I had all kinds of testing done to my eyes. They also dilated my eyes which I had never had done. Don't ever try to go shopping after having it done. Sucks big time. After all the tests Dr. Polk came in to speak with me about the surgery. The first thing he says is you are not a good candidate for lasik because of a thinness in my corneas. PRK is the better option in your case. He showed me the pictures of my corneas. He also said if I were to have LASIK in the long run my eyes could get worse. All I was thinking was what in the world is prk.....My surgery would be similar to lasik but just a longer recovery time.
This is how awesome I looked while shopping at the outlet malls. Never again!!!!
Last Pic in Glasses!!!!!!
Here is best way to explain difference in two types!
The main difference between PRK and LASIK is that in LASIK they make a flap and lift layer of cornea and perform surgery. For PRK they do not make the flap they go straight through outer layer cornea. This is a more traumatizing to the eye hence the longer recovery time. PRK was the original procedure using a laser to fix vision. Since I'm kind of a freak about googling everything I had to look up the stats. The FDA approved PRK in 1995 and lasik in 1999.
My lovely 4th grade picture. Frizzy hair, glasses, and I hit puberty at some point that year. Awesome combo!
I was given my folder with payment options, eye drop prescriptions, pre op instructions, and set up my appointment for surgery. The BIG day was June 5th!!!! I was allowed to wear my contacts again until one week before surgery. I have had glasses since 3rd grade and contacts since 6th so getting all this set up was so surreal. I had to have 6 days off work and every other weekend I am already off for 4. It was wonderful that I only had to use two vacation days.
The days flew by and before I knew it the big day had arrived. I've only ever had my wisdom teeth out and no broken bones (well maybe a finger) so I was jut a bit nervous about my eyeballs being lasered. My Mom drove me because obviously afterwards I would be in no condition to drive. A young man went through a little pre-op speal with me. I got a surgery hat and took a pill of some sort to help relax me. He said it would basically just make me feel kinda drunk. I was thinking oh dear I haven't honestly drank since before I was pregnant. I work in the medical field and myself being the patient felt so odd. Their was the option for my Mom to watch the procedure on a tv screen but she chose not to. After laying down and surgery started it prob took approx 20 minutes. That's a guess because as I'm writing this 3 months later it is hard to remember every single detail. I don't even know how to describe the whole experience. It was a little scary but so exciting just thinking of the outcome. Once I was finished and sat up I asked will I be able to see immediately? The Dr said you tell me there is a clock to your right. I never would've been able to read it before and sure enough I could see the time. I got some awesome eye shields taped to my face and walked on out to the car. Now the hard part absolutely no cell phone for 24 hours. I could not even text anyone to tell them how it all went. My Mom took a picture, sent a few messages for me, and we were homebound. She planned to keep Lainey the next few night so I could rest and Rhett was busy with work. 
My prescription in both eyes was -5.75 before the surgery. I asked what that was in terms of 20/20 lingo and the lady said like 20/800. Saturday 1 day post op I had to return back to TLC early am for follow up appointment. They checked out my eyes and said everything was looking great. I was at 20/80 right eye & 20/50 left eye. Woo hoo!!! The Dr. told me it would take days and possibly weeks to get to my best possible vision. My sister came over during the day and we tackled a fun project of sorting all of Lainey's clothes. It kept us busy since I couldn't really go anywhere and stuck in house all day. I can't just lay in bed all day that would drive me crazy and no tv, computer, or phone still. It was fun looking at all the tiny baby clothes and we would randomly put something on Lainey to see if it still fit. I could see but I definately could tell things were not as clear as should be. I had a schedule of 4 different drops to use multiple times through out day. I know I had an extra one since I work in the medical field. My eyes felt pretty dry so I was using a lot of refresh drops. I've never really had eye dryness so this was a new feeling for me. The only time I had ever slept in my contacts was in h.s ages ago and if I fell asleep napping. Which lets be honest I never nap even if the opportunity presents itself. Sunday morning I woke up and my eyes felt completely different. They were itchy and it felt like sand was in them. Ughhh It sucked big time. I was told this would happen but they said 3 days post op and I was only at day 2. My eyes were healing quicker so that was a good thing. The only time I had relief was sleeping which I wasn't even that tired but kept trying to rest to pass the day. I didn't fill my prescription of course because I figured would not need. Even though I was told this was normal it was still freaking me out a bit so I made a call to the # I was given if any questions arose. The Dr was super nice and he suggested getting the prescription filled bc it would help relieve the pain and discomfort. Rhett was able to run to Waterloo and get that taken care of. On this day the light really affected me so I was wearing sunglasses in the house. That evening we visited Lainey at my Mom & Dad's for a bit because I missed her. My brother was there and he was probably thinking oh man I'm never getting this done from the way I was acting. Monday 3 days post op I woke up and the horrible pain was gone but everything was blurry as all heck. It was so strange having such different symptoms than day before. I had a follow-up appointment in Waterloo with Dr. Toal. (my regular eye Dr.) It was great that I could follow up with him and not have to travel back to St. Louis multiple times. He said everything was healing well. The blurriness was normal because the outer layer of cornea that was lasered through is healing and growing back. My vision was 20/80 Rt eye and 20/200 in left eye. By Tuesday post op day 4 the bluriness was pretty well gone. Wednesday post op day 5 my vison was 20/50 right eye and 20/30 left eye. This was my last follow-up before going back to work. Dr. Toal said I was good to go and would return at 1 month post op. I felt like I could see well but still not 100% and a bit uneasy about driving to work. My mom volunteered to drive me. She is the best. Always there when I need her and willing to help with absolutely anything. I would truly be lost without her. It was fun though because she & Lainey walked me in and then got to see my co-workers for a few minutes. It's always nice when your work friends get to actually see your child rather than just pictures and hear about her. I did have to work that weekend so I drove and it was just fine. For a while I was still putting refresh drops in every morning once I woke up. I am happy to say that now I don't even have to do that. I just wake up (no dryness at all) am able to see the alarm clock and all is well. At my 1 month and 3 month post op appointments my vision was 20/15 in both eyes. It is amazing not having to wear contacts/glasses. If you are considering eye surgery to correct your vision I say go for it and you won't regret it!!! Plus I have been told if you actually have LASIK (not PRK) most people go back to work the next day. No craziness days after like I dealt with.
Glasses Free & Loving It!!!!!!!!
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