1 week follow up
I had my 1 week follow-up appointment yesterday. Super fast. Kind of rushed actually. The surgeon is too busy with... well, surgeries to pretty much ever see you again, so all the follow-ups so far have been with clinic/institute staff optometrists/ophthalmologists. Going into the appointment, my eyes were super irritated from a long and stressful day. So "bad" news first: my left eye did not improve over the course of the week: it is still stuck at 20/30 (which is honestly fine). Good news is that my right eye improved to 20/25! (even though I personally felt like I couldn't read some of the smaller lines on the eye chart as well as I could last time) Pressure was 14 (normal - bit higher than last week, but apparently it fluctuates even by the hour). I'm afraid 20/30 is what I'll be stuck with given the other blogs I have read (e.g. that what you see in your first week is pretty much what you'll be stuck with). I still have another week to go with the antibiotic drops and healing, so I probably should be more optimistic!
I asked about corneal tattooing to deal with the white line glare (which has remained and not improved since I got the iridotomy): they said I need to wait (and I agreed) until my eyes settle and are more healed up. It's noted in my file - so I guess they know I continue to want/need it.
Apparently most of the restrictions are now off too: no need to continue wearing the big honkin' sunglasses (that look ridiculous); the clear eye shades to sleep; and the bizarre showering methods I use to keep my eyes water-free! Personally, I think I will try to continue most of these practices for one more week - until I stop using my antibiotic drops. Maybe it'll be the difference between 20/30 and 20/25 or even 20/20! Today marks the first day I reduce my drops from 4x to 2x a day too. Though I think I've developed a kind of Pavlovian addiction to using them: erroneously and psychologically linking more drops to better outcomes...
They also sent in a form at the end of my appointment - on my behalf - to have my Driver's Licence updated to reflect the fact that I no longer have a corrective lens restriction in order to drive! Awesome.
Overall, I am loving my new ICLs. Maybe it's my imagination, but I feel like my eyes might be slightly drier than before - though it's probably because they're still healing (they were super itchy this past week) and due to a very strenuous work week. Otherwise, visual clarity is good. No new side effects that I can pin down, though I continue to question/explore that every time I'm out and about! I have also become an ICL poster child at work: so far nobody has even heard of ICLs - only LASIK. Even gave a couple of people hope - who were not LASIK candidates themselves!
Next appointment is one month from now. Fingers crossed for more improvements as my brain further adapts and my eyes get used to the implants. Thumbs up for now!
Hi there! I just did my ICL 2 days ago and I must tell you that your blog gave me so much reassurance :) I was expecting perfect vision just 1 day after but like you, I can see clearly things from afar but I can't even read or see anything near! I was getting so discourage and unhappy that I started to surf for solution. I was so glad to see your blog! (For that matter, I'm typing on a font size 18 and wearing reading glasses now!).
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your journey with us! I'm looking forward to seeing clearer soon!
Cheers!
Rachel
Hi Rachel! I'm glad my blog was helpful for you. My eyes were ok reading close after surgery. Make sure you do follow-ups with your doctor! And check out my other posts for how the years after went :) All the best!
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