I had Lasik done just over 2 weeks ago. I know I'm still in the healing process, but my gut is telling me that what I'm experiencing isnt normal, although the Lasik place keeps telling me it is. I have severe bluriness (I think they under corrected), to the point where I dont feel comfortable driving anymore. I have severe night blindness, to the point where I cannot drive at night anymore. I see halos, ghosting, etc. My left eye is much better than my right, and due to the difference, I get headaches now. I have had a headache for going on 2 weeks straight. I also have eye pain in my right eye.

I feel sorry for my husband because I'm so frustrated with this, and he doesnt know what to do. He just doesnt understand what I'm feeling right now and I understand that, so that is why I'm here. Is it too soon to worry? I know about 12 people that have had this procedure done, and every one of them said they could see just fine the minute the left the clinic, and they had no complications. I'm depressed, and I cry a lot these days because I've lost my independence....I'm hoping I'm worrying prematurely and they can still heal? Or if they havent healed by now, they arent going to?

Advice from anyone would be nice please! Thank you!

Ruth

Welcome, Ruth.
You are very early in the healing process. Many people experience great improvement during the first six months, so it's probably too early to tell what your final results will be. However, this board is filled with stories like yours, including my own. My vision was so poor the first week, I thought I'd be blind and unable to work. My night vision is terrible, and my dim light vision is very poor.

In the event that your vision does not improve, the most common rehab treatment is a rigid gas permeable contact lens (RGP), but it must be fitted by an expert fitter. An RGP can correct most of the aberrations and provide clear vision. VSRN can help you find an expert fitter, but they are few and far between.

In the meantime, you are not alone. Your husband has no frame of reference to understand what you are seeing and why you are so worried. Our image gallery located on our site at http://www.visionsurgeryrehab.org/imagegallery.html has lots of pictures representing the spectrum of visual issues we face, and might be of some help in getting him to understand.

I'll leave the clinical aspects of this to more qualified individuals, but in the short term, a soft contact lens with correction for the weaker eye may be able to provide you relief for the imbalance. Feel free to print out images from the image gallery to take to your surgeon. You may need to have glasses made to allow you to drive. I have glasses for close work, computer monitor distance for work, distance for driving and sunglasses for driving. I deliberately bought the kind of frames for the close and computer glasses that have magnetic sunglass attachments. Not great, but better than nothing. I found that a grey/red tint in my sunglasses sharpened the view.

Sorry for such a lengthy post. It's too early to know what your final result will be, but I don't want to give you false hope, either.

Thank for your advice. I know it is still early in the game, but it's heartbreaking for me to hear everyoe say they were good immediately after, and weeks later, my vision has not improved at all and I am in pain. I truly hope I'm just overreacting too early and I'll be fine in a few months, but I'm stil worried. I never in a million years thought this would affect my life the way it has. I have to rely on my husband for everything now, and every time I talk the doctors they say there is nothing they can do for me right now because I'm still healing....so I'm just supposed to live with the pain and the like.

I'm glad I found this board as a reference and for advice. You are truly appreciated by me.

Thank you!

Dear NorCalMrs,

I am new to the group and just posted my first message today on the main board.

I read your post and just wanted to see how you are doing. You and I had our surgeries close to the same dates.

I hope things have improved for you.

All the best,

Rob

Hi Rob,

Well, I dont know where to begin! We did have our surgeries around the same time, and I am still experiencing issues to this day. My vision during the day in bright light has gotten MUCH better. But I still havent driven at night, and at this point, unless things change, never will again. I have dry eye, but not nearly as bad as it was immediately after the surgery. I still rely on eye drops, but only a few times a day rather than a few times an hour.

My vision in my right eye is still bad. My left eye is near perfect during the day only. I have halos and ghosting at night and my clarity is horrible. I'm still depressed by it all. I wish so badly that I could to back in time and take it all back. Like you said in your other post, I would give anything to have my perfect vision back with contacts or glasses again. I often think, what have I done? Am I going to be like this for the rest of my life? Never to drive again at night? I'm dealing with it a little better than I did before. It has impacted my social life a great deal and I had to drop out of school because I couldnt drive myself at night anymore.

I apologize if I'm rambling.....as with my streak of luck in LASIK, I just got back from vacation in Hawaii....where we had an earthquake and lost power...I just cant win!

What symptoms did you have immediately after surgery, and have they gotten any better at all with time? I'd be happy to chat with you about it.....

I hope things get better for you soon...please let me know how things go.

Ruth

Dear Ruth:

After I long hiatus I am starting to visit this website again to see whether I can help. My specialty is the lacrimal system and the dry eye and had spent two years researching the problems caused by LASIK and other types of refractive surgery.

Better vision in bright light: this is often caused by the small pupil size which by itself is able to focus the image on the retina despite possible problems in corneal refraction.

How bad is the vision in your right eye? Have you been examined since the surgery?

Who is doing your postsurgical follow-up? The surgeon? An in-house optometrist? or a third party?

What eye drops have you been using and have you used ointments since surgery?

It is a good sign that your dry eye symptoms are improving. I would guess that something will have to be done about your right eye. It would be nice to get a diagnosis of what is wrong with the cornea now!

Sorry for butting in but it appears that you may need help. It is still early but it is never early to find out whether there is anything wrong that could be corrected.

Bad timing for a visit to Oahu but again who can see into the future?

Dr. Holly

Dum spiro, spero!

You are not butting in,....any advice is greatly appreciated! Well, I have been in 3 times since my surgery to the clinic I had it done at. I have never been seen by the surgeon, only by the in house optometrists. My problem is that they dont tell me anything. They dont tell me numbers, figures, facts, only that I see 20/20 and time will heal all. Should I ask them to fax me a copy of my medical record? I cant get any answers out of them. I can tell you it's a very well known clinic, but I feel so disappointed by them. The day I had my surgery, their air conditioning had broken and they were rushing everyone through saying they had to get everyone in before the laser overheated and shut off. So, I felt like I was rushed through with no explanation, no nothing. Before I knew it I was on the table and they were beginning and now I wish I had spoken up, but I thought they wouldnt do this if it wasnt safe right? wrong. They didnt give me my post op instructions until after I had done the procedure and by then I was in so much pain I couldnt do anything but sit there in disbelief that all of this was happening.

I am using Bausch and Lomb preservative free eye drops called moisture eyes. That is it. I did have the antibiotic and steriod drops but only used those for the 5-7 days they told me to, and quit when they said I could quit. The only thing I've gotten out of them is that my flaps are healing normally and my corneas are clear. I think this is where my frustration comes in is that they dont explain anything to me and I dont know what questions I'm supposed to be asking. I just know my right eye experiences pain periodcially to the point where I wince and stop what I'm doing. The vision is blurry in that eye, and tends to flucuate a lot. I'm trying to be patient because they keep telling me they cant do anything for 3-6 months until the eye has time to heal, then they can tell me if there is anything further they can do.

What questions should I be asking them? What steps do I take from here? The only thing that really concerns me is my vision at night...they said it could take a year before that could clear up....I just dont see how any of this is normal when everyone else I know was fine immediately after with no complication. I understand everyone heals differently, but to me, this isnt normal.

Sorry to ramble yet again...I'll just be happy with any advice you can give me. Thank you so much!

Ruth,

By ALL means, request complete copies of all of your records, including COLOR topographies. The laser center is required by law (HIPAA) to provide you with a copy of everything. Do not be intimidated by them, and when you ask, be polite and calm. Put it in writing, and ask specifically when you can expect them to send them to you. Specify that you want COLOR copies of your topographies.

Second, you might want to insist that the surgeon see you. The optometrists generally don't know what else to say other than "your flaps look great" and "healing takes time." I'm still waiting, after five years, for the healing to be done!!!

My favorite comment from the co-managing OD, when I was unable to read anything on the chart, was "you can't possibly be seeing that way." Really????? I must have been delusional. He hadn't a clue what he was looking at when he was looking at my messed up eyes.

I know this sounds silly, but once you get to see the surgeon, ask him/her, "Why, exactly, am I seeing so poorly?" There will be no mistake about what you are asking. If you are having dry eye issues, ask for a Schirmer's test. Make sure that when you go for an exam, they do NOT use the autorefractor, but do a complete refraction ("which is better, 1 or 2?"). I went over the course of a week for a series of refractions at different times of day, and every one of them was different and not good.

What was your pre-op correction? What are your pupil measurements in both bright light and total darkness, and were they measured with a Colvard pupilometer, or with a ruler in a dimly lit room? Have you tried using Alphagan P or dilute Pilocarpine drops to shrink your pupils at night? These both constrict the pupils, so if they help, it's a pretty good bet that your pupils are larger than the ablation zone. (My optical zone is only 3.4 mm, my pupils in darkeness are just over 7mm. Even in broad daylight, bright sunlight, they are 3.9 an 4.2, which accounts for why I always have glare and what we call "sparkebursts" during the day.

Instead of going to the co-managing OD, you may wish to get a second opinion from another OD experienced in complications management, and who doesn't work for or with any Laser center. Email me at info@visionsurgeryrehab.org and I may be able to help you with a referral to and expert. They are few and far between!

If, in fact, your night vision disturbances do not clear up, the most effective way to restore clear vision is with RGP prosthetic lenses, contact lenses that are custom designed to fit your aberrated corneas. Again, I may be able to help you locate an expert lens fitter.

In the meantime, DO get your medical records as soon as possible. And do not give up.

Welcome back Dr. Holly! We've missed you!

Hi Ruth,

I'm glad to see that you are getting some more advice from these kind folks. I will be borrowing some of the suggestions for myself.

It sounds like you and I have some similar things going on with the night vision, but your right eye should definitely be getting some special attention. I hope that Barbara can help find you an expert soon.

If you want to read my other post on the board, I have given another update to my situation. No improvement yet with the night vision, but the dryness has subsided. This was in part due to applying night time ointments in my eyes, and ultimately having silicon plugs implanted in my tear ducts to stop the tears from draining.

Let's keep be sure to subscribe to eachother's posts so we can keep up on both boards.

Hang in there...I'm hanging in there with you.

Rob

Thanks Rob, I appreciate the support. I will go read your other posts to keep up with how you are doing as well. Thanks Barbara, your support has been awesome as well. I'm so glad I found this board!!

Hi Ruth,

Just checking in with you. Any changes?

Hoping you have some improvements.

Best,

Rob

Thanks for checking in. I had an appt on the 27th for my almost 2 month follow up. They finally admitted that they undercorrected my right eye (I've been telling them this from day 1 and they said I was wrong). They told me I could have an "enhancement"....um, no thank you. So...my only other option is glasses. I dont need the correction all the time, just when driving, etc., so contacts are overkill. They said the glasses may also help my night blindness. I doubt it, but I am going to make an eye appt in a few weeks to see if it helps any. I figure it may help with the clarity of words, etc...but not halos and such.

I was just so relieved they admitted my eye was undercorrected to me and I could feel a bit validated in what I was saying to them all along. I'm taking it one day at a time.

How about you? How are you doing and how are your eyes progressing?

Ruth,

An expertly fitted RGP contact lens is your best bet for correcting the night blindness and haloes, etc. No pair of glasses will take them away, and at least in my case, the glasses tend to make the haloes and starbursts worse, although the ghosting is not as bad. I cannot wear any kind of contact lens due to physical damage to my left eye during my second surgery.

If you should decide to look into RGPs, please email me at info@visionsurgeryrehab.org and I can get you a referral to an excellent fitter in your general area.

Hi Ruth,

Wondering how you've been doing. You and I had our surgeries around the same time.

Any progress? Hoping so.

Best,

Rob

Hi Rob! How are your eyes doing? I'm curious to find out!

My eyes for right now are *ok*. That is about all I can say. My vision has stablilized. My eyes are only dry when I wake up in the morning. They dont bother me all that much. I have to wear glasses in any condition where the lighting is poor, but it does correct the blurriness, so that was a blessing. I can drive at night at least. I say they are only ok because they have been goopy lately when I wake up and blurry, and I've still had some pain in my right eye that caused me all of the trouble after surgery.

I havent been back in to the doctor in a few months, so I will be making an appt to have this all checked out.

So, please, do tell what you've been up to and how you are doing?

Ruth

Hi Ruth,

I am so glad to hear that you are having improvements. With as much as you went through, it's inspiring to hear this. I hope your remaining issues continue to improve. Thanks for getting back to me with the good news.

Unfortunately, I don't have a positive message to report for myself. While my vision is 20/20, I continue to be haunted everyday by halos, starbursts, sensitivity to bright daylight, and dryness. I honestly don't know how I've been able to deal with this for 9 months now. I'm pretty much in a desperate state right now and feel like hope has truly run out for any natural improvement. Even though my butcher (cough), I mean surgeon beats the same drum over and over again that things will improve and that I have no abberations to address. There is no remorse, no apologies (that would imply fault) from them. Their second in command's only recommendation was to try different tinted sunglasses for driving at night. Can you believe that? He said that RGP lenses would most likely not help me, but to try if I felt like it.

So, I'm finally in contact with some expert RGP lense fitters that Barbara referred and I'm setting up appointments to get evaluated. I'm actually feeling scared to do this in fear that I'll learn the worst, that RGP lenses won't help me. I just can't imagine how I'll be able to deal with it if that's the case. But, I am hoping. Barbara has been great as usual.

I'll keep you posted.

Best,

Rob

Thanks for the update Rob. I'm so sorry things are not going well for you. I truly hope things improve for you. I cannot leave my house without sunglasses on during the day, and if someone is standing in front of a window for example, I cannot see them clearly at all...so there are still a few things I'm dealing with. I got the same response you did from my surgeon as well. Well, I dont see the surgeon when I go in, I see one of the eye doctors there, if you can even call them that. They are of no help whatsoever, so I can totally sympathize with you there. They tell me I'm fine, I shouldnt complain. Well, they told me I would be 20/20, and I'm not...so they lied, and they make no apologies either.

I ended up having to go to another eye doctor who also specialized in Lasik, so he helped me a lot because he knew he had nothing to lose with me. He did try to talk me into an "enhancement" through his clinic, but once he knew I was NOT going to do that, he backed off and really helped. So, maybe, hopefully you will find someone like that as well to help you?

I'm here to listen and help out in any way I can, so please feel free to send me a private message or post here if you need to talk.

Keep me updated Rob. Good luck...I have my fingers crossed for you!

Ruth