Like ~14 million other Americans, Dan falls into the category “visually impaired”. His right eye diopter prescription was -3.25 and his left was -2.50. I don’t really know what those numbers mean because my vision has always been rather good, so I’ve never even been to an eye doctor. Dan is also classified as a “mild protan” by Enchroma; blues and purples often look similar to him, as well as grays and pinks. |
At his one-week pre-operation appointment, Dan’s doctors and the surgeon decided that Dan’s corneas were a bit too thin for LASIK, and so they all agreed that PRK would be the best choice in his case. Dan was also put on restasis eye drops to fight dry eye (a common side-effect after surgery, though maybe not as bad as the gif on the left). |
The surgeon asked if Dan had any questions before he left, and Dan asked about people losing their vision (which was one of the risks mentioned in the paperwork he'd just been perusing). The surgeon replied he’d never seen that yet. The surgeon asked, “When you buy a new pair of shoes, do you have to sign a form acknowledging that you have been informed you could break your ankle while wearing them? Of course not. With PRK, there are complications that can lead to loss of vision. You have to sign forms acknowledging that you have been informed of this eventuality. The form doesn’t say how rare these complications are. But for the lawyers that write the medical release forms, statistics aren’t important.”
They turned on the laser for 5-10 seconds or so, and it made a really loud, very fast, shocky sound (think Tesla coils, Dan's pretty sure it has an arc lamp inside). One thing that really bothers Dan is when people call it a “cool” excimer laser; it burns off small bits of your cornea, but you don’t feel the heat because you’re numb. Doctors seem to think calling it "cool" will make you feel better about the fact that lasers are burning off bits of your corneas. |
The surgeon recommends three things after this kind of eye procedure: 1) go home and take a long nap, 2) wear sunglasses pretty much constantly for the first few days, and 3) protect your eyes from your sleeping self by taping these clear shield things over them. I had to help Dan tape these on the first couple of days, but he was a pro by day three. Dan slept for a bit, and came down around noon, feeling pretty okay. He had a series of eye drops to put in every few hours, and he really didn't like the taste of them (he was not drinking his eye drops, our sinuses are just really nicely connected to our throat/mouth). He was even feeling well enough to run a few errands with me, but we think he just had a bunch of nervous energy built up and that he was already bored of being confined to the house. What do you do for the days when you're anticipating being mostly blind? |
Dan asked if you could clean the salt from the eye drops off of his eyelashes, and they told him to just gently wipe his finger across them. When we got home he took a shower, but was afraid of washing his hair and getting soap in his eye. I made him some créme caramel as a get-better treat. |
| Day 3 sucked quite a bit. I knew Dan was frustrated about not being able to keep his eyes open, and he kept trying to find darker places in the house. He eventually ended up in a hammock in our basement... His get-better treat today was some old-fashioned peanut brittle because if there's one thing Dan loves a lot it's eating candy with his hands. The robe and slippers attire definitely matched his mood, and it was the first time since moving to the new house that I wished we had less windows. |
His vision was good enough to drive after about a week, and he noticed incremental improvements for the first few weeks. He also noticed that his vision was better immediately after putting in fresh eyedrops, and that it fluctuated and got worse as his eyes got drier. Now he has very little dryness and seemingly perfect vision all the time. He's not sure if his vision is as “sharp” as it used to be, but he cannot be sure without another set of eyes. If you have any questions at all about the procedure or the recovery process, please feel free to send us questions. Dan loves being free from glasses and contacts, and also messing with our little Moo. Cheers! |