6 Months post Epi-Lasek. Induced dry eyes

[Lucy]

Wonderful words of wisdom, Ian. Happy to know your life is on track and moving on. You sure are moving on, starting a family is the most exciting thing a couple can experience. I know your little girl is the center of your life, not sore eyes. Best, Lucy

5 Years on

It is hard to believe that it is over 5 years since I had my laser surgery and about 4.5 years since I became a member on this fantastic website.

I haven't been around for a long time as I have managed to recover considerably and get on with my last.

In the last 12 months, I got married, had a beautiful daughter, continued to grow my business and improve my dry eye symptoms considerably.

I have had a quick look at the board today and there are over 20 pages of new posts, as one of the moderators, I used to read every single post but simply haven't had the time of late.

If anything, I wanted to let people know that there is hope, it has been a difficult ride but I feel that I am coming out the other side now.

I still have the occasional RCE but all in all, I feel that I have at least learned to live with my condition and manage my symptoms.

I wish you all well and thank those of you that provided me with the support and encouragement to get my dry eyes under control so that I could reclaim my life.

Warm regards

Ian

Jayne

I am sorry that I missed your post and have not posted a reply sooner.

My RCE's have certainly settled down although I wouldn't jump for joy and say they are over for good. Just when I think that I am "cured" I have another episode.

I only use Clinitas Ultra 3 now and that is all i have used for the past 2 years or so.

My episodes are much less painful (generally) so I guess that you could say that things have improved.

I completely understand your frustration, I still have some night vision issues/star bursting and poor vision in low light but after 4 years, I have learnt to deal with most of that.

There most certainly is an end. If nothing else, you learn how to deal with it and manage as part of your daily life.

It took me a long time to get to this point but when I remember back over my earlier experiences, I am light years ahead, although not cured but certainly better.

Hang in there, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me.

Regards

Ian

[jayne123]

post lasek problems

Hi, I would be interested to know how your eyes are now.
I had lasik in Jan 2009 which left me slightly undercorrected. I had an enhancement with lasek in August 2009, after 3 weeks I suffered a severe corneal abrasion in my right eye. My eyesight is still very blurred & distorted in this eye and both eyes are painful, achy, irritated & extremly light sensitive most of the time. The pain can be so bad that my sinuses feel affected by it. I'm using artificial tears and lacrilube at night. My eyes are worse in the morning and I struggle driving in the dark. It seems I have been slightly overcorrected in both eyes & have very dry eyes. To be honest I don't care about under/overcorrection now, I just want relief from the constant discomfort & I'm terrified of opening my eyes in the morning after the pain from the corneal abrasion ( it took over 2 weeks to heal) I'm quite down about all this. It would be good to know if there is likely to be an end to this

24 October 2005 - my life started to be consumed by dry eye syndrome after laser surgery

04 May 2006 - I signed up for this forum and shared my story

Years in between - I've had wonderful support, friendship and encouragement from a forum of fantastic people and 16,000 people now know about my trials and tribulations and maybe I have helped a few of them along the way and this milestone also marks my 601 post on this forum, so it had to be a special one.

17 June 2009 - The day that I feel that I have reclaimed my life. I feel that today I can get on with all of those things I was robbed from for the past 3.5 years and my dry eye suffering is largely a thing of the past.

My symptoms today are almost non existent. I still get the occasional erosion of a morning but seem to avoid them almost every day, I can shower now without fear of water getting in my eyes, I can go to the gym and do a good workout without feeling concious of my dracula eyes and I can walk into a mall and know that people are not peering at my bright red eyes.

Most importantly, my business is growing, my life is coming together in ways that I had never imagined possible, I am getting married in 2 months and I am feeling alive again.

Why am I posting all this?
Simply because I want to encourage people who are really struggling at the moment and are where I have been many many times since my surgery. I had some horrendous experiences in the early days (largely documented here) and wondered how or even if I was ever going to cope with my altered existence, the reality is, with perseverence, and the encouragement and suggestions of fellow members on this board, I got to the point I'm at today.

I have to admit, it is not the point I was before surgery, but it is the best place I've been since.

I still take every opportunity to inform people about the risks of Laser Eye Surgery because I think they are discounted and discouraged so under-handedly almost deceptively.

I have reclaimed my tomorrows and intend to make the most every day, so "every day is a good day some are just better than others" means more to me now than it ever did.

Sure I feel cheated that I lost 3.5 years due to this condition, but I can't change that. All I can change is how I deal with today.

Again, I would like to offer a million thank you's to Rebecca, Diana, Lucy, Mary, Liz, Kitty, Barry (Hangus), Elegiamore and countless others that have helped me through one of the roughest experiences in my life to date.

I wish you all well. I intend to stay around the board and continue with my mod duties, I have just been extremly busy of late with the business and other personal stuff.

I promise to do what I can when I can.

Warm regards and best wishes

Ian

Update!!

I have just been to the Laser Clinic for my annual checkup and having had a little faith restored in the laser eye profession, I thought it timely to post.

Firstly I saw the Optometrist, my refraction is very minor but after a 2 second examination informed me that my MG's are not in good shape and that i should start some lid scrubs or warm compresses to try and sort this out, this is the first eye DR i've seen that's suggested I have a problem.

Then I saw the Opthomologist/surgeon, he indicated that I may have had some form of EBMD before my surgery and hence the reason that my right eye is still a little nasty.

I am booked for a micro stomal puncture for 27 April (not sure about this yet but leaning towards it now).

He assures me that my dry eye problems and subsequent vision issues are based around the RCE's and that he believes he can resolve that once and for all as he has never had to perform the procedure on the same patient twice - good sales pitch if nothing else.

The thing that absolutely blew me out of the water is that both he and the optometrist mentioned Clinitas Ultra 3 - funny that since I recommended it to the clinic in the first instance and that I have an email from a senior patient liaison officer comfirming this.

The other thing was that the Dr mentioned Dwelle, saying it was a very very good drop but is not available in the UK and that Clinitas Soothe was also something that I maybe should consider.

MY TBUT in my worst eye was 6-8 seconds so I am getting somewhere. I just want to get these RCE's under control.

So my dilema is simple, I am faced with the prospect of more surgery, seems to be quite invasive, yet has good results, is quite a common procedure (although poking 180 needles in my eye doesn't sound like something I really want to do), but for the first time in absolutely ages, I have some degree of confidence in this Dr.

It is a catch 22 position, if I have it, it could undo all the good and could set me back ages, or it could just work out fine and all will go well. Unfortunately, I am dubious as I've heard this kind of thing before when I was lining up for my original refractive surgery.

Otherwise I am doing OK. Eyes get tired and sore but still manage an RCE every month to six weeks.

Cheers and have a great day

Ian

[Elegiamore]

Enjoyed the Update

Ian,

So glad that things have "levelled off" for you and your eyes. It's wonderful that you've finished the renovation and are back on the computer, working.

Your bravery in sharing your story and tribulations has enlightened many of our readers, and inspired us all.

Best of wishes from this point forward and readers, never give up - never surrender!

Elegiamore

[dianat]

Great post, Mr. Moderator Ian. This follow-up to your story was a great idea. I know many of our fellow dry eye friends need to hear this.

Diana

It seems like an eternity now that I joined this forum 6 months post surgery, my life had been turned upside down, I was contemplating my life, and wondering how on earth I would ever learn to live with this and live a normal life again.

Well thanks to this forum and the wonderful support of the people here I have made some forward progress and for that I am eternally grateful.

I have made some wonderful friends on here along the way and enjoy a catch up from time to time in the Punctal pub, however, with the time variations between the UK and the USA, that sometimes means 1-2am in the morning for me.

Wow - I am nearly 3 years post surgery now and I happy to post that things have certainly got a lot better and at the very least have become manageable.

I still have RCE's from time to time in my right eye, but these are not as savage as they first were. I am spending more and more time working in front of a PC and finding that I am able to deal with it so much better.

I still hate airconditioning and heating but in this climate, you can't live without it so I make the most of it.

I have ditched the entire dry eye drawer of drops, I now use just 2 - Clinitas Ultra 3 and Viscotears PF (when I need something a little thicker). An icepack is always in the freezer for those RCE's and a rice bag is on hand when things are going a little pear shaped.

I still have an issue that my eyes look tired and red lines everywhere that weren't there pre surgery but I have accepted that my clear white eyes are a thing of the past, but I still have a life to live and if I have to do that with redder eyes, than so be it.

My eyes seem to tire so much quicker these days, I think this is a combination of dryness, vision shift and the natural aging process.

I have managed to completely rennovate a house, build a business and maintain my normal work load all with my dry eyes, sure I'm had loads of down time but life is good, a far cry from my original post wondering IF I even wanted 1 single tomorrow (things were that bad), now I want every one of them and plan to live them to the fullest possible.

Whilst I am not a success story in any sense of the word (I'm not healed, I am now able to manage and deal with this), I hope this post will give those new members who have just had their surgery and contemplating their future, that there is hope, remember, I have been there, my post details my trials and tribulations and quite a few little successes along the way - hang in there!.

I will be around for a lot longer, my dry eye buddies are caring, genuine and infectious (in a good sense of course) and all I can say to my buddies is thank you so much for your encouragement and friendship, God bless you all.

Warm regards

Ian

[Elegiamore]

Ian,

Although it is extremely disappointing that you're not "well," I'm glad that the declining eye situation has evened out for you. For most of us, the "happy ending" seems to be that we don't continue to move backwards with our dry eye issues.

Applying lifestyle changes as well as settling down with a daily program that gives us the maximum amount of relief appears to be as much as an answer as most of us are going to get.

Hopefully medical progress will continue in the areas of post-lasek treatment and other causes of dry eyes.

In the meanwhile, your brave story has uplifted many DEZ dwellers, I'm sure. Thank you for letting us share in your achievements and disappointments.

I find that the emotional support of the DEZ gang, my family and friends helps me go on from day to day. Maybe the uplifting visit will carry over into your day to day struggles with your job, the environment, etc.

Hugs,
Elegiamore

[Lucy]

All in all, I am still about where I was with little change over the past 4 months. When I return back to the UK I will play a more active role in the DEZ community again as I feel that there have been loads of new people and my experiences may be able to help them through their difficult times just like the "old timers" helped me through mine.

We can't wait for your return, world traveler! Lucy

Same old Same old

It has been about 4 months since I was last posting with my dry eye buddies so I thought it timely to post an update.

Nothing much really has changed. I wish that I was posting that I am completely healed and I have my pre-lasek life back but this is just not the case.

I am currently in transit back to the UK after having a couple of months in Australia with my family - has been wonderful.

I am certainly dealing better with the flying and airconditioning these days but still have a lot of dryness issues to learn about and manage better.

After my last DR visit, I had a plug reinserted in my left eye, for some strange reason I just can't manage to keep one in there. This is the third time I have had one inserted only for it to fall out. I will get it looked at when I get back to the UK. The one in my right eye has been there for about 18 months and whilst I feel it from time to time, it really doesn't bother me that much.

My RCE's seem to be largely under control now, I haven't really had a bad one for several months now - touch wood. Sometimes I wake with a scratchy cornea and whilst this is still an RCE they are certainly not as nasty as they once were, an ice pack and a few drops seems to bring comfort relatively quickly.

Went to my old pre-op optometrist recently, he said that my eyes looked a little dry but no redder than he ever remembered them (must query his memory I think). Presecription was L = Plano/-0.25 X 5 and R +0.25/-0.50 X 30 so this is supposed to be a very successful outcome for laser surgery, however, I still struggle under low light and the vision in my right eye is really varying at the moment, I am guessing it has to do with the dryness and possibly the fact that I am right eye dominant.

All in all, I am still about where I was with little change over the past 4 months. When I return back to the UK I will play a more active role in the DEZ community again as I feel that there have been loads of new people and my experiences may be able to help them through their difficult times just like the "old timers" helped me through mine.

Take care, warm regards as always

Ian

[Elegiamore]

Good News

Ian,

It's about time you had some good news! I'm thrilled for you.

I'd say you can pat yourself on the back for making the correct medical decisions, when you had conflicting advise. And I'll also pat the DEZ Forum on the back for giving you and the rest of us a helping hand.

Hold on to your positive attitude, as it will keep you going, no matter what's ahead in life. Stopping the eye related thought patterns, getting back some normal work days, getting a "tapeless" night's sleep...a huge step forward for you.

I hope your story has lifted the spirits of others on the Forum, who are waiting for relief. My fingers are crossed that it's all uphill for you from here.

Keep us informed on your progress.

Hugs,
Elegiamore

[Silverlady]

Wow double Wow

Ian what good news! I sincerely hope this continues for you. You certainly have earned a break in all of it.

Billye

[Lucy]

Now I have just tempted fate again, every time I post a positive, I end up having a abrasion the following day. Let's just hope the cycle is broken.

Ian, this time you should be safe! How about a half jump over the moon? I'm thrilled for you.
Lucy