I will be focusing mostly on the procedure of submitting paperwork, acquiring waivers, passing the flight physical, and ultimately qualifying for a coveted air contract; however I will also recount the experience to provide a more complete overview of the experience.
Tuesday 10/13
I arrived at the office and the first question was "and how will you be paying for this today?" So I wrote the check and we were on with business. This particular office allowed a 5% discount for paying with cash or check (because they don’t have to pay credit card fees) so this is something to inquire about if you are considering PRK. They also gave me a 50% off military discount so defiantly inquire about that as well, out the door I paid $2,900 for Custom Wavefront PRK from a extremely good doctor, I can’t stress enough finding a doctor who has a lot of experience and is well respected in the field, were talking about shooting a laser into our eyes here and its success will determine not only your career but your eyesight is something you have to live with the rest of your life so don’t skimp on the doctor to save a few hundred dollars. Back on track with the procedure a technician preformed the wavefront scan on my eyes and saved the info on a memory stick. I was then placed in a room given a valium, and started on three rounds of eye drops. About 10 minutes later I was taken into the room with the laser and I think I got some more eye drops. Another 5 minutes and Dr. Dornic came in and began the surgery, he started by securing my eyelashes with tape, eyelids with some kind of brace and then with what looked like a spinning toothbrush he removed the epithelium of the cornea, then the laser treatment began and lasted 12-15 seconds, immediately following the laser my eye was rinsed with some kind of drops and the protective contact was inserted. None of it hurt or was even terribly uncomfortable. This was all repeated for the other eye and I was up and being taken to another room. I was given a bag full of drops, a paper telling when to take them, a prescription for hydrocodine and a super sexy pair of sunglasses. At this point I felt really good and wasn’t to worried about the recovery. 15 minutes later as the drugs began wearing off I told my friend driving me to head straight for the pharmacy and realized it would be a long few days. I had already prepared my room with blankets over the windows and upon arriving home I began the medication and went to sleep, I recommend letting your roommates, family or whoever lives with you know your medication schedule so you don’t have to worry about it and just sleep as much as possible.
Day 1 (Wed 10/14)
After waking up I immediately began my medication for the day and wrote down the times I used each eye drop and pill. Writing down the times will help you know when to take the next pill or drop and you can bring it with you to the doctor to show them how you are doing on your medication, my doctor found this helpful. Later that day I had my 24 hour follow up appt. and read the 20/20 line. Everything is going well. More sleep and short bits of TV here and there with the sunglasses.
Day 2 (Thu 10/15)
My vision has defiantly regressed some today as the doctor expected because of the regeneration of the corneal epithelium. The contacts are scratchy and feel like a grain of sand in the eye, the drugs and drops help significantly with this. Overall I feel really good compared to what I had prepared myself for. I continue to sleep as much as possible this helps more than anything and obviously passes the time the best.
Day 3 (Fri 10/16)
I ran out of hydrocodine last night and have been off for close to 12 hours now and I feel pretty terrible, I am just trying to sleep and get through till my appointment this afternoon. As I arrived at the doctor I was probably at my worst point of the entire experience. My vision was checked again by a technician and I was approx 20/30. A few minutes later Dr Dornic came in, removed the contacts and examined my eyes. Having the contacts out is probably one of the most refreshing things I have ever felt. I can see better and feel great now. I am on my way with a few more drops to be taken. At this point I am seeing really well, the biggest thing is any light is really “starry” especially at night. Seeing close up is slightly more challenging and wears my eyes out faster. My eyes get tired really quickly and I have to rest them periodically.
I will continue to update over the next 90 days on the process, and however long it takes to get the air contract.