[Red] Laser Eyes Part 3

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Submitted by Red on November 10, 2009 - 11:30am

It's been 2 weeks since I got zapped, and I have to say that surprisingly little has changed. If I was smart, I would have jury-rigged some sort of eye-chart to see if they are getting better or not. Hindsight being what it is.

As it stands, my vision was better pre-surgery with glasses than it is now, but the follow-up appointment isn't for another couple weeks. Maybe this means that they will continue to get better until then. At least then I will be able to find out how good my eyes are, if I meet the driving standard, will they get better, that sort of thing.

I went to Oxford on the weekend, and reading the plaques in some museums was tricky. The low light, combined with random placements of the info cards made for some challenging reading.

I was warned that oncoming lights at night could be interesting. I could see starbursts, halos, or all sorts of funky crap in them. Fortunately, my old lenses were scratched and smudged to hell with half the coatings worn off (hey, they were 3 years old). This means that I was used to starbursts, halos and all sorts of funky crap. I don't think anyone particularly likes having bright lights in their eyes, but i'm more or less okay with car headlights at night.

Because today is the 2 week mark, it means that I can rub my eyes and not hide from water. You have no idea how happy this made me. It's kinda like cleaning your ears with a Q-tip - it felt really good, even though there is no reason for it. At any rate, I can properly wash my face, and sleep without the stupid shields.

It is a good day.

Comments

Jam

Submitted by Jam on November 11, 2009 - 1:47am.

I'm glad your eyes didn't melt out of your sockets! I didn't know that the vision-improvement thing wouldn't be immediate!

I always envision a kind of unwrapping of the bandages... I can see! It's a miracle! ... kind of thing

George Watson

Submitted by George Watson on November 23, 2009 - 5:24am.

Thanks for posting this - as someone who's needed glasses since, oh, age 10? your blogging of the whole experience is really informative - as well as gruesomely fascinating ;) (Must. Not. Make. 'Eye opening'. Pun.)

I've been looking at this for years - my prescription is really bad and while the deterioration has *almost* levelled, my vision is still slowly deteriorating. As my glasses lenses are high RI glass, they aren't quite jam-jars yet, but the optical effects from this and the correction really affect my vision and concentration - even resetting my eyes so that I need much thinner lenses in future that don't have the same level of optical side-effects would be a win. Did you get a feel for how stable your sight would have to be before they'd do the work?

Cheers,

George.

George Watson

Submitted by George Watson on November 23, 2009 - 5:26am.

(And yes, my default avatar here without glasses is somewhat ironic.)

Barryk

Submitted by Barryk on November 24, 2009 - 11:11am.

Hm. Wish I'd started reading this when you started the surgery. You got the type that people with heavy prescriptions get. I know there's two types of laser eye surgery: one where you cut a flap and burn away part of the eye beneath, then replace the flap, and one where you burn away surface material and then send the person home. I was told that your type was more invasive and used for people with heavier prescriptions. Having had the second type myself, the only real difference is that after putting in all the drops, you get to stare into the laser right away.

Oddly, I was able to read the eye chart in the doctor's office the instant I sat up from the laser chair. Luckily, it was dark (I imagine they expected me to do something stupid like try to look around right away). The pain lasted about a week and a half.

Here's looking forward to hearing how you turn out. Best of luck to you, there. There's thousands if not millions of readers sending good thoughts your way. Try not to get too restless in the waiting. ;)

George Watson

Submitted by George Watson on November 25, 2009 - 6:12am.