1 month post lasik - one blurry eye - advice please?

[NotADryEye]

And it's ridiculous b/c I already signed away my right to sue them for anything.

This is a common misconception. The paper you signed does not take away your right to sue. However, because most people believe that they cannot sue, it acts as a very powerful deterrent.

[Rebecca Petris]

Wait, that was wrong, I'm right eye dominant! I was just explaining the test to someone and when I did it again I realized I messed it up the first time. Repeated it a bunch of times with different objects and it's definitely right eye.

When I mentioned about eye dominance, I was thinking it was your LEFT eye that was worst (sloppy reading), which is why I asked if you were left eye dominant. So this all still makes sense. Trashy dominant eye affects you far more than a trashy non dominant eye would.

Oh also who is the doc you saw in Dallas?

Greg Gemoules OD in Coppell (Coppell Family Eyecare). People go to see him from all over the world. Acknowledged wiz with post refractive vision issues, among other things. He was helping people with this years before I even had LASIK.

[oneblurryeye]

Thank you! I used to live in Dallas and worked in Coppell and it's only a few hours drive from me now so when I'm looking for another doc (which I'm assuming is gonna be needed based on how this is going) he will be at the top of my list!

[Fitch]

i second the recommendation for Dr. Greg Gemoules in Coppell. He did my custom laserfit sclerals and is a very caring and competent practitioner and i traveled from California just to see him because of his stellar reputation. Good luck to you and hope you feel better soon

[oneblurryeye]

UPDATE: doc is now recommending enhancement

I'm now about 3.5 months post LASIK. The blurriness and halos in my right eye never improved, and the vision actually stabilized at the worse end of the spectrum over recent weeks. But now at least I know why!

I went in 4 days ago to the surgery center and the plan was to lift and re-float my flap to see if it resolved the vision problems.

Then to everyone's surprise, especially mine, they were able to correct my vision in the right eye with refraction! This never worked before. The corneal specialist thinks there had been residual inflammation that was interfering with refraction before, but now it must be resolved now and we can tell that my right eye is actually under corrected.

This is good news in that there is no longer any mystery and with correction both eyes can see equally again. I'm wearing a contact lens and it is SO exciting to be able to read signs again everywhere I go!

So they are offering to do a second LASIK surgery on the right eye to balance the two eyes, which for obvious reasons I'm nervous about, but overall am inclined to say yes.

I was told verbally it's 1 diopter under corrected, although right now I'm wearing a -.50 contact lens (just realized this when looking at the label of the lens pack and don't know why the difference between what they said and what they gave me).

The left eye is 20/15 and has been all along, no regression whatsoever, so everything is crystal clear.

While I understand this is a minimal difference between the two eyes, for some reason it affects me a LOT. My right eye sees horribly without this small amount of correction. Without the contact lens, I can hardly read street signs because they are so blurry with double vision and halos around everything, and it's hard to identify faces at a distance.

So, my right eye obviously needs fixing, independent from the fact that right and left are different.

My original prescription before LASIK was -2.25 in both eyes.

Putting on this contact lens was like magic and it all went back to normal.

No matter what I'm first seeing two separate optometrists for a 2nd and 3rd opinion to verify everyone agrees on what my prescription should be.

I'm tempted to go ahead with the enhancement because the contact lens is irritating me (especially now with the dryness). Glasses give me headaches/migraines (this is one of the reasons I did the LASIK in the first place). And after all that I've been through, the only thing that could make it seem worth it would be to get the vision right in the end. I know I could still end up with glasses or contacts after the enhancement, but maybe I won't, whereas if I do nothing it's guaranteed I am going to have to wear them.

I have read that with the custom wavefront my surgeon uses, they totally can correct to even a .50 diopter.

Oh, also, still on Restasis 2x daily and Lotemax 1 x daily in right eye.
(Left eye is on NOTHING and doing fine, just a little dry sometimes, thankfully that's all.)
Using artificial tears a few times a day in both eyes.
Right eye still has some irritation/discomfort, so again, wearing a contact lens is certainly not helping with that.

Anyone have comments or insights?

[oneblurryeye]

Also meant to add: I had aberrometry about a month and a half ago and it didn't show anything dramatic in terms of aberrations. Actually if anything the "good" eye had more HOAs than the "bad" eye. I'll be repeating it in a few days when I go to one of the 2nd opinion docs so he can compare and see changes over time.

[Fitch]

Hello. Although every situation is different i would strongly advise against doing an enhancement which although they use the word "enhancement" it is really another entire lasik on that eye so basically you are killing the nerves in that eye TWICE and then hoping they will regrow back normally. All my problems started when i was talked into an enhancement on one of my eyes and the nerves did not grow back normally and my life is dramatically worse now that i have corneal neuralgia, decreased vision (no longer correctable with glasses or contacts) and severe dry eye in the eye that they did the enhancement in. The other eye that only had one lasik is much less dry, no corneal neuralgia and better vision. I wish someone has warned and stopped me from doing the enhancement. It was the worst decision of my life. I honestly just wish i had stuck with glasses/contacts and never did any lasik ever but especially the "enhancement" was the one that ruined my quality of life. I have lenses from Dr. Gemoules and they are the only thing that has helped me at least have some comfort. I highly recommend seeing him if you want the best sclerals available but please do not do the enhancement. Take what you have from the first lasik and make the best of it. The risk of the enhancement is not worth it. Good luck to you and hope you get better soon.

[oneblurryeye]

Thanks for sharing your experience and advice. I'm sorry for what you've been through. I guess since I've already been through a flap wrinkle and edema and have the dry eye, my initial thinking was that I might as well try the second surgery (I know "enhancement" is a euphemism) because it can't get worse and might get better. But from your story it sounds like sometimes it does get worse.

When did you have your enhancement surgery? Was it custom wavefront? Was your nerve pain in the one eye a result of lifting up the flap again or from the use of the laser second time during the enhancement?

In my case we were already planning to do a flap lift and every dr. had indicated it is pretty routine and worth a try before resorting to other things, but we held off on flap lift when they determined I am under corrected (because why lift now and then lift again later - better just once). I actually had already consulted with Dr. Germoules via email and if I need to see him, he said I'd have to wait until 6 mos. post-op at least. But at this point I'm getting good correction from a cheap, disposable soft lens, so no need for anything special. Anyway, even he stated that is pretty routine, so I had already reached a place of accepting the minimal risks involved with lifting the flap again.

I'm seeing two ODs within the next week to get more opinions, but I will definitely consider staying as-is and wearing the one contact lens. With my vision as it is now, the distance vision bothers me enough I would absolutely need the correction 24-7, not just while driving. I really can't wear glasses every day all day or I get bad headaches and migraines.

[Logandly]

Hi oneblurryeye,

Your original lens prescription was -2.25 and typically anything less than -4 is not advised for Lasik surgery as there is a too narrow of a window to properly correct the lens, hence the surgical error. Of course, -.50 is going to make a huge difference to you when your vision is only -2.25. It must be very frustrating for you to see halos and be blurry in one eye.

So, for further enhancement, since there is even a narrower space for correction, more errors could occur which could further deteriorate your vision. Therefore you have two choices:

1. Risk more errors in the enhancement surgery, with more side effects. If you decide to go this route, I suggest taking Acetyl-L-Carnitine and N-Acetyl-Cysteine daily a week before your surgery and a month after your surgery to help your body rebuild nerve cells. Of course, though the doctor could still make a mistake and cut off too much or too little of your lens because he needs to get it perfect at -.50 and that is VERY HARD to do. You are only 1 month post Lasik, so you might want to wait 6 months before enhancement. Typically the brain will adjust to the blurriness and you might find it not noticeable after several months.

2. Try eye exercises. Practice focusing with the eye that needs the correction by covering the other eye and exercise the eye muscles by focusing on close objects then far away objects. Most myopia is developed from lazy eye muscles due to spending too much time focusing on close-up objects, but not far away objects. If you keep practicing with your eye that needs correction, the muscle will eventually focus the light correctly, however, it takes time and patience and might take months before you see results. Also there is anecdotal information that taking L-Arginine supplements over a period of months restored some people's vision back to 20/20 and/or they needed less stronger prescription glasses after awhile.

Anyhow, hope you find relief to your blurry eye. Keep us updated with what you decide to do and be informed as possible when undergoing surgery.

Logan x

PS. I suggest you stop wearing the contact lens unless you are driving during your recovery period. Your brain needs to adjust to the undercorrection and wearing the contacts will make it worse.