I think this is the right forum to post this....

[bernmee]

I found this site five weeks ago but was too terrified to believe that the agony I was experiencing then could in anyway last longer then a couple of days. As the time wore on and with my insinstance that my Lasik surgeon DO SOMETHING about the agony I am now at a managable position where I believe that their is light at the end of the tunnel.

i would love if you guys could take the time to read m,y story and give me any tips, help or advice, and even better, tell me when I wake up tomorrow it will all be just a bad dream! Let me just say at the outset that I believe alot of my agony could have been prevented if my surgeon had steped in, instead freinds searched the internet for me and I was able to make demands from my surgeon.

I had Lasik on 29th April on one eye only (someone up there was looking out for me on that one!). It was confirmed a success the next morning. Four days later after putting my head on the pillow I felt a slicing pain, like my bottom eye lashes were turned nside out or that there were thorns in my eyes. Of course this happened on a Saturday. Monday morning I was seen by a female surgeon who said my cornea looked angry and balmed it on some soap and water that had accidently splashed into my eye while washing my hands. i now longer believe that as that happend Sat. morning and it stung mildly for 5 seconds only.

I saw my lasik surgeon two days later for a follow up and sad the cornea was a little angry loooking but not to bad...carry on with the artifical tears.....
pain was one day on one day of, I put up with it as I thought this was part of the healing process.

Over the weekend I was in agony having had 4 beers on the Saturday ( I ddin't yet know about the whole diet thing) and arrived in the the Monday morning in tears again. Was told by the female surgeon (my Lasik guy has Mondays off) that the cornea still neede to heal but it looked so much better then last Monday, she told me to use Muro ointment. Trust me it didn't feel it. Two days later met my Lasik surgeon again who said cornea looked great and it was "just dry eyes" (I hadn't yet realised what that meant). I had two good days and then five bad days.

Arrived in Monday morning in tears...my boss who referred me had rang through and expressed her outrage at hw I was being treated. Teh female surgeon put a Bandage contact lens in and told me I had recurring cornea erosion. I saw my Lasik surgeon on Wednesday and I was till apin free, on the Friday when I saw him he told me I didn't have RCE bt thesymptoms I described were of RCE hence the bandage. Hoverever I had a nightmare weekend...while the pain was now longer like thorns in my eye, it was aching, swollen hot feeling. When I rang in on the Tuesday my surgeon said that eyelid was sticking to the lens...hence the pain during the night, and the lens had stuck to the eyball, hence that pain. I told him I wanted plugs for my tear ducts and ristasis the next morning.

I got on tear duct blocked and the difference has been amazing. It is still not perfect but I am back in the land of the living as oppose to my own personal hell. I have not yet got the restasis as my insurance won't cover it and I can't afford it until next Tuesday. I am self employed looking after children and I had to stop working a month ago.

Today my surgeon took out the bandage contact lens. It has been in about 14 days. I am still using artifical tears like they are free...and as you all know they are not, and I have the tear plug thing in. I have also order Dwelle and Nutratear from the eye store. I am seeing an accupuncturist and chinese medicine women, but she says my body is so inflammed that she ca'treally start getting stuick in with treatment until she brings my body back to a more normal level. I am also wearing an eye patch on that eye so it has its own self contained moisture chamber. I have a humidifier in my bedroom ad am drinking flaxseed oil like it is soda. I am eating fish ony, no sugar, no meat, only friuts and veg, no bread. I had been taking 10mg of valum as sleeping had become frightening and my nightmare were waking me up, but now I am down to 2 1/2mg as my anxiety is more under control.

So my question to everyone is...what is going to happen tonight when I fall asleep without m contact lens...will my eye hold up. Right now in the mornings it does feel like it needs to be oiled, in that it is stiff etc, but after a couple of minutes of putting drops in it is good to go. Don't get me wrong it is not how it was before but I get out of bed thankful that it is another day without agony. My surgeon says if the pain continues he will refer me to Standford or UUC Davies...but I don't want the pain to return.

It is so nice to be able to communicate with others out there....I felt so lost for so long.

[Rebecca Petris]

Bernmee, I'm sorry, didn't mean to be ignoring your post - sometimes things get so busy on this board that posts get pushed off the 'high visility' page one before there are even any replies!

Sounds like you had some really nasty erosions to put it mildly. I haven't had a chance to follow all the rests of your posts - are things going better for you now? If you still need better help you might want to try Dr. Gagnon out in Pleasanton. Not exactly convenient location for you but I've met him and I know some of his patients and there is no one in the Bay area that I'd recommend so strongly.

[liz56]

Welcome

Hi, bernmee.

I, too, am really sorry that I did not reply to your message. I don't know how I missed it.

I'm sorry about the erosions. They sound awful, and it is really surprising to me that they happened so soon after the procedure. When I hear about erosions, it is usually after some kind of incident, then it heals for a month or even years, presenting no problems, and then they begin. So, to have not had an initial healing time must be so very difficult for you.

Are your erosions awakening you after you enter REM sleep or do they only happen in the mornings? Your weekend experience sounds like you are having them throughout the night. I ask, because when mine were at that stage, it seemed like there was no help, no way to control it, and it made me afraid to sleep.

Doctors have told me that people with erosions need to be careful, even if they have gone a month without them. I can attest to that. I had one in late January (27th) and was clear until March 15th. (Since I started Dwelle, the erosions have been mild, so when I say that I had them January 4th and 27th and March 15th, I am not saying that they were anything like when I first began treatment.)

What is happening, if I understand correctly, with an erosion, is that it heals superficially and, if the eye is lubricated enough, can get through some time without the sticking and rending. However, it is only superficial. There are "anchor" cells that attach the epithelium to its underlying basement membrane, which joins the uppermost part of the corneal with the stroma (the biggest layer). It takes at least eight weeks for these anchor cells to set and form a strong bond with the basement (or Bowman's) membrane. The best doctors I have had who treat erosions say that patients should continue treatment even as long as three months beyond eight weeks.

I have had terrible erosions and have a corneal dystrophy, which makes it really hard to heal up. So, I have been treated for about a year now. Although I am being taken off of my prescription drops, I will stay on Dwelle, and even if my corneal specialist says that I don't need it any longer, I think I'll keep at it. People have stayed on it for many years, and I don't want to give it up for fear of this problem returning.

Keep us posted!

--Liz

PS I have a tip if the erosions are happening to you in the middle of the night and disturbing your sleep. It is not fun, but I slept in a reclining chair when I had two setbacks during treatments. It keeps the head stabilized during sleep and affords time upon awakening to be still and apply bland eye drops to the inner corners of the eyes, which slide in and help the eye to glide smoothly open, avoiding morning erosions.

[bernmee]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply....I am finding this site a little bit diffiicult to navigate...do I go into my original posted message to see if I got a reply or is their a quicker way to see if I got a reponse.

Anyway I don't know if I was having morning erosions or nightime erosions. I was having terrible nightmares that were waking me up but to be honest the pain seemed to be fairly constant, and the fear or sleeping was awful.

I have not had any erosions since the lens was removed, almost two weeks ago, and the plugs has made a HUGE difference. However I am wearing an eye patch throughout the day as my eye feels very strained wwithout it, and therefore sore, but not painful, in the evening.

Having said that I am experiencing pain today, though I did have a MAJOR candy binge yesterday.

So right now I am using Dwelle, Nutra tear and Systane. thank you for letting me know that I am still not out of the woods.

But what should I be doing to prevent RCE again....so I should be still be careful for 3 months...or is it longer. I am watching my diet, seeing an accupuncturist...please give me any tips you can cause i don't want to go back their again.

thank you for your time,

Bernadette

[Rebecca Petris]

User tip

Hi,

Thanks for the reply....I am finding this site a little bit diffiicult to navigate...do I go into my original posted message to see if I got a reply or is their a quicker way to see if I got a reponse.

A simple way to track whether you're getting responses is to "subscribe" to a thread. This sends you an email notification when someone posts in it. To do this,

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[liz56]

glad things are better!

Hi, Bernadette!

I am really glad to hear that you have been free and clear of pain for two weeks! That's great!

Since your erosions are from LASIK, there is no reason to think that things will not clear up for you. Having a corneal dystrophy makes it a different case. So, you are likely to have a different course than I had. However, it is good to play it safe and wait at least eight weeks from the last erosion to reduce whatever you are doing that works. That's just to be safe. It's easy to feel like things are better and to let one's guard down, but from what I have been told, waiting at least eight weeks is advised.

Thanks for the update, and I hope that things continue to improve for you!

--Liz