Hey Peeps!
I am 32 years old and had PRK done on both eyes in mid-Dec 2009. My prescription was -3.50 for my right eye, and -3.75 with a little astigmatism for my left eye. I think the intended lasering time was 15 sec for my right eye and 22 sec for my left eye. Everything went well for my right eye (done first) but the procedure didn't go as smoothly for my left eye. After the doctor had scrubbed my left eye, when he was scraping it clean, I felt something and only said "uh". Then the doctor moved to a different part of my eye, and I felt nothing, so I thought it wasn't so bad. The doctor was telling me a story about China at the time and I don't think he noticed... Anyway, I realize now it was a horribly stupid thing not to say anything, because when the laser came on I couldn't keep my left eye still! I don't remember any pain per-se but my eye must have felt something because I could barely control it! It kept moving to the side and the doctor kept saying "look at the laser, look at the laser". I couldn't even see the laser at that point! I'm not sure if I was tearing a lot but my vision was very blurry. I did struggle really hard to try to keep my eye in the middle, but it was quite a shaky fight, and the laser paused several times because I had moved my eye too far. Regardless the doctor said "you did beautifully" and sent me on my way home. The next day for my 1-day checkup my eyes tested at 20/40 for my right eye and 20/100 for my left eye. I started to cry. I told the doctor my story (different doctor than my surgeon) and he said it was very common for the first eye to hold still and the second eye to move more (because you know what to expect and you have less adrenaline for the second eye). He said that the Visx Star laser has eye-tracking so it doesn't matter how much you move. He said that it is common for the two eyes to heal at different rates and it's just a coincidence.
However, my left eye has never seen as good as my right eye since the surgery. I'm at the 3 week mark now (which is still early on I suppose) but my right eye sees perfectly at 20/25 and my left eye sees washed-out at 20/25. Even though I can read the same line on the eye chart, my left eye has a different colour contrast then my right eye, everything looks washed out so the black letters look greyish and the light looks more whitish than yellowish. Not only is my vision cloudy, it's less sharp, and at night I see glows/halos/double-vision and starbursts. Lights close to me are fine, lights intermediate away have halos, and lights far away have starbursts. The halos around lights intermediate distance away tended to shrink and expand with my heartbeat. Anyway, the doctor simply says that everything is normal for the first month of recovery. However, my right eye sees PERFECTLY! Have I brought this upon myself by moving too much under the laser? I've been a basket-case for the past 3.5 weeks (worrying and crying a lot). I suppose I should be greatful that I have one perfect eye, but I am not happy that the quality of vision is so poor in my left eye. I know I should be more patient and wait a month before I judge. But it's just so frustrating right now as my right eye is so good...
Has anyone else had experience with moving during PRK? Does anyone have any info on eventual outcomes for such cases?
Thanks,
Sharon