I had Lasik 9 months ago, and 2 days after surgery, they discovered a corneal infection. At first they weren't positive it was an infection, because it was the smallest they had seen. I was put on Amikacin and Cephazolin, a drop of each once per half hour during the day, and once per hour at night (along with the standard Tobradex dosage). Things seemed to worsen, and I was able to see the largest of the white spots on my eye by looking in the mirror. There were 3 or 4 spots, and two that were close to one another eventually grew together. Four and a half days after surgery, I stopped my drops for 6 hours, they relifted the flap, took cultures, irrigated, and applied antibiotic drops. In the days they were waiting for the culture results, the ophthalmologist said the infection might be bacterial, viral or fungal. Later, I was told nothing ever grew on the culture. If nothing grew on the culture, could it still be an infection? I asked the doctor why nothing would grow on the culture, and I was just told that they were sure it was a bacterial infection. I've heard that cell debris caught under the flap may continue to grow there. When that happens, does it look like an infection?

I was on drops about six weeks, with various application schedules. A couple of times, when they tried to back off on the drops, things looked like they might be starting to be active again, and they had to slow-down the "weaning" process. I'm extremely thankful the infection was caught so early, and scarring is very minimal. I'm just curious what caused the problem - sometimes the answers I get from the ophthalmologist seem a little evasive, and I'm curious what someone else might think.

thanks!

I got an answer to my question.