Post LASEK - worried at lack of progress

Porkpie

I had LASEK done on 12th October (Laservision, John Fenton) and 8 days post op I'm concerned at how slow the progress is. Before the surgery I was about -3 in both eyes. Vision improved gradually for a couple of days after the procedure, then deteriorated slightly, and improved again over the weekend. But I haven't noticed it any better since then. So overall there has been an improvement in vision but it hasn't been half as impressive as I thought it would be.

Vision is currently better in the right eye than the left, which is still fairly blurry. I had a check up last Friday, John assured me everything was fine, I have another appointment this Thursday and I'm sure he'll try to reassure me further, but I remain concerned, especially as there has been no improvement since the weekend.

I'm just wondering how long it took other people to see a significant increase in their quality of vision after LASEK. I know some say that it took them a few weeks for their sight to be 100%, but I was under the impression that after a week my sight would be better than this. At the moment I don't feel it safe to drive, can't enjoy tv, I can only read when the page is right up to my nose, and I'm squinting as I type this!

Laservision advise to take a week off work but I think that's a bit misleading as I'm back now and, while there is no longer any pain or discomfort, I can't function properly due to my poor vision. I hope I'm not one of the small percentage they don't want you knowing about

glaston

Sounds very similar to the situation I was in.
I had Lasek in early August, about -5.5 in both eyes. Recovery seemed very slow, not helped by the fact that a few Lasek people in my workplace recovered much faster (dont even talk to Lasik people they will just depress you :rolleyes:)

After 10 days I went back to work but I wasnt too comfortable with driving. Even when I blinked my vision would change momentarily. Using a PC for long periods was difficult, reading and videogames were a no no. Two weeks passed and still the same.

The good news is that things have changed greatly since. When I went back to the clinic for my 3 week check up they said my eyes had healed very well but that there was dry spots on the surface. I was told to keep using the artelac drops for lubrication but was also given systane and liposic for night. These really helped.

I'm due for the 3 monthly check up in a few weeks. Both eyes have settled. My right is probably down to about 0.0, the left is probably about -0.75. I'm happy with this.

Try not to worry too much, everybody heals differently and I dont think a long healing time necessarily means a poor outcome.

Good luck.

BC

Also sounds similar to my experience.
I had lasek done last November/December.
I had the two eyes done separately with a two week gap between them. When the second eye was done, I was still quite blurry in the 1st eye.
It took about 3 weeks before i was comfortable with the vision (i.e no blurryness and able to see the PC okay at work) and really it was about 6 weeks before I got 20/20 vision.

Porkpie

Thanks guys, your posts have eased my mind a lot. Will post again in the next few days to let ye know how I'm getting on

jimmay

I had LASEK end of Aug in LaserVision and I'm so happy with the results. My vision didn't heal in one of my eyes quite as quick as the other or as fast as I thought it would. I was worried slightly too, it's natural but be patient, i know it may be hard but your eyes will settle. The guys in there are great anyway and you are in great hands. Best of luck.

And just saw you only had op 12th Oct. I would definitely not worry. My eyes took 2-3 weeks to completely settle and as you know and have been informed they continue settling after that even.

mega man

Porkpie wrote: »

I had LASEK done on 12th October (Laservision, John Fenton) and 8 days post op I'm concerned at how slow the progress is. Before the surgery I was about -3 in both eyes. Vision improved gradually for a couple of days after the procedure, then deteriorated slightly, and improved again over the weekend. But I haven't noticed it any better since then. So overall there has been an improvement in vision but it hasn't been half as impressive as I thought it would be.

Vision is currently better in the right eye than the left, which is still fairly blurry. I had a check up last Friday, John assured me everything was fine, I have another appointment this Thursday and I'm sure he'll try to reassure me further, but I remain concerned, especially as there has been no improvement since the weekend.

I'm just wondering how long it took other people to see a significant increase in their quality of vision after LASEK. I know some say that it took them a few weeks for their sight to be 100%, but I was under the impression that after a week my sight would be better than this. At the moment I don't feel it safe to drive, can't enjoy tv, I can only read when the page is right up to my nose, and I'm squinting as I type this!

Laservision advise to take a week off work but I think that's a bit misleading as I'm back now and, while there is no longer any pain or discomfort, I can't function properly due to my poor vision. I hope I'm not one of the small percentage they don't want you knowing about

dont worry, i had it done before, took over 2 weeks to fully recover. it was scary cause i didnt think it would take so long.

mikeystipey

see all the positive replies on here dude...now do you believe me :rolleyes:

Laser surgery has given me 20/20 vision and maybe even better...I would say though that Laservision don't quite paint the picture of how long the initiall recovery period is. They recommend a week off work after the surgery and sometimes even less, but AT LEAST a week is needed in some cases and I wouldn't schedule any huge deadlines for the first week back in work either. Other than that I couldn't really fault Laservision (but everyone has their own personal experience)

gipi

glaston wrote: »

Sounds very similar to the situation I was in.
I had Lasek in early August, about -5.5 in both eyes. Recovery seemed very slow, not helped by the fact that a few Lasek people in my workplace recovered much faster (dont even talk to Lasik people they will just depress you :rolleyes:)

If it makes you feel better glaston, I had Lasik 14 months ago and still don't have clear vision! Going back for a 3rd round of surgery on one eye next week!!

Porkpie

Gipi,

Sorry to hear that. From what I've heard, LASEK seems to be safer as it's a less invasive procedure. I'm only discovering now how slow the recovery period is and how much patience you need!

I think I'm noticing a slight improvement now. I had a check up yesterday in Laservision and the consultant was pleased with my progress. Just looking forward to the day when I can enjoy looking at tv and reading!

glaston

gipi wrote: »

If it makes you feel better glaston, I had Lasik 14 months ago and still don't have clear vision! Going back for a 3rd round of surgery on one eye next week!!

Sorry to hear that.
Are both eyes impacted?
What kind of reassurances are you getting from the doctor?
Let us know how you get on. Hope it works out.

gipi

Thanks Glaston - no, it's only one eye, but it happens to be my dominant eye (I don't have binocular vision), so it's very disconcerting - I've actually got to turn my right eye to see clearly through my left!

I was longsighted, and the first surgery overcorrected to leave me short sighted. It didn't come back to 0 after 6 months, hence the 2nd surgery. That left a haze on the cornea (very rare with Lasik, more common with Lasek) which took 3 months of steroid drops to clear. The surgery also "overshot" again, so I'm back to being long sighted! The consultant was confident that he'd get it to 0 this time - fingers crossed!

I'll report back when it's all over!

Thanks porkpie, I did speak to someone who had Lasek, and had to stay in bed for 5 days with both eyes covered - but once everything settled, she had perfect vision and was delighted with the results!