PRK & BDCP Decision

[Junkball]

From a PM sent a day after the surgery:
Surgery itself went fine. The laser was pretty sweet... it was like the Death Star hovering above my face. The Doc told me I shouldn't take the eyedrop anti-inflammatory/pain reliever acular unless I needed to... so last night, me being born to kill and everything, decide not to take it. I woke up in the middle of the night and it felt like someone punched me in each eye 8x and then rubbed in sunscreen. Acular helped a lot.

Just got back from the checkup and the doctor said I'm seeing 20/40 with 40% of the epithilium healed so its lookin good.

I really wish I had the Neurotinin stuff after surgery. You can withstand anything for a little while, though, and I have had no pain since about the 3rd day.

Here I sit 1 week post-op. Had to make my brother drive me for 2.5 hours on Christmas night back down state and another couple today to get me to the only affiliated i Dr. available for my checkup. He's been my chauffeur for the past week and taken good care of me. I'll have to thank him.
The doctor said I'm ~20/35L/20/40ish right and looking good, healing wise. He mentioned that he thinks I'm going to end up with very good vision, which was reassuring to hear. He cleared me to drive as well, although I'm pretty sure I would have been fine behind the wheel by day 3. It's great having all these accounts of the healing process available because I'm not in the least concerned about my still-blurry vision. The increased acuity will come with time.

 

[Junkball]

2 week post-op checkup reveals 20/20L 20/30R with some dryness. Ordered to put in the lubricating drops 4x a day, reduced Zymar and Flarex (FML) to 2x and 3x/day, respectively, down from 4x.
I'm really noticing the decrease in visual acuity as I get tired. It is especially annoying while driving late at night, or while looking for small street signs. There is a "snowflake effect" around lights when viewed with my right eye - for the left, a sort of light vector/ray appears shooting to the 2 o'clock position. It is really apparent when squinting and while my right eye is closed.
For anyone healing, be patient. VA will increase with time, healing.

 

[nugget61]

Had the same tired thing but it was gone after about 2 weeks after it surfaced. Awesome that youre VA is so good so fast, I was told that it would take me 2 months to hit those #s.

 

[hanletj]

Junkball,
I am currently in my 8th week at OCS and went through pretty much exactly what you did. I wasn't willing to go NFO, and I had to give up BDCP so I could wait for the waiver. It's all worth it though. I had haze and starbursts for a while, about 2 months after surgery, but eventually they cleared up. Anyways, good luck.

 

[cdmike112]

I am 6 weeks post op, my vision is 20/15L, 20/20R, my vision seems to deteriorate in low light situations and at night, I am also having slight starbursting at night. It is kind of frustrating but hopefully my night vision will improve. Let me tell you its hard being patient but things will continue to improve.

 

[Junkball]

Junkball,
I am currently in my 8th week at OCS and went through pretty much exactly what you did. I wasn't willing to go NFO, and I had to give up BDCP so I could wait for the waiver. It's all worth it though. I had haze and starbursts for a while, about 2 months after surgery, but eventually they cleared up. Anyways, good luck.

Give up BDCP? Damn! 30k a year for doing well in school is awfully enticing to a college student. Oh well, I'm getting this done for the right reasons.

cdmike, have you seen continual improvement in your vision? Don't worry, I'm sure your night vision will get better, based on what others have said.

 

[cdmike112]

Yes I have seen continual improvement, it was pretty quick at first but as of lately my improvement has slown down, my vision is extremely crisp in the morning when i wake up but slowly gets worse through out the day. I have an eye doctors appointment on friday to check my improvement, I will let you know how it goes and ask him about the night vision issues. My doc had me on FML 4 times a day for a month then down to three times a day for the 2nd month, and 1 time a day for the third. I guess thats what he does for all his patients.

 

[nugget61]

Yes I have seen continual improvement, it was pretty quick at first but as of lately my improvement has slown down, my vision is extremely crisp in the morning when i wake up but slowly gets worse through out the day. I have an eye doctors appointment on friday to check my improvement, I will let you know how it goes and ask him about the night vision issues. My doc had me on FML 4 times a day for a month then down to three times a day for the 2nd month, and 1 time a day for the third. I guess thats what he does for all his patients.

Be cautious of what you say your problems are - my doc put darn near everything I even whispered into my chart, which the Navy now has a copy of. The night problems should go away soon anyway.

 

[cdmike112]

Thanks for the advice, I kind of figured that, I will ask him about it after he has filed out my chart. My doc is a prior navy opthamologist, thats why I chose him, he said he understands the process and still knows some of the guys at NOMI. He guranteed me he would do anything he could to help me out. I have noticed that if I rest in the afternoon my vision is much better at night.

 

[Junkball]

Be cautious of what you say your problems are - my doc put darn near everything I even whispered into my chart, which the Navy now has a copy of. The night problems should go away soon anyway.

For this reason I've yet to mention some slight haloing/starbursting at night to my Doc. It's been decreasing lately, as expected. Driving 17 hours home from Florida, though, saw some CRAZY lights! (Didn't sleep much the night before either) Weird seeing the centerline strips appear to be 3-ft high angled box jumping out of the road!

2 month checkup says 20/15! Clear as day, too... may be better than that.

 

[Junkball]

Had my first annual post-op eye exam. Doctor broke out the 20/10 eye chart for me, something he only does for "athletes and those with the best vision. Patients with corrective surgery never see this well." I got half on that line and all on the 20/15 line. Still get some starbursting at night when fatigued or drunk. Things are lookin good!

 

[iveyc]

Pilots,

I have been pro rec'd for Pilot, and just passed my MEPS with 20/20 vision, color, etc (I had PRK in OCT 2009). I have had my paperwork in for the waiver for some time and was wondering if I will have to go through any additional tests before OCS. My Father is a flight surgeon for the Air Force and he mentioned something about a Contrast and Night Vision test. Did you have to through that? How long did it take to get your waiver? Thanks for your help.

 

[NightVisionPen]

iveyc,

I had PRK done after I was winged and in a fleet squadron, but once the surgery was done and I checked out with the doc, they submitted the paperwork and that was it. Nothing beyond the normal eye test stuff for me. Good luck.

 

[iveyc]

thanks nightvision.

 

[Junkball]

The doctors down here seem to poke and prod a little bit more with PRK patients, but if you checked out OK with your civilian doctor or at OCS, you hopefully won't have any additional things crop up. My ophthalmologist was "the most thorough doctor in the Navy" according to the Flight Surgeon, mostly because my pupils are different sizes I think, but I still ended up getting my upchit the other day. No whammy here!