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Pastimes : LASIK corrective eye surgery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Tauscher who wrote (24)	3/14/2001 9:26:14 AM
From: Patrick Slevin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27

I cannot recall everything, but at the time I researched it fairly thoroughly. Eyes, after all....you know what I mean. The first was extreme pain in his eyes A relative term, I would think. Ask him if it was similar to having sand blow in his eyes.....as you might at a windy beach. other complication was that one of his flaps lifted up the night following his procedure Most likely the cause of the irritation. The reason why I consider these two statements together is because I had each eye performed separately. The first was a procedure called PRK and the second Lasik. The difference really comes down to the treatment of the epithelium, the flap that lifted. In PRK, the epithelium is burned off. It is similar to the epidermal layer, the "skin" over the eye as is your skin over your body. If you had a burn that removed some of your skin it would irritate until healing. The night after my PRK the pain was intense, relieved only by drops that he provided me with. After that, the pain settled into the sandy sensation. This is normal irritation created by the eyelid rubbing against the bare (epithelium-unprotected) section of the eye. Eventually, perhaps a month, the epithelium grows back and the irritation goes away. As far as the flap, that is not much different than a very, very thin contact lens. Mine moved a bit as well.....second eye, the one with the Lasik. The surgeon just replaced it. But had it torn off, all that would have happened ( I would suspect) would be that the epithelium would grow back as it did in PRK. I had planned to go up to Montreal by myself. If I reschedule I'll have a friend come up with me just in case things go wrong. Man, I 've had that operation and never would I try to drive myself. No matter that I was happy with it that day, able to make out signs and such that I never could see before without glasses or contacts. It's just nuts to even try. Your depth of field has to be re-oriented, your eyesight has not finally adjusted completely, and probably there are a few other things that I've forgotten. I do not know how they market it in Canada but down here they make a point of saying in the advertisements that you will be out on the streets driving in under an hour. We also have ads that insist you can make a million dollars US working out of your home a few hours a week. It's just marketing. I would not suggest that anyone try driving for at least a day. Merely walking is unusual enough. EDIT, By the way, his flap may have moved because he rubbed it. Also ask him if he kept the shield on his eye overnight. If it came off, and he rubbed it even in his sleep, he may have inadvertently moved the flap himself. But again, in my case the Opthamologist had me come in every day for a week, including Sunday, to check on the eye in each case. My flap moved after two or three days, he repaired it in a few seconds at the next visit. It's not as terminal as it may seem.