Signed Off

Went for a checkup on Friday. Apart from a bit of blurriness I've been experiencing in my left eye (same thing as last time so healing rather than a refraction problem) everything is fine. My vision has stayed stable so no problems seeing .... and no need for further check ups.
So that's it then, after two attempts things are all done, stable and well. No more contact lenses or glasses and no need to go back until I think I need to.
This then is the last post in this blog. Good luck to anyone out there thinking of going through with Lasik themselves, feel free to contact me if you want more info. although I think the blog is pretty comprehensive.
This is evadne goodeyes signing off.

Post Enhancement Update

Well it's now 5 days since the enhancement. Vision is good and I'm getting very few visual side effects compared to the first time - no halo effect round lights, no light sensitivity, virtually no blurring or changes in vision. This is because it was a much smaller procedure than last time, so I guess if you are only mildly shortsighted to begin with this is what you can expect after the op.
The procedure was a little more pleasant as there was no need to cut a flap this time, they just relift the original flap which is a slightly odd sensation but not unpleasant. The lasering was also much shorter because there was so much less to do. The main difference afterwards is that because the flap edges are a little ragged they put on a bandage contact lens, which makes the first 24 hours after the op. much more uncomfortable than first time round. Like last time I went home, took the sleeping pills and slept for about 4 hours. When I woke up my eyes were streaming and I could hardly open them. I took some more panadol and after about half an hour they eased off a bit but were pretty uncomfortable. The next morning I had the same problem with the streaming eyes (although not quite as bad), but once I'd been in for my check up and had the contact lenses taken out they felt fine.
It's nice to be able to drive in sunglasses again! Have tucked my glasses away but won't be getting rid of them that's for sure - don't think I'll be confident that my eyes are going to stay with perfect vision for a while as I will keep expecting them to regress again.
Anyway at the moment I'm more than happy with my vision and the way the eyes are healing. Back for 1 week check up on Friday although I don't expect anything very interesting then, just make sure everything looks as it should. I guess I won't know how well the vision is going to remain for at least a couple of months. So for now I will sign off this blog - I will report back if something 'interesting' happens, otherwise I'll be back in a couple of months with a progress report on how well the vision is holding up.

Day After Enhancement

Well here I am back again with my new new eyes :-) Procedure yesterday was less unpleasant than first time round, but as promised the after effects were worse. Pretty miserable when I woke up yesterday evening, but once I'd had my check up this morning and the bandage contact lens removed it all started to feel much better. Vision ok at the moment, occassional blurring etc. all the usual stuff. Will fill in more details in a day or so when I feel like sitting in front of the computer more. All ok though.

Pre-Enhancement Check-Up

Had my check-up this morning prior to enhancement tomorrow. Can't believe it's come around so soon - at least I haven't had the anxiety I had before my first op (probably because I've been on holiday for the past two weeks!!!). All is well and ready to go for the op. The procedure is slightly different as they don't have to cut a flap this time, they use the original flaps and just have to loosen the edges (apparently this is not as unpleasant as the cutting flap procedure which was pretty much the worst part first time round). Also when they have finished they put a bandage contact lens on the eye this time as it can be more uncomfortable afterwards than the first procedure. Apart from that the overall risks are less (as mostly they are connected with flap cutting) apart from that cell-ingrowth under the flap - which is about 1 in 2000 and would require a re-lifting of the flap again to kill of those cells. So I'm ready to go and looking forward to being able to see propertly for Xmas. Pretty optimistic that all will go well and given how small the correction is this time round hopefully there will be little or no regression. Will report back on Friday all being well.

Enhancement Date

Had a check-up on Friday and there has been no significant change in vision since the last one a month ago, so we could go ahead and book an appointment for the enhancement. What with various work-related travel and then holiday coming up I couldn't actually fit it in until the first week of December, so I guess I'll just have to carry on as I have been until then. Date is Thurs Dec. 7th, with a pre-surgery check up the day before to check refraction, corneal thicknesses etc.

Driving Glasses & Bi-Lateral Enhancements

Well I went to my eye check on Friday knowing that at least my left eye had deteriorated, and thinking it would be maybe -0.75. As it turned out both eyes had deteriorated fairly significantly with my left eye now at -1.5 and my right eye -1. The optomotrist was quite disappointed (given how quickly they've regressed) but as we had previously discussed given my starting presecription some sort of enhancement was always quite high up on the list of possible outcomes. So at the moment I have to wait until they have fully settled down before they can be enhanced. The only thing I've really found to be affected is my driving so I now have new lenses in my old specs. to enable me to see on the road - phew, people of Hamilton will be much safer now! It was really strange putting glasses back on again, and what was really weird is that my eyes look really big when I put them on - in fact they don't they look normal size, BUT with my old milk-bottle prescription my eyes looked smaller in glasses so now I just think they look big! At least I only have to wear them in the car.
The enhancement procedure is not as bad as the original as they don't have to cut flaps they just use the original ones, so there will be none of that nasty suction ring stuff, just the actual lasering. I guess I feel ok about it, it's most annoying to have to wait as I just want it all fixed now !! Hopefully my eyes won't regress too much more before they settle (or I'll have to start wearing glasses more of the time) and don't take too long to settle either. Next check up is in six weeks so unless anything significant happens in the meantime I won't post again before then.

1 Month Post Op

Both eyes seem to have settled down now in that they don't keep changing and the blurry comings and goings of my left eye have gone. Right eye still has very good vision - probably not perfect but good enough, left eye definately not so good, so as expected the healing process has led to a deterioration - it will be interesting to see how much when I have my next check up in a couple of weeks. The only thing I have problems with visually is driving in the dark when there's no streetlights - particularly if it's raining! Other than that no problems seeing stuff :-) Was away skiing last week and had great vision up the mountain - glad I had goggles though as I suspect given the windy days we had I would have struggled with very dry eyes if I'd just had sunglasses on. One problem I did have was using the spa pool at our resort, the chlorine levels were very high, and after a couple of days I had to stop using it as my eyes were incredibly sore - mind you even non-Lasiked BIP was suffering a bit from the chlorine too so no real surprises there! Wonder if it's ok to swim in the sea without goggles yet though? Not that I'm planning to right at the moment (given that it's still freezing and not even Spring yet!!) but only 2 and a half months before I'm off to Hawaii :-)