Well, I made an appointment with Dr. Della Russo’s office today. On January 15 at 9:00 AM, I will go back under the laser. Deciding to make the retreatment appointment was not an easy decision; I put it off for months. Any surgery is inherently risky, and my fear is that rather than perfecting my vision, this operation may make it worse. This second operation will most likely be a tremendous success, but I will always remain a pessimist and a worrier at heart.
It has been a wonderful year free from the burden of glasses, and I can scarcely believe that it has almost been a year. I love opening my eyes in the morning and viewing my surroundings with 20/20 clarity. However, due to slight aberrations in the shape of my cornea, driving at night can be difficult because of my eyes’ over-sensitivity to light. Oncoming headlights and traffic lights blur my vision quite a bit. Occasionally, I also have trouble focusing on small words across a computer screen, and I must squint or close one eye to refocus.
If I don’t get this done now, I will most likely not get another chance. I have already paid for this operation the first time and will incur no further charges for the retreatment. I will, however, have to pay for an overnight stay at the inn again, and I will have to pay for the expensive eye drops prescription once more.
During the recovery time, I will not be able to lift weights for a few weeks, and I will have to repeat the extensive regimen of eye drops and artificial tears. This a small price to pay, though, if I can finally have perfect vision.
Several of my friends had to have the surgery twice before it was perfect, so try not to worry and just think how much happier you’ll be afterwards.
It is good to know that others have successfully had the surgery performed a second time. I know how happy having near-perfect vision for the past year has made me; to have perfect vision…I can’t wait.
It blows my mind that my first operation was way back on January 16, 2004. Now, as it turns out, the first open Saturday appointment slot was January 15, 2005…365 days later.
Today I dug my old glasses out of storage and put them on. Looking past the obvious distortion of a now redundant prescription, I hardly recognized the man in the mirror. So much has changed in my life since those glasses last filtered my view of the world around me, which, of course, begs the question—one year hence, will I again fail to recognize the mirrored visage returning my gaze?
You know, when my friend, Tony, pulls out his license and I see the picture, I’m taken aback (again and again) by how completely different he is from when he wore glasses. You wouldn’t think something so (seemingly) small would make a big difference but it really does.
I’m absolutely certain that the alignment of the dates for your surgeries is auspicious and I’ll be sure to think positive thoughts for you on the 15th next month!
Hi, I was just wondering. When you had dry eyes all this time was your vision quality also affected? Especially in darker situations? I would love to know how this dryness dissapeared for you because I am struggling with it now. Im 3 months after surgery. Thanks and good luck. I hope to hear from you .
Phil, my dry eyes did not stop being a major factor until about six months after the operation. After six months, I stopped buying the little vials of artificial tears entirely, because my natural tear production had gotten back to normal.
By the the third month, I no longer had to put in the preservative-free eye drops every half hour or so, but I still found that I had to put in drops at least twice a day.
By then it was summertime, so the humid air helped quite a bit. The dryness of winter air and indoor heat blowers really aggravated my eyes.
Most definitely, though, the combination of dry eyes and dark surroundings really caused a great deal of blurriness. Especially when driving or watching television in a dark room. I still have some blurriness in such situations (bright lights with dark surroundings), which is why I am going for retreatment; however, it is nowhere nearly as bad now as back when my eyes always felt dried out.