So it’s two weeks since I had my eyes zapped, and I am very happy.Not least because now that 2 weeks is up I no longer have to do eye drops 4 times a day, and sleep in eye shields.
It’s a funny thing, that in reality those two requirements are a minor price to pay for fixed vision. But after 2 weeks I could not wait to stop having to do them.
Eye drops are something I just didn’t get used to, you flinch every time a drop hits your eye. And whilst it’s not exactly a terrible experience, I found my self slightly dreading having to do them.
As for the eye shields, to be fair it could of been a lot worse. They really didn’t stop me sleeping, but pulling the tape off my face in the morning was not a joy. I tried minimizing the amount of tape used, but that stuff sticks hard. My face now has 2 slightly red marks from 2 weeks of taping and pealing. Again, in the grand scheme of things a small price, but I couldn’t wait to stop… In fact I didn’t and I stopped 1 day short of my 2 weeks.
Part of what became a bind about these minor things, was just how good my eyes felt for most of the 2 weeks. It’s easy to keep doing these things if they make you feel better, or if you feel like your eyes still need protecting. But to be honest the only discomfort I experienced after day 1 was dripping eye drops into my eyes and pulling tape off my face.
Oh and the eye drops taste bad. About 5 minutes after doing them you get a bad taste at the back of your throat. That gets old fast.
I also didn’t shower for 2 weeks. I didn’t want to risk getting water in my eyes. So I stuck to baths. But baths are really not that convenient during the week. Plus it was really great hot weather, and really a bath is not that refreshing when it’s hot. And so this morning I was very pleased to step into my shower again. (Just as the weather has really cooled off)
But back to the actual eyes… It’s been great. I will say that I have become more aware of of my vision fluctuates slightly with tiredness, light levels, etc etc. Mainly because I can’t stop myself trying to read everything at various distances. In the morning it takes probably 10-20 minutes for my eyes to wake up to full clarity. Not that my vision is bad before that, but because I’ve been reading everything I’ve got to know certain things I can read from specific places and I check against them. First thing there are some items I can’t quiet see. Which later on will be clear.
After the actual treatment both eyes are ‘bloodshot’ in so far as bruising occurs as part of the process. It doesn’t hurt at all, but it is the big visible thing that shows you’ve been zapped. Some people really didn’t like looking at my eyes because of that. But now 2 weeks on, my right eye is completely clear again, and my left eye is not far behind.
I went back to work 4 days after my surgery. I probably could of gone back the previous day, but I had originally planned to take the whole week off. The Monday was a bank holiday. And I took the Tuesday to run some errands. But having done what I needed, and being banned from my garage for the rest of 2 weeks, there wasn’t much I wanted to do. And Since I was feeling fine I returned to work.
First day back I was careful to take regular breaks from the screen. And by the end of the day my eyes definitely felt tired. But it really wasn’t a problem.
So now I still have 6 weeks before I’m allowed to do contact sports…no great hardship there. And also for scuba-diving, and probably general swimming. I shall have no problem avoiding these things for longer than that.
But for the most part it’s completely back to normal now. If the weather is any good I shall try to cycle into work again next week. And I will probably get back out to my lathe sometime over this weekend.
It’s fair to say I could not be happier with the results. Despite a slightly shaky start (Ultralase gave me a bottle of wine when I went for my 1 week checkup to apologise again) it really is worth every penny.