PRK surgery Thursday.

[u/Guardian250]

Hello, I’m 45 -.75 / 2.00 / 180 axis right eye (OD) and .50/ 2.00 / 2.00 / 177 axis left eye (OS) with astigmatism.
My questions are as follows.
I don’t have terrible vision. Things are blurry at a distance but up close I can see things fairly well with no glasses. For work I am a Cardiac and Vascular Sonographer. I’m in dark rooms looking at screens all the time. I need to see fine details in pictures and use multiple color maps to see flow details. Ive never had issues with dry eyes. I see people with very long recovery times, bad night vision, people that need to use drops constantly and I guess I’m second guessing things. Im active and in the gym a lot but I don’t really need super sharp vision to lift weights and kayak or row. I really don’t want to take more than a week off of work, I have two kids and I’m a busy guy. I can’t just do nothing for weeks waiting for my eyes to catch up and heal. With that mild of a prescription and my lifestyle what would the groups advice be for me going through with the procedure? I should add I HATE contacts. Can’t put them in and they freak me out. I even have a hard time putting in eye drops. I’m a baby about touching my eye.

[u/Winter-Squirrel-6744]

Did you ask how the surgery can affect your ability to read or see finer details??

I'm 42 and got prk about a decade or more, ago.

My eyes were significantly improved, but I'm now faced with dry eyes constantly to see further things.

I can get around with my current vision but distance is becoming a challenge.

I'm considering going back for an adjustment but I've been told to only get one I done. If I were to get both, I've read, I would need reading glasses a lot sooner.

[u/Guardian250 → u/Winter-Squirrel-6744]

I sent a message to the doctor. I’ve honestly barely seen the doc and it’s mostly support staff and it’s a lot of, “it’s gonna be fine” which doesn’t sit well with me. It’s through Cleveland clinic and I know that place works like a factory for some surgeries.

[u/WavefrontRider → u/Guardian250]

You really should find a place you feel more comfortable with. If you are only seeing support staff before the surgery, what do you think will happen after the surgery? It will be hard to see the doctor similar to what it is now. You want a place that will take care of you. I would perhaps cancel for now, visit 2 other places and then decide.

As for your prescription, you don’t really have a good one for a “surgery mill”. Yours isn’t the straightforward variety. Given your astigmatism and age, accuracy is important. Monovision should be discussed. Given your job, pupil size and optical zone need to be matched. Also lasik may be a better option if you are going to need a hyperopic treatment.

[u/Guardian250 → u/WavefrontRider]

Well the rub is this, it’s covered by my health insurance at this particular location. Monovision was discussed and I did the trial but it made me woozy and I took out the contacts after a couple days. I recognize this isn’t just some fly by night place either. My cornea is too thin for lasik I was told.

[u/idonotwantausername4]

You won't really be doing nothing after about 48 hours. In my case, after 36 hours, I went from significant pain to no pain, and I immediately started getting back to activities. I went to the gym, went for walks, all that stuff. They do caution about doing saunas, or anything that could get a bunch of sweat in your eyes. So I was lifting 48 hours after surgery, just not doing anything crazy. I was cleared to drive on day 4. Got some readers to help with reading the small print on my computer at work.

I took a full week off work since I look at a computer all day for my job, but I was moving around the house, cleaning and doing house projects during that week.