So after doing quite a bit of research over the past year, I got LASIK (cutomvue wave) done last Friday 9/21. There are basically 3 doctors in the Boston/Northeast area that are world known in the field and have literally wrote the book on the subject. I decided to go with one of them even though the cost was a bit more than at other places. I figured I would post my experience here for those of you considering having it, but I also had some post-op questions and would like reccomendations to those on here who have already had it done.
Regime of Meds:
-Vigamox (antibiotic) drops; 4 x day for the first 5 days
-Ominpred (steriod) drops; 1 x every hour awake for the first 5 days (didnt really follow this perfect, probably did around 8-10 times a day); going forward weening off these at 4 x day for the next week; then 3 x day; then 2 x day; then 1 x day.
-Systane (tear) drops; whenever I want
Timeline:
I am not really going to go through the day of surgery because it is pretty standard, I will pick up right after having it done.
Day 1: The feeling for me right after the procedure (10 mins) was pretty bad, almost like a cat had its way scratching at my eyes, with the left one feeling considerably worse. Doc looked em over, sent me on my way with my mother driving, obvi.
Got home and tried to sleep as suggested but just couldnt, the discomfort in the left eye made me want to punch holes in the wall and crawl out of my skin. Again right eye didnt feel awesome but was no where near as bad, almost just a constant feeling of a piece of eyelash in my eye.
The discomfort produce, horrible dull headache, couldn't sleep, couldnt really open my eye... after several hours I got concerned and called the doc, he told me to come in right away because it shouldnt be that bad.
Around 10 pm I drove in to the docs office, feelin like shit, he looked at the right said it looked great, then the left. Apparently the left lens had a small scratch and some minor ripple (basically it was very good thing I called and came in). Doc irragted it (not fun at all), repositioned the lens, took all the ripples out, and placed a special protective contact lens over it (typically used only in PRK surgery). Immediatley it felt 80% better. Went home and tried to sleep.
Day 2: Woke up left eye was all blurry, right I could see pretty good but both had significant discomfort. Went to follow up with doc, said everything looked good and the scratch on the left should heal in a few days. Soo basically fasforwarding to Tues. 9/25, each day eyes felt better and better.
Day 5: Another follow up with doc, he took out the lens, said scratch was pretty much gone and both lenses looked good. Left eye was very blurry, not sure of what the reading power was but not good at all, I was worried he said not to be, wait till tomorrow. So I did.
Day 6: Woke up, and some how, the left eye that had the ripple and scratch, and was totally blurry less than 24 hours ago, now seemed clearer than the right eye! Made no sense to me, but whatever.
Today, day 8: Eyes feel pretty good, it is hard to guage how they compare to when I wore contacts before, because I already forget what my vision was like. I did rub my left eye this morning while half asleep (big no-no I guess), and when I woke it was a bit red and a very tiny bit blurry. i called doc he said dont worry bout it, if the lens had moved at all my vision would be very blurry and I would feel it, so I am going by his word.
Side Effects So Far:
1. very dry eyes during the night time, I wake up every 4 or 5 hours with eyes so dry its hard to open them, have to use the Systane drops to get my eyes open! hopefully this will ease up. During the day not really dry at all, I use the Systane prob. 3 or 4 times.
2. slight discomfort, like an eyelash in the eye, every now and then, although each day this lessens a bit. I have noticed for the most part it feels like this where I have the red marks on my eyes and as they heal the feeling dissipates.
3. Halos and starburts not as bad as I expected, very limited and not dibilitating as some others had described, nighttime driving is already pretty good and from what I hear this will get better.
4. Sensitivity to light kinda of sucks but I have light blue eyes so I was always sensitive anyway. I am anxious to see if this actually improves my sensitivity to light as I have heard that can happen.
5. Slight headaches when reading and on computer for prolonged period of time, almost can feel the eyes straining and getting tired.
My Reccomendations:
To be honest I don't really have any yet at this point. Only thing I would say is be careful searching the net for info. Yesterday I did a search just to find info on rubbing the eye and came across a number of anti-LASIK sites from disgruntled people who had horrible epriences with the procedure. The stuff on those started making me very anxious and nervous about what I had done (by getting the procedure) and probably would have deterred me in the first place had I came across them! which would prob. have been an unfortunate result. My observations after reading a number of them, out of the anti-Lasik sites I came across there were some similarities I noticed:
1. The victims with very bad experiences (who I really do feel very bad for, many have horrible stories), seemed to have gotten it done pre-2003.
2. Many, if not all, found out only after the surgery they were not really good canidates in the first place and shouldn't have had it done.
My Concerns and Questions:
1. As I mentioned above, i read through a many number of these anti-Lasik sites today and have been feeling kinda anxious ever since. I don't know if I should be or if it is unwarranted, but it would be great to just find professional unbiased (either for or against Lasik) info! Those working in the field or with good experience say "go for it, its great!"; those with bad experiences, ,make these sites dedicated to destrpying the Lasik industry and link all these horrible stories and law suits and newscasts, etc.
2. Visiion still feels like it is fluctuating and it is Day 8. Some times it feels a little of other times it feels great... is this normal? of course doc says it is, and says vision doesnt really reach its stabilizing point until 3 month mark.... I have talked with friends who had it done, one said their vision finally felt normal at 2 weeks the other said 2 months.
3. The night time dryness is killing me!!! anyone else experience this? does it get better? i had this mildly with contacts pre-surgery as well.
4. Any reccomendations for drops besides Systane, i guess they work okay, but if someones tried others that they found better I'd be open to knowing.
****Any comments or info others considering the procedure or those who have had the procedure please post. I'd be interested to hear about your experiences as they relate to mine so far, and what i can look forward to in the coming days.****
Regime of Meds:
-Vigamox (antibiotic) drops; 4 x day for the first 5 days
-Ominpred (steriod) drops; 1 x every hour awake for the first 5 days (didnt really follow this perfect, probably did around 8-10 times a day); going forward weening off these at 4 x day for the next week; then 3 x day; then 2 x day; then 1 x day.
-Systane (tear) drops; whenever I want
Timeline:
I am not really going to go through the day of surgery because it is pretty standard, I will pick up right after having it done.
Day 1: The feeling for me right after the procedure (10 mins) was pretty bad, almost like a cat had its way scratching at my eyes, with the left one feeling considerably worse. Doc looked em over, sent me on my way with my mother driving, obvi.
Got home and tried to sleep as suggested but just couldnt, the discomfort in the left eye made me want to punch holes in the wall and crawl out of my skin. Again right eye didnt feel awesome but was no where near as bad, almost just a constant feeling of a piece of eyelash in my eye.
The discomfort produce, horrible dull headache, couldn't sleep, couldnt really open my eye... after several hours I got concerned and called the doc, he told me to come in right away because it shouldnt be that bad.
Around 10 pm I drove in to the docs office, feelin like shit, he looked at the right said it looked great, then the left. Apparently the left lens had a small scratch and some minor ripple (basically it was very good thing I called and came in). Doc irragted it (not fun at all), repositioned the lens, took all the ripples out, and placed a special protective contact lens over it (typically used only in PRK surgery). Immediatley it felt 80% better. Went home and tried to sleep.
Day 2: Woke up left eye was all blurry, right I could see pretty good but both had significant discomfort. Went to follow up with doc, said everything looked good and the scratch on the left should heal in a few days. Soo basically fasforwarding to Tues. 9/25, each day eyes felt better and better.
Day 5: Another follow up with doc, he took out the lens, said scratch was pretty much gone and both lenses looked good. Left eye was very blurry, not sure of what the reading power was but not good at all, I was worried he said not to be, wait till tomorrow. So I did.
Day 6: Woke up, and some how, the left eye that had the ripple and scratch, and was totally blurry less than 24 hours ago, now seemed clearer than the right eye! Made no sense to me, but whatever.
Today, day 8: Eyes feel pretty good, it is hard to guage how they compare to when I wore contacts before, because I already forget what my vision was like. I did rub my left eye this morning while half asleep (big no-no I guess), and when I woke it was a bit red and a very tiny bit blurry. i called doc he said dont worry bout it, if the lens had moved at all my vision would be very blurry and I would feel it, so I am going by his word.
Side Effects So Far:
1. very dry eyes during the night time, I wake up every 4 or 5 hours with eyes so dry its hard to open them, have to use the Systane drops to get my eyes open! hopefully this will ease up. During the day not really dry at all, I use the Systane prob. 3 or 4 times.
2. slight discomfort, like an eyelash in the eye, every now and then, although each day this lessens a bit. I have noticed for the most part it feels like this where I have the red marks on my eyes and as they heal the feeling dissipates.
3. Halos and starburts not as bad as I expected, very limited and not dibilitating as some others had described, nighttime driving is already pretty good and from what I hear this will get better.
4. Sensitivity to light kinda of sucks but I have light blue eyes so I was always sensitive anyway. I am anxious to see if this actually improves my sensitivity to light as I have heard that can happen.
5. Slight headaches when reading and on computer for prolonged period of time, almost can feel the eyes straining and getting tired.
My Reccomendations:
To be honest I don't really have any yet at this point. Only thing I would say is be careful searching the net for info. Yesterday I did a search just to find info on rubbing the eye and came across a number of anti-LASIK sites from disgruntled people who had horrible epriences with the procedure. The stuff on those started making me very anxious and nervous about what I had done (by getting the procedure) and probably would have deterred me in the first place had I came across them! which would prob. have been an unfortunate result. My observations after reading a number of them, out of the anti-Lasik sites I came across there were some similarities I noticed:
1. The victims with very bad experiences (who I really do feel very bad for, many have horrible stories), seemed to have gotten it done pre-2003.
2. Many, if not all, found out only after the surgery they were not really good canidates in the first place and shouldn't have had it done.
My Concerns and Questions:
1. As I mentioned above, i read through a many number of these anti-Lasik sites today and have been feeling kinda anxious ever since. I don't know if I should be or if it is unwarranted, but it would be great to just find professional unbiased (either for or against Lasik) info! Those working in the field or with good experience say "go for it, its great!"; those with bad experiences, ,make these sites dedicated to destrpying the Lasik industry and link all these horrible stories and law suits and newscasts, etc.
2. Visiion still feels like it is fluctuating and it is Day 8. Some times it feels a little of other times it feels great... is this normal? of course doc says it is, and says vision doesnt really reach its stabilizing point until 3 month mark.... I have talked with friends who had it done, one said their vision finally felt normal at 2 weeks the other said 2 months.
3. The night time dryness is killing me!!! anyone else experience this? does it get better? i had this mildly with contacts pre-surgery as well.
4. Any reccomendations for drops besides Systane, i guess they work okay, but if someones tried others that they found better I'd be open to knowing.
****Any comments or info others considering the procedure or those who have had the procedure please post. I'd be interested to hear about your experiences as they relate to mine so far, and what i can look forward to in the coming days.****
