Finally I get to post to the "Just Had It" section of this site, instead of "Thinking About It"!! Sorry for the long post, but here is my story so far:
Had PRK on my right eye (dominant) down in the Boston area yesterday (Friday Oct 12 2007)
- Prep Work: Started taking Vigamox 1 drop 4-times per day on Tuesday the 9th. My doctor provided the Vigamox as well as well as all other eye drops I need.
- Procedure: Arrived at the center about 1 hour before the scheduled start time. My wife and I first went into room number 1. I was given a single X-n-x pill, they collected my consent forms, and we went over the post-op instructions. We then moved over to room #2 where I received anesthesia drops and they cleaned around my right eye. The nurse then drew a large purple X over my right eye brow. The surgeon came in said hi and off to the surgery room I went; my wife to the viewing area to watch.
After getting seated in the chair, they first began by taping my eyelids up/down. Just like the tape used to dress IV sites, they used this to get my eyelashes out of the way. In the end they actually completely taped over my eye, and then the surgeon cut a hole in the tape to expose my eye. My left eye was then loosely bandaged and I was instructed to keep it open. Lots of anesthesia drops were added in - basically the nurse kept putting drops in my eye until I said they didn't sting anymore.
Next was really the only uncomfortable part. The doctor placed some type of ring around my eye and told me I would feel some pressure. He applied a bit of pressure and then immediately released it - and said "thats what its going to feel like and it will last 25 seconds." I said okay, and this ring then applied a lot of pressure on my eye. My vision essentially disappeared at this point and the nurse started counting out loud backwards from 25. Absolutely no pain whatsoever, just a bit weird to have someone pushing on your eye (in some strange way, I think I'm okay with pushing versus the suction of LASIK...). At the end of the 25 seconds, the doctor said okay your vision should come back now, and it did. I believe this pressure was the alcohol bath used to loosen up the cell layers.
Next came some more drops and what appeared to be sponges wiping my eye. From a vision perspective, it simply looked like someone was cleaning a window in front of me. There was no feeling at all, so you can't really tell they're touching your eye at all. Next comes the laser, and that lasted a very short time - your told to just look at the red dot, but its real straight forward.
Next step was the Mitomycin-C application. This was some type of disc applied to the eye, and again the nurse counted backwards from 25. Compared to the initial pressure ring, this was a non-event other than you can't see while they're doing it. Following the Mitomycin-C they then put in a bunch of VERY cold drops. Not sure if this is simply to wash away the Mitomycin or if its an early application of ice to aid the healing. Regardless, for me there was no "brain freeze" involved. It just felt like cold liquid on my eyes.
For the home stretch, the doctor said he was cleaning up the edges to help out my healing, put some punctal plugs in to keep my eye hydrated, and then dropped the bandage contact lense in. To give you an idea of how little you can see during the procedure, I never even saw the contact get put on. I can assure you my eye was open the whole time, I just never saw it!
From there they pulled the tape off my eye, removed the bandage from my left eye, placed an eye shield over my right eye, and told me I was half way there.
I stood up, and my wife and I left the office maybe 10 minutes later. I took 2 aleves to get some pain meds on board right away but I was in no pain at this point. All in all I was in the office a total of 1.5 hours, and I was sitting in the chair maybe 8 minutes.
- Post Op: Once at home, I went to bed and slept about 2 hours. After that I got up and basically did normal stuff around the house for the rest of the day. Vision out of the right eye was better than before the surgery but certainly not 20/20. Next day, saw the doc, said things looked good, and I go back on Tuesday for the contact lense removal. Vision has some what gotten worse over the course of the day - but everyone tells you this will happen.
At this point, I'm about 30 hours out from the surgery and I have had really no pain at all. I'm sticking with the Aleve every 12 hours, but thats more of a just in case. The doctor told me to expect pain and that it will show up - but it hasn't yet.
As for drops, I'm now doing Vigamox and EconoPred 1 drop 4 times a day. I also did 4 doses of Nevanac in the first 24 hours following surgery.
I'll post again as my recovery continues. Left eye is scheduled for October 25th.
Thanks,
Mark