Thursday: Surgery Day
Everything happened so much faster than I expected. I arrived at 1:30 for my 1:40 appointment and was immediately whisked away for all the pre-procedure eye tests to confirm my prescription. My prescriptions were confirmed and the FSA account was promptly emptied. I met with the surgeon for final questions before heading to the O.R. at 2:15. The procedure was quicker than ever expected. From all accounts I read the procedure was supposed to take a few minutes per eye. For me the laser portion was no more than a minute per eye and was followed by a series of drops, a rinse of cold water per eye, and the placement of contacts which is to act as a bandage for the time being. We had the all clear to leave and were home by 3 pm.I wasn't expecting anything terrible from Day 1, however we learned very quickly the issue of light sensitivity. I've always loved the fact that our house is full of windows and skylights that flood the house with natural light, but on this day it proved to be my enemy as it seemed we could find no room dark enough to rest comfortably post-op. The residual light peering through blind & curtains in different rooms all proved too bright and caused my eyes to burn and water uncontrollably. Eventually McHenry was kicked out of the basement den as the room had a window small enough to be covered from the light shining in. I spent the remainder of the daylight hours there to recover while Sean went to the pharmacy to pick up an optionally prescribed pain medicine that proved necessary to handle the pain. Once the sun went down I was able to return to our bedroom for the final round of eye drops and eye shields before going to sleep for the night. (The eye shields are in place to prevent inadvertent rubbing of the eyes.)
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| I wear these and lose these every time I sleep. WHY ARE THEY CLEAR? |
Friday: Day One
Sean woke up early enough before the sun rose to move me back down the den. I listened to a few podcasts he downloaded for me ahead of time and later in the morning I was able to eat breakfast upstairs comfortably while wearing sunglasses. I felt a lot better than expected; my left eye had very minor discomfort, my right eye felt like nothing had ever happened. We even had a friend pop by for a few hours. While I was not able to see her clearly, I was feeling comfortable throughout the visit (while still wearing sunglasses).Afterward I had some more recovery time down in the den, then dinner in the living room, by that point I was worn out so I completed my last round of eye drops and was in bed by 7.
On a side note I noticed I was able to read larger text like Sean's alarm clock, but could not comfortably look at TV or phone screens.
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| I can read these giant letters! Progress. |
Saturday: Day Two
The doctors had warned that Days 2 and 3 would be the worst. While they were not as bad as the pain experienced on surgery day I would have had to agree. My right eye that had felt so good yesterday felt as if something was stuck in it and had been burning and tearing all day. The left eye although still uncomfortable is not as bad as the right. Vision remained blurry in both. I spend the day in and out of bed while looking forward toward the next round of eye drops (prescription drops are twice a day, artificial tears are hourly).Sunday: Day Three
This day was pretty much the same as Day 2 but with blurrier and scratchier eyes. I washed my hair which was challenging as you're not to get your eyes wet. While uncomfortable I was able to get fresh air on a walk with Sean & Anise once the sun went down. I am hoping that Days 2 & 3 truly are the worst so that going forward I can stop taking the prescribed pain medicine and continue with only ibuprofen.Tuesday is considered Day 5; on that day I will have the first followup appointment which will include the removal of my temporary contacts. I hope to update after this.
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