay calm at work tomorrow and relax.  I guess I should try and get some sleep.  I'm scared.  UGH so scared.  But it's over tomorrow and I can start reporting back on my own experience instead of reading others and driving myself crazy. :)

I really hope people are able to see this blog and hopefully it will help them make a decision if they are considering PRK.  I'll try to be as detailed and as honest as possible. 

Night everyone!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

2 days before surgery

So it's 1:15am on Wednesday and the insomnia I rid myself of months ago is back. The PRK surgery is at the back of my mind and it won't go away. I know deep down I'll be fine but I'm still just a little worried. These are my eyes after all...

A week ago I was sure I had glaucoma because of my field vision loss. I guess I have to trust my doctor  and trust Dr. Hyver that I will make it through the PRK surgery without any complications despite my optic nerve drusen condition. It scares me though. I can't find anything online about optic nerve drusen and PRK surgery.  But of course I've run across many negative things about getting it done.  I don't know why I torture myself like this.
I have been dreaming about seeing the world in my own eyes without contact lenses or glasses for so long. The time is here. I need to get excited...not scared. I start the antibiotic drops in the morning. Maybe part of this "insomnia" is just that I want to exhaust myself so I sleep through the first 3 days after surgery.

Last full day of work tomorrow.  I should get some rest so I'm able to finish some projects just i case I can't see the computer or go back to work on Tuesday (the day they said I could go back). Just taking precautions.  More tomorrow.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

PRK or LASIK - making a decision

I have wanted to get my eyes corrected for years but I never had the money or it was never a good time.  My last checkup at the eye doctor went well and they gave me a brochure for Scott Hyver Visioncare (he is the official eye doctor and LASIK surgeon of the San Francisco 49ers) and said I should look into vision correction.  I decided to at least schedule a free consultation. 

On February 21, I went to Scott Hyver's office and had my eyes examined, measured, checked by another doctor in the office.  He put together my file and I met with Dr. Hyver.  We sat down together and went over my chart and he informed me I was not a candidate for Lasik.  He explained the specifics of my optic nerve drusen condition and the risks.  With Lasik there is a suction ring that causes an increase in eye pressure to 60 or above (normal eye pressure ranges from 10-21 mm Hg).  This could reduce blood flow to a nerve crowded with lots of drusen. They don't have the data available to know if Lasik is safe since it does also reduce oxygen to the nerves (only 1% of the population have OND). 

We googled photos in his office so he could show the difference between a normal optic nerve and optic nerve drusen.  See below. 
Normal optic nerve


Optic nerve drusen
People with my condition need to choose PRK if they want their vision corrected.  Unlike Lasik, PRK eye surgery doesn't require an incision in the cornea. During PRK surgery, the outer membrane of the cornea, called the epithelium, is loosened and then removed.  From there the laser corrects the vision and a bandage contact lens is put over the eye to protect it for the next few days while the epithelium grows back.  The recovery time is MUCH longer than Lasik.  Lasik you can return to work the next day while PRK can take 5 days to weeks to resume normal activities.  It depends on each person and how fast the cornea heals. After talking with the doctor and getting the word that PRK was safe, I scheduled my surgery for a month later.  

The day after my consultation, I received a call from Dr. Hyver's office.  He wouldn't be able to do the surgery until he saw a visual field test from my doctor confirming the drusen and ruling out any possibility of glaucoma.  SCARY! 

I went in to take the visual field which tests each eye individually for peripheral vision.  You focus your eye straight on a centered light and press a button every time you see a flash from the corners of your eye.  Pretty simple.  A few days later I found out that my left eye failed and I needed to retake the test.  I did that a week later and I had the same results.  I had some vision loss in my left eye on the inside and lower part of the eye.  This can happen sometimes with drusen (field vision loss) but is also very common with people with glaucoma, which runs in my family.  My eye pressure has always been normal (13mm) but there is a type of glaucoma called Normal-Tension Glaucoma.

After the second test my doctor assured me the vision loss was from the drusen and not of glaucoma.  Apparently with glaucoma there is 'cupping' and that is the one difference between that and OND.  There is no cupping at ALL with optic nerve drusen so I was cleared by my MD and Dr. Hyver. to go ahead with the PRK.  

Even with the OK from the doctors, I still had my doubts over the next few weeks about getting it done.  Should I even bother if there were so many questions and tests needed from the doctors? At this point it was a week until surgery so I just decided to go for it.