6 Months Post PRK

Well here we are at 6 months post PRK surgery. I can honestly say that I would do it again in a heartbeat. I cannot put into words how freeing it is to not have to worry about glasses or contacts. When I travel, going swimming or even just going away for the weekend, it was always a hassel to remember to take glasses or extra contacts encase I lost or tore one. Also since I had an astigmatism it was frustrating at times to not be able to see clearly even with my contacts in or glasses on. That is all changed and I can't be happier. If I had any issue at all it might be a little dry eye late at night and early in the morning but I had a little of that off and on before the surgery and it was even worse with my contacts in so I am not sure the surgery is even the cause. If you are hesitant on having this procedure I can assure you it is well worth the money and the somewhat lengthy recovery. Have a happy holidays.

5 Months Post PRK

Hello, long time no see. No pun intended. I went for my 5 month post PRK check up and my eyes are doing well. They have stabilized and no vision issues. I am very glad that I had the procedure done and I have no regrets. Best money I have ever spent.

New Orleans 2017

7 Weeks Post PRK

Hello everyone. I just got back from my 7 week appointment and my eyes tested 20/20. I am thrilled and happy that my eyes have healed and are at least where they wanted them to be. I know my vision can still fluctuate a little for up to 3 months after the surgery so if there is improvement from here I will consider that a bonus. Thanks for following my progress and I hope that this may inform someone that is considering the procedure and what in terms of recovery you may expect. Have a great day.

One Month Post PRK

It has been a little over a month since my PRK surgery. It seems like my vision is over all very good but I seem to have days where I can see close up very well and far away not as good and then other days it's the opposite. I am very pleased with the progress of my vision and have no regrets. We recently went on a vacation to New Orleans and I was pleased that I didn't have to worry about packing contacts or glasses. I also was relieved that while out and about during the vacation I didn't have to worry about losing a contact. I hope that this blog has helped and informed others that might be looking at going through with this procedure, I will continue to post about my progress but it will be less frequent with a final post being around the 6 month mark. Thanks for reading.

3 Week PRK Follow Up

Well its been 3 weeks since the procedure. I am seeing more clearly but still have a way to go. I am still having some light sensitivity which is better some days and worse others. Also my vision seems to fluctuate from day to day but overall I think there is improvement. The improvements day to day are less noticeable with the fluctuations but I am confident that in the end my vision will be even better than with my contacts and astigmatism. My next eye check up isn't until July 5th. We are going to be gone next week on vacation so I will write up an update when I get back with a vacation post on the vacation blog.

WALKER STALKER CON NASHVILLE 2017

Just a little video compilation of some of the actors we got to see at Walker Stalker Nashville 2017. Enjoy!

2 Week Followup Post PRK

Today was my 2 week followup for my PRK surgery. I checked in and was taken back to do the usual eye measuring exam then was taken to an exam room to look at an eye chart. I am not sure but I think my vision is at about 20/40. The tech put numbing drops in my eyes and then checked eye pressure. After a short wait the Dr. came in and asked how I was doing and then pulled over the slit lamp and looked at my eyes. He said everything is healing nicely and vision can improve for up to 3 months post surgery. I am pleased with my recovery although my vision seems to fluctuate day by day. Yesterday was blurry for most of the day and improved around 5 pm and was clearer the rest of the evening. Today has been more clear in the morning and gradually gets more blurry as the day goes on. Still a little bit of ghosting especially noticeable with text and working on the computer. Everyday there seems to be slight improvement but over the last week since I got the contact bandage out there has been the most improvement, I just keep telling myself to be patient and I am still healing. I am to continue with the Durasol drops twice a day until gone and I am clear to drive. We have a convention we are going to attend this weekend. I hope my vision continues to improve and we have a wonderful time. 

1 Week Post PRK

It has been one week since my PRK surgery. The progress has slowed a bit and not as drastic of changes in vision like the first couple days after getting the contact bandage removed. Slow and steady progress is fine with me as long as there is progress. My vison is still a bit blurred with moments of clarity.  The evenings are more blurry as I am guessing due to eye fatigue. I guess we will just take it day by day and hope that things will become clear sooner rather than later.

Day 6 Post Procedure.

What a difference a night makes. The morning of the 6 day was considerably better. Still blurry but almost no double vision. Working on the computer was a bit of a challenge. As the day went on my vision seemed to get better with moments of blur. My eyes feel like they are hunting for focus and when I blink they are blurry. The longer I keep my eyes open the clearer my vison got but then I had to blink again and the blur would return. Later in the day I could tell my eyes were tired as I started to get an ach behind them. Ibuprofen, eye drops and eye shields for bed time.

PRK Progress Day 5 Post Surgery

Tuesday was day 5 post procedure and a follow up appointment. I checked in and waited to be called back to my appointment. When I was called back after a short wait, I was taken back for a eye measurement test and then taken to an exam room. The tech got everything set up and put a dye in my eyes to check the surface of the cornea. While waiting on the Dr. I was looking at the eye chart and was surprised I was able to see about 20/40. This excitement was short lived. When the Dr.came in he asked me how I was doing and pull the slit lamp up to my face. He grabbed some forceps and removed the contact bandage from my eyes and everything went blurry. Very blurry. Like before I even had surgery blurry. I was a little discouraged but from research I wasn't surprised. For the rest of the day my vision was very blurry and I could only see a couple of feet clearly. I continued with my drops and eye shields at night.

PRK Vision Progress Thru 4 Days Post Procedure..

I would have to say as far as pain wise the first 3 to 4 hours after the procedure was probably the worst, My eyes felt like they were throbbing with an accompanying headache, light sensitivity and blurry double vision. But later on that day I was able to go outside, with sunglasses, and do a little yard work without much discomfort. As far as vision wise the worse was yet to come. On Saturday May 20th, 2 days post surgery my vision was very blurry and the light sensitivity was turned all the way up to maximum. I kept my sunglasses on most of the day even inside. Watching T.V. in the blur felt like someone was shining a very warm flashlight in my eyes. The light seemed to dry my tears in seconds and my eyes reaction to the brightness was one of almost the feeling of crossing your eyes. It was like my eyes were in self preservation mode and would not allow me to look into the brightness of the T.V. or any semi bright light. My eyes felt gritty and my vision had diminished to just a few feet. I could see the ground at my feet and everything else was just blurry. Sounds like a perfect day to help pick up tree limbs at the cemetery right. It didn't take much of that for me to find out I wasn't much good help. As the day went on the light sensitivity got a little better but was still uncomfortable. I was still doing my drops routine and sleeping in my eyes shields. I was very surprised that the eye shields didn't effect my sleeping as I am a very light sleeper and even the littlest of things keep me awake.

Sunday 3 days post procedure, the light sensitivity and vision was much better. I would almost say the blurriness was almost gone but the double vision was so bad I couldn't be certain. When riding, not driving, in a car, a single center line was now two some 30 or so feet away only to merge together just in front of the car hood. Riding in the car was a little upsetting on the stomach.

Monday 4 days post procedure, The light sensitivity was gone and the double vision was a little better. Nothing like a road trip to a nice place to eat to lift your spirit. The car ride didn't seem to upset the stomach as bad which was a good thing since we were going out to eat. By the time we got home that evening I could tell my eyes felt a little achy. I am guessing because the constant eye shifts while tracking the scenery as you ride down the road.

PRK 24 Hour Follow Up.

The day after procedure I was relatively pain free. I did my morning drops routine and then Needles drove me to my appointment. I was shortly called back to do a quick eye measurement and then into an exam room. The tech informed me that my vision would most likely get worse before it got better and that 24 hours to 36 hours is usually the worst. My eye chart test went pretty quick because I could only read about 4 of the 5 letters at the top of the chart even though it was very blurry and still some double vision, I am not sure what line on the eye chart it was. I was told the Dr. would be in in a moment. When the Dr. entered the room he asked me about pain and looked into my eye with a very bright light which was uncomfortable due to the light sensitivity. The doctor told me that I was 50% healed and said I needed to come back on Tuesday May 23rd. I would have to say my vision was about the same as just after the procedure.

PRK Procedure Day

I was given 3 prescriptions on my initial appointment Moxenza eye drops (antibacterial), Durezol drops (Steroid) and a Rx for a couple Valium. On the day of my appointment I checked in with my drops and pills in hand and after a few moments they called me back to the exam room to sign paperwork, pay for the procedure and pop one of the Valiums to relax me for the procedure but I think it was more for the post procedure. It was then that I was given Prolenza drops (anti-inflammatory and pain), the Refresh artificial tears drops (rewetting) and my eye pack containing eye shields, tape and sunglasses. I was returned back to the waiting room and sat in the waiting room for about 2 minutes and was called me back to the procedure/surgery room. They laid me down on an exam chair/table and then proceeded to lower my head below the rest of my body. They placed a hair covering on me and tucked some gauze under the band of the hair covering at my temples. They placed a numbing drop in each eye and then placed a gauze with tape over my left eye. The laser device was placed over my face and centered over the right eye. It was at this point the Dr. entered the room and a eyelid spreader was placed into my right eye and a ring was placed contacting my iris. I was told I might feel some pressure as the ring cut a circular slice in the cornea. Some drops was dripped into the ring and obscured my vision. When the fluid was removed after a few seconds with a small triangular sponge. This apparently is alcohol that softens the corneal and the fluid and cornea is wiped away with the sponge. Looking up into the laser there is a red center light that you are to look at during the reshaping. My reshaping took 35 seconds per eye. When the laser is on you hear a popping/Taser type sound and when you hear the popping the red light you are looking at kind of dims a little and I noticed a little blueish halo start to form around the red light and get more prominent with every pulse of the laser. When the laser part is over they put a circular bandage over the reshaped area of the eye for just a second, I'm assuming this is some kind of medicine infused gauze. They washed the eye with a cool solution and then placed a contact bandage over the area. They then move the gauze and tape from the left eye and placed it over the right and repeated the procedure on the left eye. In total the procedure lasted maybe 10 minutes. When finished I was instructed to go home and take a 3-4 hour nap wearing eye shields that and was in my eye pack which also contained some sunglasses. I noticed when I left that I was able to see road signs although the were blurry. I had some light sensitivity and a double vision thing going on, Honestly I do not remember much of the trip home. I know we stopped at Subway and got some food to take home. Needles was very sweet and went in a got the food so I didn't have to go in all groggy. When I got home I did notice that my eyes felt like they were throbbing so I took some Ibuprofen. I went straight to bed for a couple of hours and woke up hungry as I hadn't eaten anything all day except for a Valium. I ate my Subway sub in what felt like slow motion and then went back to bed for a couple more hours. When I got up I started my eye drops. The rest of the evening just consisted of blurry vision and some light sensitivity followed by an early turn in.

PRK Adventure

My boss had PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) about a month ago and had very good results. My brother had Lasik's a couple of years back and even though he had good results he did have some complications that kind of concerned me. The price my boss told me was reasonable and cheaper than I had imagined it would be so I decided to take the plunge and do it. I called and made my appointment on May 8th. I went into my appointment not knowing if I would even be a candidate for the procedure as my boss and brother had a much less prescription than myself. My boss said she was about a 20/100 were I was probably around a 20/500. First you have to keep your contacts out for at least 3 days before your appointment. I arrived a checked in and was quickly called back for my appointment. After a few eyes measurements and some eye charts they sat me in an exam room and told me that I would be a good candidate. A very nice lady came in and discussed my options, potential side effects of the procedure, financing and asked when I would like to have to the procedure. I said I would like to have it as soon as I could so I was told they could do it May 18th and if I wanted they could continue the pre procedure testing today if I would like. Dilated eyes and several tests later the Dr. came in to do the final test with the photoropter and answer any questions I might have. We did discuss Lasix's vs PRK and he recommended without a doubt that PRK would be the better procedure with a better outcome for my prescription strength. He was afraid that the flap (Lasik') would not seat well with the amount of material the laser would need to remove from my eye. After the discussion they did one final pressure test on my eye and I was good to go. With my eyes being dilated they gave me a pair of plastic film sunglasses to protect my eyes as it was a very bright and sunny day.

Wheel Job

After I mounted the new tires on the wheels the bar scuffed up and peeled some off the paint of the wheels so I repainted them. They were a silver color from the factory but I thought a nice matte black would look nicer.

 Before

After

Unusually Warm February

 

Well the groundhog saw his shadow but I think he might need glasses. We have had unseasonably warm weather for February. We have had several days in the 60's and a few touching 70's. Tomorrow night we are supposed to be getting severe storms tomorrow night so I hope they aren't as bad as they have made them out to be. Valentines Day has come and gone and Needles and I went out to eat at Thainamite to celebrate Valentines Day. The service was a bit lacking and they ran out of propane to cook just after opening. I would think that for a restaurant, that would be something you would check before opening on a weekend. We might try them again sometime but it will be awhile. Last weekend I took my 4 wheeler down to the farm to try out the new tires and I think they did quite well. It was a bit muddy in the field so the ATV got a nice mud bath. Luckily most of it missed me and landed on the fenders. March just might come in like a lion, time will tell.

Happy New Year!

With all the people we have lost in the entertainment community I guess I am lucky to make it to the new year. 2016 was a doozy so I hope that we can make it through the next few years healthy and happy. I hope the new year finds you the same.