Hello, I'm 4-days post Zyoptix Wavefront:

Pre-Op:

Rt: -6.00 -0.5astig, 652 corneal thickness
Lt: -7.00 -0.75stig, 656 corneal thickness

Corrected with glasses or contacts to 20/20, 39 years old.

I am generally happy so far, 1-day post opp appointment I was still a bit blurry, but o.k. to drive. They put me around 20/40 at 1-day.

I'm now 4-days and not much has changed. I'm still fairly blurry, but functioning. Still doing all the drops required and taking it easy. If this is where I end up, I will be disappointed. It's hard to go from crisp with correction to blurry without. I feel I spent $3500 for a different prescription.

What are the chances my eyes improve from here, or at 4-days are things generally close to where they end up?? I realize I'm still healing, but do people improve significantly in the 1-2 week frame??

I'm only semi-comfortable driving this way, so I will likely ask for a week presciption at my 1-week check-up so I can drive with crisp vision.

-7.25 and -7.5 and it took about 6 weeks to see all the improvement. Mid range vision gets a lot better with time

So did you have similar "experience" shortly after ie.. in the 1-week timeframe?? Still somewhat blurry??

Just wondering if you were "close" to perfect then slight changes, or if the changes were truly gradual over several weeks.

I'm getting the feeling that the higher the correction, the longer it takes to "heal" and to stabilize??

You just got lasik and its not always the 15 minute miracle. If you end up a little undercorrected, id leave things be because at your age, youll need reading glasses very soon if not already. An undercorrection will keep you out of readers. Thats nice and somewhat unusual to be 20/20 with such a high glasses pescription due to the spectacle minification. Lasik has greatly reduced your dependancy on glasses and allowed you to function without them whereas you were "blind" before without glasses.

But the difference between 1 week and 6 weeks was dramatic.

Just ignore Ace. He's not in the business and hasn't had the surgery. Posting here just makes him feel like he knows something.

Well, tomorrow I go in for my 1-week, and it's still not good.

It's difficult to work, drive, etc...

Close is blurry, mid is blurry, and far is blurry. Not quite sure what to think.

There are times where it seems to be a bit better and I think " alright, we might finally be getting somewhere", then just as mysteriously as it improved, it gets worse again.

I'll keep you posted on what the Doc tells me tomorrow. One thing is for sure, I am not going to let them sit there and coach me until I can read a few of the lines they need me to read for their success statistics to stay high.

Getting worried.....

after the surgery.

But it's still early for you and you probably have a good case of dry eye. Don't be surprised if the Dr says to wait and be patient.

Well, I now have a glasses prescription and they already talked enhancement.....what a huge disappointment.

Right Eye Before:
-6.00 -0.50 astig
Right Eye After:
-1.25 -0.75 astig

Left Eye Before:
-7.00 -0.75 astig
Left Eye After:
-0.5 -0.75 astig

So, they really seemed to "miss" on my right eye, and did a better job on my higher prescription Left eye.

I am filling my glasses prescription since I am having a tough time at work and are not terribly comfortable driving as-is.

Almost forgot.

The DR. seemed genuinely surprised at my poor outcome. She mentioned possible collagen deposition on the healing layer, causing blurr.

Any opinions or ideas?? I was never clear, so they didn't try the "regression" explanation.

What should I be checking on, in deciding to do enhancement in 3-months. I have my doubts given this outcome.

The most you can normally expect from enhancement surgery is vision quality after surgery and without corrective lenses equal to what you see with glasses or contacts before surgery. If you vision quality is still poor with glasses, then enhancement surgery alone may not resolve the problem, however if the problem is related to epithelium damage or even something under the Lasik flap, then these may be resolved secondarily to the enhancement surgery.

Your refractive error before surgery was quite high and regression would be expected. You should probably wait 3-6 months to allow your eyes to stabilize.

When you get toward the time to have enhancement surgery, have a long heart-to-heart with your surgeon about exactly what result can be expected.

Glenn Hagele
http://USAEyes.org
Lasik Patient Advocacy & Surgeon Certification

I am not a doctor.

Lasik gives you vision at best that is equal to glasses. Lasik also reduces dependancy on glasses which was the case for you. Because you are only -.5 in the better eye, perhaps itll be left alone and only the -1.25 eye enhanced. This will give you very mild monovision and keep you out of readers a little longer. If you dont get enhanced, youll be glad not to need readers. Youd only need glasses for driving and occasional use with your very low prescription now. Before lasik your vision was about 20/1000!

Glenn,

Thanks for your feedback. I'm trying to figure out your message. Are you saying that if I don't see well with my "new" glasses, I shouldn't go through with the enhancement??

I had super sharp vision with my "old" glasses pre Lasik, and in the office yesterday, they seemed to be able to bring me back to seeing sharp when doing the refractive measurements to obtain my "new" prescription.

One interesting thing..... although my right eye prescription seemed to be higher yesterday, I'm not sure that's the real case. today my right eye vision seems sharper than my Left....go figure.

I have a feeling I'm still changing daily, and whatever prescription they wrote yesterday may or may not be very accurate.

I am going to have my prescription checked by an eyeglasses place on Monday just to be sure before I order my new lenses.

thanks, Brad

If you are able to see well with new glasses or contacts, then enhancement surgery may be appropriate.

If you are not able to see well with new glasses, then enhancement surgery alone would probably not resolve your poor vision.

If you are not able to see well with new glasses, but the doctor has diagnosed a problem that can be resolve at the same time as enhancement surgery, then enhancement surgery may be appropriate.

The fact that in the office the doctor was able to get you to good vision with lenses is a very strong indication that your problem is only refractive error and refractive error is what enhancement surgery is designed to resolve.

Regression is common for those who had high refractive error before surgery. Lasik induced temporary dry eyes is also relatively common after Lasik. Both regression and dry eyes can cause your vision to fluctuate and change. Remember, Lasik is more of a six month process than a 20 Minute Miracle.

Glenn Hagele
http://USAEyes.org
Lasik Patient Advocacy & Surgeon Certification

I am not a doctor.

It's interesting now. If I'm outside for a while in bright daylight, I would say my vision is great.
In my office, my vision is really bad. I don't know if there is a real fluorescent light effect or what. I do know that it is pretty dry due to heavy air exchange (I work in a Lab).

I am comfortable with my vision for most things, but not driving. I am really used to seeing very sharply when driving, and right now I don't have that.

I'm going to another OD tonight just to get a glasses script and some cheap glasses. I wanted to see what an "unbiased" OD had to say about where my vision was instead of only relying on the Lasik Centers opinion......

and I dont feel like my eyesight has gotten better or worse. I am still unhappy about my left eye as it seems a little fuzzy. My right eyes seems perfect. I keep hoping that it will improve over time. I can see wellk enough to drive, but with glasses, I could see clearer from furthur away.