Eye got it!
Want to know why this is the most exciting post I’ve ever written? Because I’m writing it, seeing the computer and the words appear without the use of contact lenses or glasses.
Holy. Smokes. This is rad.
I’ve had poor vision for as long as I can remember. I come from a long line of near-sighted folks, and I’ve been wearing contacts since the fourth grade. Finally, at the age of 28, the stars aligned for me to have my vision corrected: I’d saved up enough moola, my diabetes is under good control, and my eyesight prescription has been stable for a few years. So on Thursday of last week, I had PRK laser vision correction surgery. One long weekend later and I can almost see 20/20. Modern science is one cool deal yo.
That’s not to say this whole experience has been a walk in the park - there’s a reason people prefer LASIK over the PRK surgery I had. When I initially consulted with my eye doctor, he let me know that because I have “skinny corneas,” I wouldn’t be a good candidate for LASIK (although I always like hearing the word “skinny” in the doctor’s office). In extreme layman’s terms, here’s the deal about why I had to have PRK instead: with LASIK, they create a flap from the top layer of your eye (ewwwwwwwww!), then reshape your eye so you can see, and replace the flap. If you have teeny corneas like me, it’s not safe to create that flap, so they just remove the top layer of your eye (the epithelium) altogether, fix your eye, then allow that top layer to grow back over a few weeks. The end result is the same: corrected vision. However, LASIK patients are at 20/20 a day later, with minimal pain. PRK folks like myself won’t see 100% perfect until a few weeks later when the epithelium has grown back. Not to mention that the first few days after surgery are incredibly painful - which is no wonder considering you had an entire layer of your eyeball taken off! (Holy gross out. Sorry. Moving on).
I was super nervous heading in to surgery on Thursday. Though I had researched my surgeon thoroughly and had complete faith in him, it’s nerve wracking to be messing with y0ur eyes at all. And I think it was especially nerve wracking for someone with diabetes, because my one of my primary health goals is to maintain good vision for the rest of my life through my diabetes control. The health and safety of my eyes is constantly on my mind as a motivator for good control of my disease, so it seemed almost counter-intuitive to voluntarily go in for a procedure that could put them at risk. I have to admit though, I felt a deep sense of pride when on Friday before the surgery, the doctor looked at my dilated eyes as part of my pre-op exams and said “no sign of diabetic retinopathy at all,” Knowing that made me feel like I was going in to surgery with as much on my side as your average patient.
The procedure itself was so short, I can hardly believe that 18 years of bad vision can be corrected with just a few moments under the laser. I’ll spare all of you the gory details of what they do to your eyes to prepare them for the laser correction, but let’s just say I was grateful for the valium they give you before hand. There was no pain whatsover during the procedure though, they of course make sure to numb the heck out of your eyes, and really there wasn’t a whole lot to it except for “look this way, now look at the light.” Before I knew it, I was out of the laser room and back in the car with my parents, who where gracious enough to take me to and from surgery. They deposited me on my boyfriend’s couch, and I couldn’t believe how good I felt! I could already see pretty well, and I was feeling no pain as my boyfriend and I sat down tp lunch.
Then the numbing solution wore off my eyes. I could feel the pain starting to creep in, and my boyfriend immediately reached for the pain meds I had already picked up from the pharmacy. “Stay ahead of the pain,” he reminded me, and I gulped down a pill with my lunch. The pain increased as we ate, and by after lunch, it was all I could do to lay back on the couch, close my eyes, and doze off into a medication-aided nap.
The following day, I could see better, but the pain was still there. I hobbled in to my step dad’s car around noon so we could head down to my post-op appointment. Grumpy from the pain, I checked in at the front desk, and was then whisked back to an exam room. The nurse thoughtfully dimmed the lights for my tender eyes.
“Ok, let’s test your vision,” he said, and pulled up the obligatory eye chart on the screen.
Through the fog of pain, I read off the letters. Then the next row, then the next, and then the next. I was shocked at how well I could already see, and just knowing that my vision was getting better made the pain that much more bearable.
“You’re actually already at 20/30 vision in each eye,” he said. “You’ll be up to 20/20 within a few weeks as those eyes heal up.”
My surgeon came in next to confirm what the nurse had said. He acknowledged that day two was the most painful for patients, and that things would steadily improve here on out. In one week from surgery, I should be seeing 80% of what my best vision will be. In two weeks, I’ll be at 90% and by four weeks out, I should be cruising along with perfect vision. After 18 years with horrible eye sight, I can’t believe that a one hour procedure and a few days of recovery can make me see clearly.
By day three, the pain had abated quite a bit. So much in fact that I felt well enough to accompany my boyfriend to a sushi party at a friend’s house, even though my eyes were quite red and puffy. The funniest part of the night was me explaining to everyone I met that no, I wasn’t allergic to shellfish, I’d in fact had a procedure done and my eyes were still recovering, NOT reacting to all the raw fish we were noshing on. As if I didn’t already look weird enough, introducing myself as “Hi I’m Alexis sorry for my runny eyes and nose I had laser correction surgery on my eyes but not LASIK I had PRK its different because I have skinny corneas and holy run on sentence NO ONE CARES THIS MUCH JUST EAT YOUR SUSHI…..” Ahem. Sometimes, even I get self-conscious.
Overall, I’m incredibly pleased with the results, and I can’t wait for my vision to get fully up to 20/20 in a few weeks. Having this done made me once again marvel at technology. The fact that used my CGM and wireless pump to make sure my blood sugars were steady while heading in to a short procedure with a laser that would instantly correct 18 years of bad vision is simply amazing to me - and makes me think about how lucky I am that I have access to such technology.
So, although I still have a laundry list of things remember when it comes to managing my health, I can take contact lenses and glasses off that list. And that’s a huge blessing.
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I’m so glad that your surgery went so well!! It gives me hope that I can have the proceedure done, too. Now the hard part for me would be keeping my bg’s steady!
Happy Seeing!!!!!!!!!!!!