My wife and I had Lasik two weeks ago in Charlotte after receiving glowing reports of our daughter's Lasik surgery in Atlanta.
Anyway we had the procedure done on a B&L machine and began administering tears and went back to the hotel room. We administered more tears over the next 30-45 minutes or so and then laid down and went to sleep. When I woke up it felt like my flap had grown to my eyelids. This must be normal, I thought. I blinked and they came free. More tears administered continuously and regularly. No history of dry eyes for me or spouse, BTW. I noted that my wife could read signs out of the hotel room window that I couldn't. Sure enough at the checkup next AM both my flaps had moved and the surgeon was distressed, as was I. I then went in for a refloating and ironing (little round device placed over my flap periodically), and contacts placed OU.

Next day results were OK, except the right one had moved again. (BTW, we wore plastic shields while sleeping all during this period, as required). So, after a few days I go back in for a refloat of the right eye. Left one's OK he says "pretty decent" were the words. This time he uses the little iron and then the application of warm water, then more ironing, stroking, and even warmer water, more stroking, and finally a contact. Next morning things looked good from my side of the eyeball. I checked out at 20/25 with no blurriness or double images like I'd had. I was very happy.

Well I've kind of slid downhill since then (5 days ago). Vision is blurry OU and the double images have returned OD and there is some OS. I have surmised that due to the multiple traumas my eyes have been through that there is some swelling that may be causing this. I know the flap OD was stroked a lot and must have suffered from it. I also wonder if cellular ingrowth could be causing the blurriness. I rest my eyes frequently and apply tears.

I am returning to Charlotte, (from Durham,NC) area for a checkup tomorrow. My doctor says he will do an epithelial scrape next, and then the suturing if that does not work, although he says he has only sutured one in his career. I appreciate his frankness and patience thus far. Is all this going as it should go? Should I go see a stria expert in the Charlotte/Raleigh/Durham area?

Our original Lasik procedures were done on June 30. Wife is not happy with her vision. We both see double white lines on the side of the road while going around curves, and anything white on a dark background gives double and blurred images. Speed limit signs are a good example.

I keep thinking that if we had stayed awake and administered copious tears for 3-4 hours after the operation we would not be having these problems. Is there such a thing as too much artificial tears post op?

Didn't mean to get into posting my life and times here, but my two basic questions above are: Is my treatment going as it should; and should I go see a striae expert? If so, who? Professional advice and referral info welcome.
Thanks,
Mike

My thanks to all of you to giving your time and expertise to this forum. I know you do not hear thank you often enough.

"Knowledge, my dear sir, should be free."
Harry Mudd, Stardate 3093.6

Thank you,
Mike

I personally favor flap suturing over epithelial scraping, as I think there are more problems with epithelial scraping. The most common problem is that the epithelial scarping results in an epithelial defect, and this can lead to inflammation under the flap (called DLK). This can be very problematic.
Instead, flap suturing can be very straightforward. There are many surgeons who your doctor can contact (including myself) to go over things, but basically it is applying the general skills that eye surgeons already have - which is suturing the eye.
I have been involved in 6 cases of flap suturing, and the results have been wonderful, with improvement in every case. The key is to fix flap problems soon (over the course of a few weeks) before the flap striae/wrinkles set in.

I wish you the best of luck

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL
ext 1200

Went back to the doctor for checkup as stated above. He observed what he called baby striae OD and even less OS. Vision was down a little OS, but I saw 20/25 OU. He said we should leave the right eye alone for the time being as it has been worked over pretty good. On the day of the checkup, driving down, vision seemed to be a tad better, subjectively. In the last few days since checkup, both mine and spouse's vision seem to be improving. I have a "no trespassing" sign on a building out back that I use as a quick check from time to time. Double white lines and ghost images seem to be subsiding. Getting used to reading glasses. BTW,I am 60yowm and spouse is 57. Both of us myopes. Drove to the store, one mile away last night for the first time. More of a problem than I thought it would be. Lights appear somewhat larger and "grainier". Chartreuse school sign seemed to glow more than it should. I expect night vision will eventually improve some too. All I can say for both of us is, so far so good. Vision seems to improve a tiny bit each day. Still using tears Forte regularly and wearing polarized UVAB sunglasses and a hat when outside. I have been pleased with the concern, care, and patience of my doctor. We were beginning to think we had really messed up by having lasik surgery. It will require some lifestyle changes but we are coping.
Thanks!
Mike

My vision seems to be improving, if ever so slightly. I still see double white lines alongside the road while driving, especially on curves. Sometimes my vision seems watery and bleary, like when one first puts on contact lenses.
I notice that looking at the treeline I can see a faint image just above it. This means I have a primary image and a "ghost" image of everything I look at, which explains why things go downhill in poor light, as the difference between the two images perhaps becomes less and it becomes more difficult for my brain to sort the images. I am still using artificial tears--I have found that Refresh Tears work best with me. I give my eyes a good drink first thing every morning of several drops each. Then repeat again in a few minutes and throughout the day. I still notice variations in vision. Sometimes I say "Oh hell, what have I done!", and other times I can see well and almost jump for joy. In addition, I think my brain may be learning to supress the ghost images.

I wonder if there is a way of using corneal mapping software to feed a laser to burn off a micron or two. Seems like a few treatments like this might be a way to get rid of or minimize striae. Just thinking out loud.

My wife goes for an enhancement OS next month, which is supposed to bring her up to 20/25 or so from 20/40. I will just have a checkup. Another update in a few weeks.
Thanks! Any comments appreciated.

hello my name is michael I am 5 days post op and very dry, using genteal lube every half hour. I can see great outdoors during the day, but having starburst on reflected sunlight on shiny objects. vision is terrible at night, very blury and huge starbursts on all points of light. my pre op was -7.25 and -6.75 myopia with moderate stigmatism in both eyes. I went to tlc in Texas. They used a tracking laser w/topography software to perform procedure. Now I can see roughly 20/40 in both eyes but can see 20/25 in both eyes with the aide of a device in which I look through a small hole in a black plastic shield. my doc says that my eyes look great and keep using the lube drop. just wondering what you thought about my starbursting at night and double vision on high contrast images.

To the previous poster, Michael, if you were talking to me and not one of the doctors, let me hasten to tell you I am not an eye doctor. I work with blind people and have learned something about the eye. Given that, a few comments: I don't know your age, but I suspect that younger people and especially those with lower prescriptions do best with this kind of surgery. Nevertheless, at this point I think staying in touch with your doctor and patience are the best course of action. I went through the same symptoms you describe, with feathery reflections, starbursts, etc., and at one point thought driving at night was a thing of the past. With time, that has changed, and driving at night now I would say is 95% as comfortable as before.

Now, as for my life and times, or at least for my wife and I both, we returned Monday, Jan 28, 2002 for a checkup. My wife had had enhancement surgery before Christmas and is doing well. Vision checked out at 20/25+ with no further enhancements indicated for the time being. It being winter, we have both had drier eyes and had to hit the drops. She has occasional blurriness of vision but all in all V is much improved.

As for yours truly, who had flap displacement OU, considerable improvement was noted. Seeing 20/25+OU and a significant decrease in ghost image above the treeline outdoors and double images on traffic signs. Only today did I notice once a faint double white line on the asphalt on the freeway. I am quite pleased at this point, and although my doctor says things should be stable from now on, I expect to see very small improvements as I go along. An enhancement may be way down the road for me, but for now I have very high functional vision and I can wear any kind of fancy sunglasses I want! It is still kind of odd to walk out in the rain and not have to worry about water on my eyeglasses.

I have noticed that my eyes are quite dry upon awakening, but a few drops in each eye cures that. I suspect I was that way before the surgery and that that was normal for me. I have read that older folks produce less secretions such as those for lubricating the eye, mucous, etc. Therefore, older people might well be advised to use copious drops post op for at least 2 weeks before tapering off.
Next report in 2 months. Keep yer fingers crossed!

Mike and Louise

Hi,

Can anyone explain to me what in the procedure causes wrinkles.

It has been 6 months and from what I read on the forum, I probably shouldn't complain. Left eye is perfect. Right eye has striae and I would say is a combination of slight astig. with feeling of far sightedness. I wish it was like my left eye but maybe its not worth the risk if I am seeing out of it?

Thanks for any info,
Charles

Wrinkles can occur for a number of reasons but it simply has to do with the flap not laying smoothly over the underlying corneal bed. This happens more commonly with high prescriptions, infections, inflammations, swelling, and poor alignment. If you are ever going to consider eliminating the striae in your right eye, the sooner the better, only in that long standing striae are much more difficult to remove. At 6 months, it will certainly require a bit of effort.

Hope this helps.

Patrick Chin, MD
Westwood, NJ

Thank you - I appreciate it.

I tried some weeks ago to post a lengthy denoument to mine and my wife's course of lasik eye surgery, but somewhere near the end I must have hit a wrong button and lost everything.

So, I will summarize. Louise's (wife's) vision has stabilized at 20/20 with occasional blurriness when eyes become dry due to air conditioning, indoor winter heating, and mild dehydration. We both still use Refresh Tears for these occasions but are finding ourselves gradually tapering off. She is pleased with her surgery and current vision. No enhancement or other procedure anticipated.

Yours truly has stabilized at 20/25+ and slid slightly back to myopehood, which gives me a tad of reading vision, but reading glasses are still more comfortable. An enhancement may be in the offing for me down the road. Only downside right now, outside of having to carry around drops and reading glasses--is that I've taken up the game of golf, and every once in a while I really tag the ball. Sometimes under those conditions I lose track of the ball. My partner (son)always helps me track it down though. I exchange emails with my ophthalmologist from time to time. He is now starting his own practice in Charlotte. I plan to go by and thank him personally.

Final question that spouse and I asked ourselves a few months ago: Knowing what we know now, would we have had the procedure done?
Answer: A measured yes, although we had our doubts in the beginning. We saw some pictures of ourselves wearing our Rx glasses preop and were both struck by how 1950's we looked.

Take care, and once again, thank you all.

Mike and Louise