[eyes] I can see clearly now, the rain is gone
(you were wondering when I was going to use that line, weren't you?)
Second post-op checkup today with Dr Ross in Squill. Everything is going pretty well. Effective vision with both eyes is about 20/20. Eyes have been gradually stabilizing over the past week, so here is a chance to catch up on the details.
My individual vision is about 20/20 in my left eye, and 20/30 in my right eye. My eyes are approximately even dominance, but that can gets adjusted automatically when focusing on something fuzzy. My left eye sees slightly better by itself than it does with both eyes, but most of the time it will force itself dominant so I can see better. Vision in both seems fairly stable. The ghosts have almost entirely gone away, although I thought I saw some faint ones when I was doing letter-reading at the doctor's today.
computers
If I ever needed proof that computers are a strain on the eyes, I don't anymore. The screen does not cause me pain, but I can tell that my eyes get tired after using it for a lengthy period. Last Friday (one day after surgery), I was online for a few hours of the day, and felt very exhausted. The weekend I used very little computer and felt fine. Monday, I worked a full day, and by the end of the day, my eyes were again exhausted, to the extend that vision in my right eye more than doubled in fuzzyness. I was unable to read almost anything with that eye except at very close distances. I put eyedrops in before bed, and when I woke up in the morning, I felt fine, and vision was back to normal.
Since then, I've been doing my best to take eye breaks and blink a lot, and it has steadily gotten better. My right eye vision bothers me because the average distance my computer screen is away is about the distance letters start to blur. I suspect that is making my left eye work harder and contributing towards some of the tiredness, and hopefully it will continue to improve.
night vision
Overall, I'd have to conclude that my night vision has actually improved. When I wore contacts, I would regularly get largish halos around lights, with most of them starring out. The size of the halos and stars were greatly dependant on several factors, such as how dry my eyes were, how wide my eyes were open, how tired my eyes were, and could be modified slightly be concentrating. Since the surgery, I have noticed no starring at all, and halos that are smaller than what I was used to.
The halos I see now started off being very set, and nothing I did would change their size, but over the past few days, I have noticed them changing in response to similar factors. The time it takes for my eyes to automatically adjust is getting smaller, too. Before surgery, when I would look at a light in darkness, the glare was huge for a fraction of a second before my eyes adjusted it down. Since surgery, the same adjustment time has seemed much longer, but can be lessened more on my conscious effect. This effect is still changing, and has gotten better even over the past few days.
dry eyes
I suspect long time usage of gas-perm contacts got me more used to minor dryness than most people. I have noticed had no problems from major dryness, and only minor discomfort at times when I was in a dry area (like evenings when forced-air heat is on) or when indoor air is noticeably blowing in my face (like at the symphony last friday). Normal eye drops relieve this just fine.
other side effects
The first few days I found myself wanting to sleep more. I'm not sure I can tell the difference between my body actually getting tired because it's saying, "You just had major surgery less than 100 hours ago, get some damn sleep!" or if my eyes get tired and want to close, thus giving me the impression that I'm ready to sleep. Either way, I got more sleep, and it felt pretty good.
The eye drops both tasted bad and gave me a mild sore throat from the post-nasal dripping. For a few days, I was experiencing a mild stinging in my right eye for a few seconds after I put them in, but it went away. Doctor says he doesn't know what might have caused it.
My light sensitivity seems to be about the same as it ever was, which translates to, when I'm outside and it's sunny, I greatly desire sunglasses. This was, in fact, one of the biggest reasons I wanted to get contacts in the first place. No problems otherwise.
The only thing my doctor mentioned today was that he wasn't entirely happy with the smoothness of my cornea surface, and recommeded I increase my eyedrop usage to help it heal better. He sais that if it heals completely properly, I should end up with 20/20 in both eyes. So as of now, I'm up from using eyedrops "when I feel like it" to "several times a day." No sweat, I'm getting good at this. :)
Whee! I can see!
Second post-op checkup today with Dr Ross in Squill. Everything is going pretty well. Effective vision with both eyes is about 20/20. Eyes have been gradually stabilizing over the past week, so here is a chance to catch up on the details.
My individual vision is about 20/20 in my left eye, and 20/30 in my right eye. My eyes are approximately even dominance, but that can gets adjusted automatically when focusing on something fuzzy. My left eye sees slightly better by itself than it does with both eyes, but most of the time it will force itself dominant so I can see better. Vision in both seems fairly stable. The ghosts have almost entirely gone away, although I thought I saw some faint ones when I was doing letter-reading at the doctor's today.
computers
If I ever needed proof that computers are a strain on the eyes, I don't anymore. The screen does not cause me pain, but I can tell that my eyes get tired after using it for a lengthy period. Last Friday (one day after surgery), I was online for a few hours of the day, and felt very exhausted. The weekend I used very little computer and felt fine. Monday, I worked a full day, and by the end of the day, my eyes were again exhausted, to the extend that vision in my right eye more than doubled in fuzzyness. I was unable to read almost anything with that eye except at very close distances. I put eyedrops in before bed, and when I woke up in the morning, I felt fine, and vision was back to normal.
Since then, I've been doing my best to take eye breaks and blink a lot, and it has steadily gotten better. My right eye vision bothers me because the average distance my computer screen is away is about the distance letters start to blur. I suspect that is making my left eye work harder and contributing towards some of the tiredness, and hopefully it will continue to improve.
night vision
Overall, I'd have to conclude that my night vision has actually improved. When I wore contacts, I would regularly get largish halos around lights, with most of them starring out. The size of the halos and stars were greatly dependant on several factors, such as how dry my eyes were, how wide my eyes were open, how tired my eyes were, and could be modified slightly be concentrating. Since the surgery, I have noticed no starring at all, and halos that are smaller than what I was used to.
The halos I see now started off being very set, and nothing I did would change their size, but over the past few days, I have noticed them changing in response to similar factors. The time it takes for my eyes to automatically adjust is getting smaller, too. Before surgery, when I would look at a light in darkness, the glare was huge for a fraction of a second before my eyes adjusted it down. Since surgery, the same adjustment time has seemed much longer, but can be lessened more on my conscious effect. This effect is still changing, and has gotten better even over the past few days.
dry eyes
I suspect long time usage of gas-perm contacts got me more used to minor dryness than most people. I have noticed had no problems from major dryness, and only minor discomfort at times when I was in a dry area (like evenings when forced-air heat is on) or when indoor air is noticeably blowing in my face (like at the symphony last friday). Normal eye drops relieve this just fine.
other side effects
The first few days I found myself wanting to sleep more. I'm not sure I can tell the difference between my body actually getting tired because it's saying, "You just had major surgery less than 100 hours ago, get some damn sleep!" or if my eyes get tired and want to close, thus giving me the impression that I'm ready to sleep. Either way, I got more sleep, and it felt pretty good.
The eye drops both tasted bad and gave me a mild sore throat from the post-nasal dripping. For a few days, I was experiencing a mild stinging in my right eye for a few seconds after I put them in, but it went away. Doctor says he doesn't know what might have caused it.
My light sensitivity seems to be about the same as it ever was, which translates to, when I'm outside and it's sunny, I greatly desire sunglasses. This was, in fact, one of the biggest reasons I wanted to get contacts in the first place. No problems otherwise.
The only thing my doctor mentioned today was that he wasn't entirely happy with the smoothness of my cornea surface, and recommeded I increase my eyedrop usage to help it heal better. He sais that if it heals completely properly, I should end up with 20/20 in both eyes. So as of now, I'm up from using eyedrops "when I feel like it" to "several times a day." No sweat, I'm getting good at this. :)
Whee! I can see!