PRK experience- pre surgery

Well, I'm back home. Today I'm finally get PRK (Lasik) eye surgery. I'm quite excited and plan to stay out of work for the next month or so.

There's not too much to report, just got my new Wacom tablet, which is fantastic because the last time we tried the old one...it restarted my dad's computer...twice. We've also had some power outages here, Wednesday it lasted for at least 7 hours but it's working fine today.

I don't know what else to say. I'm just quite excited about getting new eyes in a few hours!
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I hope to report on the healing time itself to help educate those that want more personal experience stories.

I've wanted Lasik surgery for many years now, ever since my dad got his eyes fixed back in 2000. My vision has quickly worsened from 1st grade on and at that moment, at 21 years of age, I'm legally blind. To measure my vision on a 20/20 scale is fairly useless, it would end up being something like 20/1000 or so, you don't really count that when you're eyes get that bad.

I've tried contacts, both gas permeable and soft lenses, but really didn't like wearing them, so I've been consistent with glasses.

I started the actual process of finding a surgeon last summer, we went to three reputable offices in the DC metro area. LasikPlus offered the best price (we get a discount because of insurance)and the most thorough exam, which is why we decided to go with them. I'm not going to mention the other two places because they were both very good offices with excellent surgeons, they just weren't right for me.

Okay, I'm a bit of different candidate for Lasik, since I have such terrible vision we didn't know which surgery to go with exactly. For those not in the know, there are several different types of laser eye surgery that cater to each person separately. At each location I got a different answer as to which type of surgery is best for me. My father, who has done quite a bit of research, went into this process with the idea that PRK ( photorefractive keratectomy) is probably the best choice as it has been in existence the longest and is great for those with larger diopters (another way to measure vision. My eyes are around 11 diopters, which is quite bad), thick corneas, and large pupils. Which somewhat describes me.

LasikPlus is the one that said that PRK would be the safest, best, operation for me. At one office, I was told I could have Lasik done, however this doesn't make sense as I wouldn't have enough eye tissue left over for other operations if I deem them necessary. The other office suggested an implantable contact lense, which is a fairly brand-new technology. This would be a lovely solution, however it is far too expensive for us. So, PRK with LasikPlus it is!

LasikPlus went through a very thorough examination at consultation. They completely mapped my eyes, dilated them, checked corneal thickness, etc. This is the longest examination I received at any of the three offices, which tells me that they seriously want to make sure I'm a good candidate and not skip over anything.

So, we take this into consideration and less than a year later we go back to LasikPlus for another consultation. This time with the intention of making an appointment.

The consultation happened on Monday, nothing changed too much, except my vision got a tad worse in my left eye (awesome >.<), but overall this is great news because I'm still a candidate. After a bit more discussion with the surgical assistant, we decided that I would go with Custom Wavefront Laser Surgery. Which utilizes wavefront technology, the most accurate analyser available to the general public. NASA developed it for use in high-powered telescopes.

This is still PRK surgery, so I'm prepared to have a much longer healing time than most lasek patients. While the eye heals itself, my vision will go up and down, so for about 30-60 days I won't have consistent vision. At least, this is what I am told to expect, we all know that each person heals differently. Which is why I don't know how comfortable I'll be driving. The good news? I can watch t.v. or be on the computer as much as I want! Video games ahoy!

Anyway, I think that's a pretty good background for this procedure I'm about to go through. Today, my surgery day, all I have to do is show up without makeup or perfume (yeah...hard concept for me, seeing as how I rarely wear either) and the anaesthetic eyedrops they prescribed for me on Monday. I might go through the entire exam process again, but since it happened on Monday, I'm not sure. I imagine most of my time will be spent sitting around waiting for the doctor to finish with other patients. Both parents are coming with me and they'll be able to see the surgery itself. Each eye should take around 15-30 seconds to complete, so that part of it will be quite quick.

After the surgery, I'll come home and rest for a while so I don't think I'll update this again. Tomorrow I'll have my first follow-up visit, so hopefully that will go well and I may be able to update depending on my focusing ability. They did say that immediately I will notice a difference in sight, but I don't know how much better I'll be able to see.

So, after all of that, am I nervous? Not really. I'm not the type to squirm at blood or guts or any sort of surgical procedure. I understand all the risks that come with elective surgery but the pros for me far outweigh the cons. If I stay like this, I can only imagine how far my vision will depreciate by the time I'm 40. I understand that everyone's vision gets worse as we age, and that I may not get 20/20 (though that's what they're aiming for), but if I can get a new starting point that would be great. When my vision deteriorates after the surgery, I'll still end up with a much smaller prescription, if I don't just need basic reading glasses. Really, that is great news.

LasikPlus offers free enhancements for life as well, so at any point if my vision get's worse I can go back and get another surgery. Not that I hope that will happen, but if it does, by the time I get it technology will have progressed and who knows what I'll have to choose from.

Okay, I should probably get ready to go at this point. Wish me luck!

EDIT: here's a video that kind of is a nice introduction to Lasik and PRK:

Next: Post-surgery

Part 2, post surgery

Part 3 Day 2 and 3