Sharon Fontaine
My name is Sharon, I am 45 years old and live in Massachusetts. My vision was originally measured at -7.00 with a tiny astigmatism in my left eye and -6.50 in my right with no astigmatism. My pupils were of normal size and did not affect my surgery outcome.

My local eye specialist suggested that I look into having PRK surgery. She thought I would be a good candidate. After waiting a year, in April of 1998 I decided to look into this procedure. She never suggested LASIK. I sometimes wish that she had because I think this may have been less aggressive to my cornea. I could be wrong.

On my first visit I was given a video showing the wonders of PRK highlighting a local sports caster who had the surgery done and had wonderful results. I made the appointment for the complete testing of my eyes. The surgeon was reputable, a chief refractive eye surgeon. He told me that I was a good candidate and asked which eye I wanted to have treated first. I said my left eye since it's vision was the worst. He told me that I would be farsighted and would probably need reading glasses to read. That was fine with me. He told me that the complete recovery could take 3 months. He also told me that I could possibly have my second eye done as soon as a month from my first eye. What he forgot to tell me was that I would have to wear a contact lens in my right eye, exclusively, until I had the second surgery.

On May 15, 1998, five of us were driven in a van to Boston, MA to have the PRK done in a laser lab. The laser used was not the Summit...it was the other one...I can't recall the name. I spent 63 seconds under the laser after which I could read the clock that the doctor pointed to me. I knew immediately that I had a problem with my close up vision. When I left the treatment room, I brought my old glasses downstairs to the vision center to have the left lens popped and replaced with a blank lens. It was then that I found out that I could not wear glasses. The doctor should have told me that I would absolutely need to be prepared to put in a contact lens....but he was just too busy I guess. So I made the trip home in the van looking completely straight ahead so as not to become dizzy. It wasn't until 3 days later that I was fitted for a contact lens.

I could see 20/40 after several days, but I saw a double image....actually a shift to the left of everything. A topography showed a low area in my eye.....the surgeon called it a pool. He said that it would most likely smooth out over the next three months. My vision from one foot to 10 feet away was extremely annoying. It was like I just could not get clarity in my treated eye. I actually found myself wearing reading glasses all of the time just to accommodate my awkward close up vision. The shadowing in low light was very annoying. After 9 weeks, there seemed to be more clarity but not even close to what I expected. Over the next six months, I had probably 8 topographies done. My surgeon did not offer a lot of information about what was going on in my eye. He just had hopes that it would heal. He never mentioned an "irregular astigmatism". I brought it up to him. He just referred to my problem as a rough surface that would heal.

He started me on "contact lens therapy" after 4 months where I basically wore a soft lens that was made to fit a little tight in hopes that it would reshape my cornea. I had to wear this night and day for 5 or 6 weeks using the anti-inflammatory drops. It did change the shape as was confirmed by the topography but once I started to wear it less often and then eventually stopped, the eye changed back to just about its original shape. Some of the shadowing to the left had lessened a little, but the annoyance was still there and there was nothing that could be done.

I was measured for glasses in hopes that I could get a correction that would take care of some of the irregular astigmatism but basically it didn't help. I tried progressive lens and single line bifocals, but neither of them gave me any relief. Right now I just wear a -6.00 soft lens in my right eye and reading glasses +1.50 most of the day. My vision in my treated eye is measured at 20/20 and I sometimes can read a couple of letters on the 20/15 line but this measurement is very deceiving, since I see a faint whitish image to the left of objects....especially reflective or highly contrasting objects. It is very annoying and difficult to see with any comfort in stores.....especially grocery and convenience stores. The fluorescent lighting is tough on my eyes. My treated eye has been left annoyingly dry which is aggravated by heat, air conditioning, and chemicals in stores. I have always had a problem with dry eyes.....but this has aggravated the situation, along with having to wear the contact in my right eye.

At this time I have been told that there is nothing that can be done, but I have read of the new lasers that can actually vaporize your cornea according to your topography. I think this is at least a couple of years away. I will possibly look into this.

As to how my life has been affected by this. This is a story in itself. After the first three months of wondering when I was going to heal....checking ...checking....checking... and driving myself crazy. I basically developed GAD....generalized anxiety disorder which later developed into a depression. It was the worst experience of my life. I basically lost control. My family was very supportive, but I eventually admitted myself into a mental health facility for observation. This was a traumatic experience in itself! I spent a week there and later several weeks as an outpatient. I attended many classes on behavioral therapy training so that I could cope with the anxiety and depression. I cried all the time and had to be put on tranquilizers (Zanex) and a sleep aid and an anti-depressant.

That would be all fine and good, but I had reactions to basically everything and had to switch medications frequently....adding to the stress. Finally, after 5 months of this hell, I found my way out of this through weekly counseling, and weekly psychiatric help and yoga. This was terrible.....but I made it.

I spent probably close to $8,000.00 in mental health fees and maybe $400.00 in glasses and contact lens. Luckily, my surgeon gave me free access to his in house contact lens specialist for 6 months. This was very helpful and comforting.

In the future, I will be looking for the new laser treatment that can correct irregular astigmatism. I will no doubt wait to hear how others work out since my case is probably much milder than most. As for my right eye.....I will suffer with this very dry contact lens....which I despise.....but I see the best from this eye, so it makes no sense to touch it right now.

I can be contacted at SLF94@aol.com