Husband had PRK 8/11/11 - Question for the experts

[Leslie301]

My husband had PRK on 8/11/11, CustomVue Wavefront technology. The good news is that his recovery wasn't as horrible advertised by some. He took the pain meds and stayed asleep for a day or two and then was fine (pain-wise) after that. A little sensitive to light for awhile, but after a couple of weeks he was reading 20/15 with both eyes. Unfortunately that's not the end of the story. His left eye started regressing and he just went to the doctor today to find out that it was overcorrected. Before surgery his prescription was -7.5 in both eyes. Now his left eye is either a +.5 or +1.5 maybe? My apologies, I can't remember exactly what he said (although I can update this post later if I find out the real deal). They said that he will need to have the left eye retreated.

He is VERY disappointed to hear this as he was scared that something like this might happen, but was assured that it only happens to 1-2% of folks. Maybe he should play the lotto now since he's one of the lucky few. :) They told him to slow down taking the rx drops (only once per day) and then stop them all together in 2 weeks to allow his prescription to stabalize. He has been told that his left eye may get even worse once he stops the drops. We are praying that this won't happen.

Here are my questions to the experts out there:

1) When he was getting all of his measurements, they kept trying to get a good measurement over and over again because his undialated measurements were significantly higher than his dialated measurements. The tech said that this was probably because he was over-focusing which happens with a lot of people. They never got those numbers close to the dialated measurements, so they just "rolled with it" saying that the doctor would "compensate by doing some magical calculation that he does in his head" and assured my husband that it wasn't a problem. Could this have been why one eye was overcorrected??? I don't like the idea of a doctor just guessing at the numbers in his head.

2) Should my husband be afraid of the retreatment? Assuming that his retreatment will only be fixing .5 or 1.5 (assuming that his left eye doesn't get even worse), my gut would say that their odds of getting it right this time would be much better than when they were originally correcting a prescription of -7.5. Is that correct/logical thinking or am I off base? Is the risk the same regardless of the original prescription?

3) Is our doctor a quack, based off the statements above? We thought he was really good...he's done over 20,000 surgeries and had appropriate responses to the recommended questionnaire, but now I'm wondering if maybe the doctor may not be the best. It would cost a lot of money to go somewhere else at this point, but his eyesight is obviously important. Should we have any reason to think he is a quack based on the above?

4) How long is an appropriate amount of time to wait for the retreatment? Is there anything he could/should or shouldn't do during the meanwhile to help his chances in the future?

Thanks in advance...sorry for the ramble.

[Leslie301]

::bump:: :)

I confirmed that his new rx in his left eye is +.5

Any comments or advice?

[Indept]

Leslie301,
Sorry to hear of your husbands trouble. I'm no expert but had 3 PRK treatments. I went from about -1 to +1. My problem was eye was weakened by RK done about 30 years ago and it "over-reacted" to the normal correction calculation. I had a 2nd correction done and my eye went back to about -.5 so I had a third done and now have excellent vision in that eye.
He should wait at least 6 months to a year before trying anything further.

[Leslie301]

Thanks for the reply- Glad to hear that you have good vision now, even if it took a few tries. I do appreciate the advice- let me know if anyone else has any thoughts!

[mjos009]

Hello Indept,
I have question for you..what was your original prescription ?

If your prescription was less ,then you might be the ideal candidate for the re treatment bcoz you have enough cornea left to work upon .

Leslie,
Your husband's Original prescription was -7.5 in both eyes . Please check with the Doctor how much Cornea is he left with since more correction means more Cornea will be burn ( these doctor's say it as reshaping the cornea which sounds gud in the beginning as compared to burn..:) ) and there is a possibility that it might become thin if operated numerous times . I too had a prescription close to -7.5 in one eye and -8 in another eye.After Lasik I am facing issues like ghosting,starburst and halos since 1yr .My original doc is not any more interested in picking my case and blaming everything to my pupil size . I had a checkup with another Doc and as per his views I don't have enough cornea left .

[Leslie301]

Mjos - Did you have PRK or true "LASIK"? I think with PRK it preserves more of your cornea (or it just retains more stability since there is no flap) but I'm not sure...

[mjos009]

I had Custom Vue Intralase Lasik . Regarding PRK I don't have much idea so won't be able to comment .

However retreating is always simpler in my understanding when doctor's are sure what to treat . I think your husband should wait for some more time till everything gets stabilized.

My best wishes to your husband .