Hi,
I had my lasik done about 3 weeks back. On the next day of my surgery, I was dianosed with Sands of Sahara and given topical steroids to be put every hour. My vision worsened as the cells moved from the periphery towards the central axis of the cornea and it required a flap lift and cleaning. At that time, my vision had deteroiated to 6/60.

During the cleaning, I was informed that i had Corneal scarring too. The scarring is supposed to be mild (On a scale of 0 to 10, 10 being highest, I was told that the scarring was about 3, with my left eye being worse than my right). Also, the scarring is right at the center of my vision axis. I was asked to continue with the topical steroid eyedrops and the frequency. My eyesight has marginally improved and my doc says that the scar will completely heal and i will have near normal vision again.

At this present time, I am unable to read or see clearly. My vision is blurry and there is no focus of the image.

My questions are:
1) Does the cornea heal ever?
2)Will my vision be normal again?
3)What kind of time frames will this healing process take?

Thanks

Amit

I had my surgery five weeks ago. At three weeks, significant haze was still present beneath the flap of the right eye and the doctor lifted and irrigated it, thinking debris was causing the haze to form. My vision became even foggier and is just now improving with steroid drops. However, I continue to have hazy vision and ghosting in that eye, although the left one is perfect. Did anyone else experience this, and did it ever dissipate? I can't get a firm prognosis from my doctor.

Amit,

I had Grade 4 Sands 2.5 years ago, and had seven subsequent surgeries to try to repair the damage. I actually just posted about this on Surgical Eyes today, because I got some good news recently.

My original surgeon made the mistake of enhancing my Sands eye 8 weeks out, because it had become very hyperopic (+6). I had scarring and wrinkling of my cornea, and he tried to remove the wrinkles, but was not able to. I had three relifts by another surgeon 5 months out--not successful. Another surgeon tried swelling the flap with sterile water, and that did not help either. At eight months out, I began wearing an RGP contact lens because the irregular astigmatism was not correctable with glasses, and with that I achieved 20/40 vision. I had another surgery last October, which was PTK to smooth out the wrinkles with a laser. My new surgeon is experienced with PTK and he did a great job. My eye is now correctable to 20/20 with glasses and only has regular astigmatism. The bad news is that because my original surgeon did the enhancement way too soon, he overcorrected me and the eye is now at -2.25. I can't tolerate glasses because of the disparity between my two eyes, so for now I'm stuck with the contact lens.

My cornea was very thin for a long time after the Sands disappeared, but the good news is that it measures about 50-60 microns thicker now. This change occurred AFTER the two year mark. I was told that my cornea is secreting collagen in an attempt to repair itself. I didn't know this was a possibility, so I am really shocked.

My point in posting all of this is to tell you that I do have to wear an RGP lens still, but my vision is excellent with it. All of the haze is completely gone. There is just a shadow of a wrinkle remaining, so I can offer you hope that your corneas will eventually improve. Give it lots of time, and don't allow any enhancements for at least a year because your eyes may change as they heal. My Sands was as bad as it gets, and I can see clearly again. If you ever want to discuss this with me, my e-mail is .