You may have noticed that I had taken a slight break from social media, and blogging about a week ago. This wasn’t at all intentional, more doctors’ orders. If you follow me on Twitter, you will know of the endless 6 month journey I have had further to my laser eye surgery, back in September 2015. It has been one where I had literally felt like my vision was deteriorating and changing on a daily basis. That itself was obviously a confusing experience for me, as I had just paid a hefty sum to fix my vision problems.
My eyes, however, had stabilised enough for Optical Express to give me the go ahead to have an enhancement procedure to fix the under-correction that had occurred the first time around. Enhancement procedures are generally quite rare, especially within the first year of having laser eye surgery. However, in my case, my initial prescription was so high, that there was a likely chance I would need an enhancement – there’s only really so much you can fix with an initial procedure.
So really, this blog post is laser eye surgery diary, take 2 – if you want.
With laser eye surgery there are two types that can be opted for, Lasik and Lasek, with the latter being the less common, however more painful of the two. There are disadvantages and advantages of both, and the only major difference between the two is the type of tool used to create the opening flap. Lasik uses a machine, whereas a flap is created by the surgeon for Lasek. Both procedures take a similar amount of time.
When I had my initial procedure, it was recommended that I go ahead with iDesign Lasik – one of the most advanced forms of laser eye surgery at the moment, which literally creates a fingerprint of your eye to create the most precise flap. Recovery for this procedure was almost instant, and it is quicker of the two when it comes to healing time.
For my enhancement, it was recommended that I had Lasek instead. This was purely because it had only been 6 months after my initial treatment, and it would be easy enough to lift the flap already created. It was also a much safer procedure to have after already having the procedure.
I had my surgery last Wednesday, at around 8.30am. After having the procedure completed the last time. I really didn’t want to have the surgery during the day, it’s always better to just get it out of the way so you have the rest of the day to relax. The same precautions needed to be taken pre-surgery and on the surgery day, i.e. no makeup, no deodorant, and make sure you have a good meal before the surgery so that you aren’t as anxious.
I can honestly say that the surgery took no longer than 2 minutes each eye, which is slightly longer than the Lasik procedure, however it is a lot more of a “manual” procedure. As with the previous time, I didn’t feel any pain whatsoever.
I had to sit in a dark room again, and keep my eyes closed, and a nurse then came in with a bag full of eye drops, goggles and instructions on aftercare. At which point I was free to go, and just wanting to crawl into bed and sleep for the rest of the day.
Straight after surgery: So straight after surgery wasn’t as bad as when I had Lasik. I remember when I had Lasik, I literally felt like I couldn’t keep my eyes open. My eyes were watering nonstop and I had a pounding headache. This time around I was able to open my eyes, and keep them open for a few minutes before they felt sensitive. I didn’t have a migraine, or headache at all. It was more a feeling of tiredness and wanting to sleep. This was probably due to the stress and pressure that my eyes had just been under.
It’s only a few after the surgery that you really feel the after-effects. For example, your eyes are so sensitive to the tiniest bit of light, you need to wear sunglasses everywhere and your eyes feel gritty. The gritty part is only really if you have Lasek though. Bandage contact lenses are inserted into your eyes during surgery as protection, and these need to be kept in for about 4 days. So the gritty feeling is like having an irritable contact lens in – we all know the feeling!
Day after surgery: The day after the surgery was probably the worst it got. My head was pounding, my eyes were stinging and it literally felt like there was something in my eye. One of my eyes were clouded over – I think this was due to the lens, and I just did not want to get out of bed.
I had my aftercare appointment that morning, and I was returning back to work the same day. Which is not advisable. It was the least productive day I have ever had as I had to increase the text size on my screen to 190%! My vision was poor, my eyes stung, and the urge to rub my eyes and take out the bandages was eating away at me.
A few days after surgery: It was only really when my bandage contact lenses were out of my eyes that the sharp pains did stop. I’m not saying it was unbearable pain, it was more sharp pains that woke you up in the middle of the night. The eye drops that I were given did help, and it’s advisable, if you are planning to have any laser eye surgery done that you do follow the after care instructions carefully and thoroughly.
My vision has improved significantly following the days after lasek eye surgery. It’s just over a week now since the surgery, and I feel like everything is so crystal clear.
I would really like to thank Optical Express for taking me through this process, it’s been one hell of a journey, but certainly worth it.
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