ICL Month 11 / PRK Month 11: Regression and Dry Eye Update

Well, I had my next follow up appointment and am still seeing 20/15 out of my left (ICL) eye. The vision in my right (PRK) eye has regressed from 20/25 to 20/40. I go in for another appointment in four months and if the 20/40 vision has stabilized, I can have a touch up if I want. I'm not sure if I do, I think it would be at full cost. Something to think about.

My dry eye in my right (PRK) eye has improved slightly, maybe. My surgeon said it looks better than at my last appointment, but I can't really tell. I'm not looking forward to allergy season starting in a couple of months, but I will just keep using the rewetting drops and hope for the best!

ICL Month 1 / PRK Month 4: Another Follow-Up Appointment

Last week I had another follow-up appointment. Everything was good. ICL vault was still high but not causing any inflammation and not blocking the iridotomy so the vault probably won't cause increased eye pressure (glaucoma). The white haze or fog I was experiencing in my left (ICL) eye is much, much better and I feel like my ability to see contrast is nearly back to "normal."

I could (barely, after staring for a while) read all of the letters on the 20/20 line with my right (PRK) eye and easily read all of the 20/15 letters with my left (ICL) eye. In practice, my vision out of my right eye definitely does not seem like 20/20. When it's bright/sunny, which is almost every day here, the glare makes everything in the distance blurry and I can't read even large street signs, even with sunglasses on. I don't know if this has really gotten better in the last few months so we'll see if it improves any more. Vision out of my ICL eye is incredible during the day. It's good at night too, but I do see halos around lights still.

Interestingly, my aniseikonia has switched, so now the picture out of my right eye is smaller than the vision out of my left eye! Not only is the right eye image smaller, but it's slightly shorter, like everything is slightly squished vertically. It's been difficult to get used to, and I notice it most when I'm reading. It's like my eyes aren't working together completely, which maybe they never were and I just never paid as much attention to my vision as I have in the past four months.

Allergy season for me has also started so I've started taking antihistamines everyday. This has made my eyes drier but it's not too bad. I'm trying to use less of the preservative free lubricating eye drops but sometimes I still need them. I'm going to try Systane gel drops to see if that relieves the dryness, especially over night.

I'll have another follow up appointment in two months!

ICL Day 7 / PRK Month 3: Follow-Up Appointment

Today I had a follow-up appointment with my surgeon, which is one week since my ICL surgery (left eye) and about 3 months since my PRK surgery (right eye).

My appointment was quick, my surgeon and her fellow looked inside my eyes and tested my vision on the Snellen chart. I could see most of the 20/20 line with my right eye and all of the 20/20 line with my left eye! Together, I could read the 20/15 line. I didn't use many lubricating drops today and my appointment was in the afternoon so maybe my eyes were drier than they were right after my surgery, who knows. They also tested my eye pressure which is normal.

PRK Update (3 months post-surgery)

My PRK eye is doing well. I still see starbursts around lights regardless of whether it's bright or dark in the environment. If I squint, they go away, so I don't know if it is due to residual astigmatism, higher-order aberrations, or what. It's gotten really sunny here in the past month or two and I also have really bad glare with in the bright sunlight, even with sunglasses on. This makes it really hard to read street signs because I'll have double or triple vision in my right eye. 

ICL Update (1 week post-surgery)

My ICL eye also seems to be doing well. The surgeon said that my vault was high and we would keep an eye on it. I don't know if this means I might have to get the lens exchanged, but I'm happy to wait and see how it looks next month. I see very large, prominent halos in dim and dark environments when looking just through my left eye. Interestingly, when I use both eyes, the halos diminish greatly and some completely disappear (and so do the starbursts from my PRK eye!). I'm also still seeing a white haze in my left eye, kind of like a glaze. I'm not sure if it's from the iridectomy or corneal swelling or something else, but it does not seem to be improving. It would be a bummer to permanently lose a lot of the contrast that I originally had in my left eye. In one of my first posts I noted that the contrast in my right eye has always been much worse due to the cataract I was born with; well, for the last week, my right eye has had much better contrast sensitivity than my left eye! 

I am happy I no longer need glasses or contacts to read, write, watch TV, drive, and everything else!! I'm hoping that some of these side effects resolve -or- my brain gets used to them quickly. I have another appointment in a month so I'll update again then. 

ICL Days 1-3: I CAN SEE!

I had my ICL surgery four days ago. Just like I did for my PRK surgery in December, I'll provide a day-by-day retelling of what's happened.

Day 1: ICL Surgery 

My ICL surgery was scheduled for the afternoon, so I planned to sleep in as late as possible because I wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight or drink after 7 AM. Well, I woke up at 8:00 AM of course and then watched mindless reality TV for a few hours until it was time to go. I was still feeling really nervous.

I got to the surgery center and was taken back to get my blood pressure reading and my eye dilation started. I had to change into a gown, put on a hair net thing, and got a bunch more drops to dilate and numb my eyes, along with antibiotic drops. They put in an IV for the "light sedation."

Then I was wheeled back to the surgery room and told to look at the bright light. I was conscious but because of the light sedation I was feeling pretty good. I was told to stare at the light, so I did. My surgeon didn't say much to me during the procedure but I did express that I was feeling some pain. I'm not sure if she did the iridectomy before the ICL insertion or after. Then my vision went out for about a minute and the surgeon said that the pressure in my eye was very high and they were trying to bring it back down. They put some more medicine in through my IV and my vision came back. Then it was done!

I was wheeled back into my area and the surgeon explained that everything went well. I could tell immediately that my vision was super clear, at least as clear as I could see with contact lenses! However, there was a fog or haze over my vision, kind of like a white veil. 

They said I could leave and get some lunch and to come back in two hours. I changed back into my clothes and left. I tried to eat lunch but wasn't very hungry. 

When I went back to the office, my surgeon again said everything went well and my eye pressure raised because of the gel they squirt inside the eye to help protect structures in the eye during ICL insertion. I got a prescription for one day of pressure-lowering pills and they said they would check my eye pressure again tomorrow. The surgeon checked my vision and seemed very surprised that I could read the 20/20 line perfectly! 

At the end of the day, my eye was very red and sore and it felt like something was in my eye. It felt most comfortable to keep it close. 

Day 2: Hazy

Last night I wore my eye shield, and today I woke up and my vision was still hazy/foggy. It's weird because everything is really sharp but it's like I'm not seeing as much contrast because everything is whiter and more washed out. My pupil is sill a bit dilated. I can't really tell where the iridectomy is. My eye still feels sore and is a little red, but feels much better than yesterday. 

Today I had a follow up appointment which I could have driven to myself but just to be safe I got a ride since this appointment location is about 30 minutes away. My appointment was quick. My eye pressure was normal, and I could read every letter on the 20/15 line! Amazing! I asked when the haze/fog would go away and was told in about a week. 

I'm noticing that when it's dark, I see some thin halos around lights. When it's dark inside and I watch TV, I also see some larger/fuzzier halos radiating from the bright spots on the TV. 

Day 3-4: Healing

Yesterday and today have been similar to day 2. I am still seeing white haze/fog but my vision is still very sharp. My eye feels better every day and it's no longer red. I think my pupil is back to the same size as my PRK eye. I definitely don't have any white line from the iridectomy/iridotomy, which I was concerned about because I have very round eyes and my lids don't always cover the top of my irises.

I have a follow-up appointment in just a couple of days, which will also serve as the 3-month follow-up for my PRK surgery, so I'm anxious to get an update about how both eyes are healing. 

PRK Day 39: PRK Follow-Up and Visian ICL Measurements

Today I had an appointment that served two purposes: my one-month check-up for the PRK procedure I had in my right eye in December and repeat measurements for the Visian ICL to be implanted into my left eye in March.

PRK Update

My PRK update is pretty uneventful. I had my vision tested using the phoropter and Snellen chart, and I scored 20/30. This means I could see about the same number of letters at my 6 day follow-up appointment as I saw today, but my vision now is definitely crisper and I'm seeing more details. I should note, however, the my best corrected visual acuity (BCVA, so best vision I could get with glasses or contact lenses before PRK) was 20/25, so I'm pretty close! I couldn't get to 20/20 in that eye likely to due the cataract I was born with. I have a small amount of astigmatism left (formerly +1.5 now +0.5) which could potentially improve over the next few months. My eye pressure is great (sometimes the steroid drops can elevate eye pressure which can cause glaucoma). The tech said my eye was somewhat dry and to keep using the preservative-free eyedrops. I was then taken to a machine that mapped the shape of my corneas, and that was it for the PRK follow-up part of my appointment. 

In the last couple of days, the ghosting I was seeing has completely gone away. I'm still seeing some starbursts around bright lights both during the day and at night (like car headlights, TV light, etc.). My surgeon said this should improve over time as my cornea continues to heal. 

I am very happy I went through with PRK in my right eye and hope I see a bit more improvement in the next 3-6 months!

Visian ICL Update

I had a couple of measurements double-checked in my left eye for my upcoming Visian ICL surgery in March. The tech took me to another machine and said it takes "a bunch of measurements of your eye," like height and some other things I can't recall. Then the surgeon came in a took a white-to-white measurement to compare to the ultrasound measurement for sizing the ICL. 

I asked the surgeons some questions about potential complications, specifically from the iridotomy (small hole in the iris to prevent increased eye pressure and glaucoma) and from the ICL itself. She said that she hasn't encountered patients with the side effect of glare or white lines from the iridotomoy, but it's always a risk. I then asked about the risks of cataracts, which is the most common complication of posterior chamber ICL. At this point, it's a risk I'm willing to take. 

I'm nervous but looking forward to being able to see out of both eyes! For the last week, I've been wearing my glasses (with -11.00 in my left lens and non-prescription in my right eye) so they could get accurate measurements today of my eye that will have an ICL. Wearing my glasses has given me some terrible eye strain due to aniseikonia, where my left eye sees the world much smaller than my right eye. Even if I need glasses for driving after I get the ICL, today is the last day I'll ever have to wear my coke-bottle lens! There's no guarantee that the ICL will get me to 20/15, which is my current best corrected visual acuity in my left eye, but I should see a substantial improvement. 

My Visian ICL surgery is scheduled for the second week in March so I will post an update then. I'll probably also update about my PRK eye before then. 

PRK Day 6: Bandage Contact Lens Removal

It's been six days since my PRK surgery and today I had my first follow-up appointment at the laser eye center.

A fellow (I think? I didn't catch his name or title) came in and examined my eye, tested my vision, and removed the contact lens bandage. He used some scary looking tweezer instrument to grab the edge of the contact and then kind of slid it off my eye. Ouch! That hurt and it felt like there was something in my eye for the rest of the day.

My surgeon then came in and said everything looked great and I was seeing 20/30! It seems like my vision is way worse than that, but I'm having some pretty significant sensitivity and starbursts around lights which makes it hard to see especially when I'm outside.

I'm to stop the antibiotic in Friday and decrease the steroid drops to two times per day until I run out, at which point I need to continue a lower-level steroid for two more months. My next follow-up appointment is in about a month, at which point we'll hopefully schedule the Visian ICL surgery for my left eye!