PRK Laser Vision Correction Surgery--My Experience

I've been on the road to blindness since I was about eight, when I realized I couldn't see the digital time on the VCR in the basement.  Turns out I was near-sighted and I quickly became the owner of some horrible ugly pale pink plastic glasses.  I hated wearing glasses and only put them on in class when I had to and never wore them outside.  When I outgrew the pink frames, I thought I would channel my inner Sally Jesse Raphael and go for some huge red rims.  Fashion in the eighties was bad on so many levels.  By grade eight I had talked my parents into contact lenses, and I wore them habitually until July 2011.  Not the best for the eyes.

Then a few months ago, I took the plunge and underwent PRK laser vision correction surgery.  PRK stands for something very long--basically, the surgeon used a brushy looking thing to rub some cells off my eyeballs, then a laser to reshape my cornea and voila, I could see!  As soon as I sat up from the surgery--which took a matter of seconds, I could read the time on the clock on the wall and could see every detail on the face of the smiling and helpful nurse.  And no pain!  Yet.  The literature at the doctor's office said most people don't experience any pain, jus some discomfort.  I was one of the people who had pain.  I'm talking moderate labour contractions type pain.  I went through my Tylenol 3's like candy and begged for more at my first follow-up visit.  The eyeball numbing drops were suppose to be used once a day--my three bottles were gone by the end of day two.  Apparently I don't cope with pain well.

Those first two days were rough--lots of pain, very swollen eyes, so much that my husband had to open the drug bottles for me because I couldn't read the labels.  Barely slept as I kept waking up in pain after the drugs would wear off.

Then, all of a sudden, my eyes were fine.  I felt a bit cross-eyed for a week or so as my eyes continued to heal, and I was quite sensitive to light for about a month, but now I can see perfectly! 

It is still weird though--waking up in the middle of the night and being able to see the time on the alarm clock; going on holiday and not worrying if I've packed contacts, saline and glasses; being able to lie on the couch without crunching my glasses.  For ages, in the evening, I kept thinking I had forgotten to take my contacts out, but I hadn't!

So was it worth it?  For sure!  I only wish I had done it sooner...