First, please forgive me if this question is somewhat repetitive--I seek encouragement, info, and other's personal experiences if similar...having said that:

I had Custom Wavefront Intralase PRK from a very reputable doctor through a very well know LASIK group on Monday. My original prescription was approx -6.00 in one eye, -5.75 in the other...

The day after my procedure I was told I have approx 20/40 and 20/50. (This was very unrealistic in my opinion as I really had to squint desperately to get those results.

I know all about glare, halos, and foggy type vision that takes weeks and month to clear up..I am fine with this. Here is my concern..

After four days I am still unable to drive safely in that I simply cannot make out the road signs until they are VERY close. Speed limit signs are blurry until I am almost in front of them, directional signs are blurry until I am only a second or two away at highway speeds, and I can barely read the "Two Cars Per Green" sign even when I am right underneath it at a highway entrance. Street signs only become clear when I am right at the intersection. I would estimate my vision as being approx 20/70 in my clearer eye when I am seeing my best. The other eye is probably at least .25 diopter worse (I actually printed out an approved FAA chart and posted it on the wall twenty feet away with proper lighting to test myself)..

Based on the many experiences of I have read about people who have had between 20/20 and 20/50 the very next day after surgery, I am concerned that I should really be seeing clearer than this four days out, and that even if I am patient and allow my eyes the time to heal I know it will take, I am never going to get anywhere near 20/20.

I know enhancement is an option, but I am feeling concerned that my procedure was in some way faulty since my initial result is pretty far off the mark.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? Am I just being a total worry wart? Should I just be patient and see where I am in a few months, or does it seem like a legitimate concern?

Many thanks,
John

get temporary glasses. you may not even be legal to drive and certainly cant see well enough. See an optometrist and get a pescription and some temporary glasses while your eyes settle down. 4 days is still early

Interestingly, no one has answered my initial posting except our resident "expert", Ace. When I posted, I was experiencing the inital anxiety and panick that I know most people feel when they go in for LASIK expecting to see perfectly within days and then have to except the slow gradual healing process that is the true reality of the procedure. Even if I sounded a little whacky with my first posting, I was surprised no one offered me any encouragement. Oh well...
Anyway, my, as one would expect, I have already improved quite a lot, seeing at least 20/30 or better on the left, and the right, although lagging behind, is beginning to improve a bit as well. Its all a bit hazy, and lacking sharpness, but I know that will improve in time. I have my one week follow up tomorrow and will get true numbers then.
Ironically though, since my volunteer work involves a lot of driving, I may actually have to follow Ace's suggestion and get a pair of temporary glasses. It seems like throwing money away, but I have to be able to see road signs clearly in order to function for my work. My nighttime driving acuity, of course, is somewhat less (I mean roadsigns and such, not the annoying halos that I know will take months to go away)and I definitely will need some light glasses for that, be they temporary, or permanent, only time will tell on that one.

I must say, I am glad I found this forum as reading about all the other people who have had similar anxieties to myself after the procedure made me realize that despite my normal tendency to over react a bit about things, I am certainly not alone with my feeling about my LASIK and my impatience in wanting to see clearly right out of the chair, as it were.

Have a great day..
John

I also had custom PRK ... took me about 1 week to be able to drive .. but vision did not turn the corner till about 4 weeks ... I am seeing GREAT now .... seemed to clear up considerably after the 4 week mark .. and also after finished the steroid drops ....

I am glad to hear your vision is getting better. I am six weeks out from lasik and some days I can see pretty good and other days I cannot. My left eye has remained blurred. I contacted my doctor and he informed me that due to the amount of correction It will take several months to get my vision back. From what I have been reading it sounds like many people have this problem and it is encouraging to hear peoples vision does get better. It is hard to be optimistic when you can't see. Again, glad to hear you are getting better.

Is this lasik? or PRK? I thought Intralase was "laser" created flap and PRK was a flapless laser procedure.

Yes, you are correct. Not sure why I typed that except to say I was pretty nervous and anxious those first few days. My mistake. I had Intralase LASIK, NOT PRK.

I have that to some degree as well, William. Also my vision is definitely best in the morning and not as sharp by the end of the day. Also after I spend any amount of time on the computer or reading, I have trouble seeing clearly in the distance for the rest of the day.

I have very annoying ghosting in my right eye that occurs not only under artificial light sources, but can be especially annoying in sunlight. And especially around the color white. A man crossed the street in front of me today wearing a white shirt and to me he was all "aglow". It was so pronounced that I got nervous and contacted my doctor. I went to his office and he looked me over. H He sees nothing wrong at all and feels its either dryness in my eye or just part of the healing process. Next week when I return for my one month follow up he will do a wavefront analysis to see how the shape of the eye looks. He reassures me that I am doing very well so far and that in the unlikely case that I do have some abberations after the three month healing period that continue to cause this situation in my right eye, that he can correct it.
Overall, my anxiety level is decreasing and I am learning to really appreciate my "new eyes". I suspect you'll come to feel the same way in the end as well. We just need to be patient, as difficult as that might be.

Hang in there and thanks for the well wishes..
J.

My right eye improved from 20/40 to 20/30 and my left from 20/25 to 20/20 since my one month checkup. Things do get better with time. My Doctor, who does more than internet research, thinks my right eye will continue to improve. He thinks that with a correction from -6.75 three months isn't the end of healing.

David I have a question may be you can answer or anybody who can answer just reply. My vision
regression is going on. My LASIK was done on Jan 19, 2006 and my prescription was -8.75 and .50 cylinder
and 5.75 and 1.50 cylinder. Now it is 10 weeks old. Today my prescription is -2.00 & -2.25
with .75 cylinder on right eye. Is there any chance that my eyes will heal or because the number
is increasing there is no chance of improvement.

Many surgeons recommending using anti-inflammatory eye drops like prednisone when patients are having regression - so please ask your surgeon about this option. As well - two studies have shown that the addition of restasis can help reduce the chance of regression. One study was by Marguerite McDonald, and the other was by David Schanzlin.
So ask your doctor about both - and also be patient - just because you are undercorrected today doesn't mean that your eye can't turn around. I have seen this happen plenty of times - especially with the use of steroids eye drops, restasis, and punctal plugs.

Best regards

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL