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January 11, 2010

PRK Recovery (or why I am slightly neurotic)

Today is Day 4 post PRK treatment. I can somewhat see, but not spectacularly. My font size right now is 28. This is...quite a nice size. If I could read/write all my documents in this size, I could be a happy person.

Anyhoot. I figured I'd write down my "recovery" period so far. "Recovery" in quotes because I still can't freaking see.

PRK Day -2 (Two days prior to procedure): I was scheduled to have my PRK on 02/04, but my mom had wanted me to reschedule (long story). So, I had called to reschedule when the receptionist told me that they just happened to have an opening this upcoming Thursday. Since I had wanted to get the procedure done ASAP (their first opening was 02/04 when I had initially booked). I JUMPED. HELL YEAH I was ready. Let's get this shit over with!

PRK Day -1: Holy f*ck. What the freak was I thinking? Did I do the necessary prep work? Call doctor. Doctor says ok. Ok...

PRK DAY -1 Night: Tossing and turning. #!!#@!&!! AM I INSANE? I am perfectly content with my eye sight now. Gas permeable contacts have done well for me. WHY am I doing this? I could go BLIND after this. OMG OMG OMG. I am a turd. Why the **** did I put money into FSA?!

Side note: I had been scheduled to do my left eye Lasik and my right eye PRK since my right eye was so bad, but I decided at night (after MUCH MUCH tossing and turning) to go for PRK in both eyes.

PRK Day 0 (Day of the procedure - 01/07):
Wake up in the morning and have breakfast with an ex-coworker. We talk (about...stuff...) I drink a shit ton of coffee. I am stupid.

My appointment is scheduled in the afternoon and I get there with plenty of time. My heart is FREAKING OUT. Why the heck did I drink so much coffee again? Secondary doc offers me a Valium. I take Valium. WHY THE **** does Valium not work? My hands are shaking I am so nervous.

About 45 minutes after the Valium, I get called into the "room." Main doctor is there with two other nurses. I think it's possible I may puke. One of the nurses notices how nervous I am. "Would you like something to squeeze?" Uh...YES. She hands me two beanie babies. It's possible I may have decapitated them in the process.

Anyway, I lie down under this huge machine and they get working on with my right eye first. They tape it open or something which kind of hurts, and then DRENCH it with numbing solution. Truthfully, this is ok with me. Then the doc goes to town scraping (?!) my eye. Oddly, despite seeing the scraping, this does not hurt (hello numbing drops). And then some shit happens (yeah, I think I was busy trying not to puke) when the doctor tells me to stare at some green light. Apparently I am a fidgeter because the doc tells me to STOP MOVING (e.g., "Every time you move, it moves your head too. You don't want that, do you?"), like five times. Oops. And then lasering starts happening, I smell some burnt something (hello eyeball?) and then it's all over. Doc put some shit on my eye, nurse squirts half a bottle of saline solution on my eye and they put on the bandage contact. Done.

Repeat (and rinse - ha!) on left eye.

So...once it's all over, they tell me to get up, and I can actually see (sort of)! It's no miracle, it's not like I can see 20/20 all of a sudden (like you read in other blogs - "I can see the clock!" because I definitely could not see a clock. Perhaps...because there wasn't a clock in the room...but minor detail...Moving on...), but you know, good enough and definitely much better than without contacts before. So, slightly happy and a little less neurotic feeling-ed.

So anyhoot, I can tell that I'm supposed to get out of there, so I thank the doc and am out the door. Nurse leads me to my stuff and says "You did pretty well considering how nervous you were!" Which to me, tells me I sucked it. Ahh...Valium. You failed me. At least it's over.

Anyway...so Scott picks me up and he tells me that he REALLY REALLY wants to watch the championship football game up in Palo Alto. But I really really need baby-sitting. So I tell him I will go with him (I am stupid). It's dusk by the time we get up there, I am drugged out and sleepy, but we manage to make it to the bar. Thank god we got there slightly late and cannot get in. We go home. Don't tell him I was secretly happy. :P

We watch the footbball game and Texas loses. It is sad. I can't really see the tv, but oddly my eyes don't really hurt. My right eye feels some stinging, but definitely nothing as bad as I expected. Tomorrow may be a lot worse.

PRK Day 1: I wake up. No miracle. :( But also, not much pain. I put in drops (there are three) and pop some other medicine that makes me sleepy. I go back to sleep and sleep until noon.

I wake up, make some phone calls. TRY VERY HARD to look at a monitor. No go. I call some DJs for the wedding. One guy tries to sell me on uplighting - sends me to his website. I have no idea what he is talking about, and I definitely have no idea what I am supposed to be seeing. I take some notes - Scott will find out what uplighting is!

I go back to sleep. Sleep, sleep, and sleep. I think I may have slept for 20 hrs this day.

PRK Day 2: This is supposed to be the worse day for PRK, so when I wake up and still can't see wonderfully, I am ok with this. How much longer can it go on anyway?

I am...bored shitless. I realize that it's hard to do anything when you can't see. I can't surf the web, I can't read. I can't do anything! So...I clean. Clean my room, clean my fridge, clean my bathroom, clean my closets. Bored.

PRK Day 3: I wake up, and HOLY SHIT it's a miracle! I can see! I read EVERYTHING I am so freaking excited. LOOK...CLOCK!!! Of course...this might have been over-zealousness on my part because by noon...my eyesight deterioriates again, and I can not see so well again. :( I try to comfort self by saying that my eyeball cells are regenerating. But seriously, this SUCKS.

We go look at some houses with our realtor. I cannot recognize a freaking squirrel in the backyard. It is a sad day, and I am frustrated. I think the morning clarity was a bad call on my eyes' parts. Don't give me false hope like that.

Night time. I AM BORED SHITLESS. This is seriously sucky.

PRK Day 4: Monday morning, I wake up hoping against all hopes that I can see. Not so well. Definitely not well enough to drive. WTF. I decide to take another PTO. And then I feel guilty for taking PTO. Ugh. I hate when I do that.

And...I sleep some more.

And I do nothing because I cannot see.

And then in the middle of the day, probably because I have nothing else better to do, I panic and think that this will never get better. And I freak out and try desperately to read online about PRK and discover that hazing is a popular side effect. I FEEL LIKE I HAVE HAZING? Is this why I cannot see? Did I not take enough Vitamin C? Will I have hazing for the rest of my LIFE?! Will I ever see again?!?!

I have minor panic attack in the middle of the day. I send a couple of messages to random people. It's possible that I may puke.

And here I am now. Font 28. You are my savior.

We'll see how it goes tomorrow!

Posted by szujin at January 11, 2010 10:49 PM

Comments

Posted by: :P at January 12, 2010 03:07 AM

Posted by: fellow prker at January 17, 2010 09:17 AM

Posted by: Yang at February 8, 2010 08:34 AM

Posted by: PRK treatment Mountain View at March 3, 2010 08:03 PM

Posted by: Adrianne at April 2, 2010 07:34 AM

Posted by: AMC at July 16, 2010 12:13 PM

Posted by: Beth at November 29, 2010 05:40 PM

Posted by: Kat at January 10, 2011 11:34 PM

Posted by: Norma at March 4, 2011 06:53 AM

Posted by: Gin at June 12, 2011 11:33 PM

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