Hyperopic update (enhancement done) – happy at last!

[croanster]

Here I am again in the ‘Just Had It’ section – and happy at last!

Most important thing I’ve learnt throughout the last year – choice of doctor is critical! The best surgeon in the world is no use if he doesn’t REALLY care about his patients and their outcome. Find a doc with a good reputation and make sure that reputation extends to post operative care. To illustrate, my original doc was a like a magician manipulating the flap. He is a very experienced ophthalmic surgeon – does cataracts and all the rest as well as lasik. BUT – when I went to him for my 6 month checkup and complained of double vision etc he said, and I quote: “I don’t know why you’re seeing like that. You can read 20/20 in my office – it’s a good result! Thanks and good bye”. I was amazed and appalled. He told me I had and I quote “about half a diopter of astigmatism and it shouldn’t really bother me”.

Luckily, I got a referral for a second opinion. Now the 2nd doc I went to told me exactly why I was seeing twice as many lines on a tennis court as there are supposed to be. According to his machine my eyes were at: LE +1.0 / -1.0 / 030 and RE +1.75 / -0.5 / 153. This was backed up by a cycloplegic refraction which confirmed the wavefront analysis. This surgeon took an hour of his time to talk to me about the issues I was having.

Apparently, I was manifesting as shortsighted because I was trying to focus around the full diopter of astigmatism – my glasses script was around -0.5 / -0.5 / 030 (seems I’ve got a fair bit of accommodation left even at 37! – I can still focus 4 - 5 inches in front of my face)

Yesterday I had an enhancement – ilasik custom with the visx s4. The flap took a bit of work to lift. Apparently intralase flaps bond better than blade created flaps but it was a lot easier than getting the initial flap done. I wish I could name doctors on this site because I would recommend him to anyone. A fantastic surgeon and a really nice guy. Talked me through the whole thing start to finish. Anyone in Aus (Sydney) needs a recommendation send Glenn an email and I'll pass his details on! (hope thats ok Glenn).

Its been 27 hours since the enhancement and whilst there’s plenty of swelling etc, I can tell already that the result is infinitely better than the first time. I can already see the 20/20 line on the chart even through that day after lasik fog. The whole experience has been like chalk and cheese compared to the first time around!

[DryEye]

Great to Hear!
How long did you wait before getting the enhancement done from your initial lasik?

[mjs71]

Croanster,

Glad to hear you are doing well and pleased with the enhancement.

I'm a high hyperope and have been following your discussions. I remember you mentioning that you started off around +5. It seems that you still had a significant amount of hyperopia left after your first procedure. Just wondering if this was a result of your first doc under correcting you or if this was a result of regression over the course of several months? Good luck with your recovery!

[3lix0r]

Great to Hear!
How long did you wait before getting the enhancement done from your initial lasik?

Based on this thread:
http://www.usaeyes.org/ask-lasik-expert ... &view=next

Looks like he had it in July 6th of 2007.

Cheers

[BAM17]

Way to go, Croanster! That's what we like to hear. Good advice about doctors. I myself, have sought out a second opinion as well. I am very fond of my surgeon, but still having difficulties, so I thought it was in my best interest to have a second opinion. I like the second doctor just as much, and he has more advanced equipment..and is able to do some further testing on me. I figure between the two of them, they can figure out why my left eye is blurry!

Great news...and I hope we continue to hear updates about your vision improving, and your life can get back to normal :)

[croanster]

Hi mjs71 – I think it was a matter of regression. I definitely wasn’t under corrected in fact I was quite concerned that I’d ended up short-sighted. This wasn’t the case. I think my eyes were fairly stable from around 5 – 6 months out. My new doc said he’d have done an enhancement at maybe 6 months instead of waiting a year.

I was around +5.0 right eye but only around +3.25 left eye – I expected a better result than I got initially with the left eye. Finger crossed.

Today: All the pain has gone! Great! Left eye is fuzzier today than it was yesterday. Right is about the same. Been through this before though and I expect it to be unstable for a while. Actually, my right eye is very sharp close up which is a good sign. Left one was the harder one to lift the flap so I expect it’ll be fluctuating until that heals up a bit.

Best news so far: I had a substantial amount of ‘glare’ in my right eye pre enhancement which seems to be pretty much gone! Woo hoo!

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!

[mjs71]

Hi Croanster, I haven't seen a post from you lately... Just wondering how you are doing after your enhancement. Give us an update when you get a chance...

[Mack]

It's been two months since your 11 month enhancement. Do you have any residual refractive error left in either eye? And how about clarity and glare with night lights when the pupil opens up more? Any dry eye issues?

[lex]

croanster,
it has been a long time since you had your enhancement, and if you are able to get this notification from the forum (to your user account) i would be very pleased if you would provide updates (it was very technical and informative information) about your current prescription and how you solved your dry eyes issues (if you had any).
I am in a 3 months mark, and have some sort of dry eye, some really good day and some bad day regarding quality of vision.
I have had some regression, and if it would stay like today i would be happy.
I really hope this post can reach you some way, and any other hyperopic who had lasik would comment or share any information and experience they had so far.
god bless you all and good luck to me.