I’ve reached the end of the third day after my PRK surgery and am feeling hopeful about things to come. They warned me that days 2 and 3 would be the worst. Day 2 was horrid, but today started better and things noticeably improved throughout the day.

Instead of the constant burning of day 2, today’s annoyance was intermittent periods of feeling like I had something in my eye. I kept asking my girlfriend to look for something, but she couldn’t see anything and my eyes weren’t red or bothered. I called the doc’s office and they said it was normal to have the feeling of a foreign body and that it would pass. It came and went, usually limited to the left eye. Strange, as most of the pain from yesterday was focussed on my right eye.

Much to my relief, my vision has sharpened ever so slightly. The right eye is now noticeably sharper in vision than the left. I can actually see the words I’m typing, albeit in an enormous font. Baby steps. I took several walks today, and the cold, brisk air relieved some of the discomfort.

There were passing moments when it seemed my vision would clear up and I could almost read some print on the bottle of eye drops, only to have it disappear as I attempted to focus. Small setbacks that will be overcome in the next week. I’m happy with the progress so far. It isn’t instantaneous, and opting for PRK is not for the faint of heart. The gradual improvements are like little milestones and make me feel excited for what’s to come. At times it’s almost like a slow wave, from blurriness to a sudden short moment of clarity, back to blurriness. I think I’ve made it through the majority of the pain, although I’m sure the discomfort and foreign body sensations will probably linger at least until I get the bandage contacts out - and that is still four days away. Still, I’m excited to see what tomorrow brings.

As a side note, I was just outside walking in the dark. Most things are still very blurry, with minor moments of semi=clarity. However, every light seemed to have its own gargantuan atmosphere, or halo, reminiscent of comet Holmes. This too is expected to pass, but its duration varies in patients.

I’ll end with a funny little story - The first day after the PRK surgery, you go back to the doctor and they do a quick checkup which includes trying to read the standard eye charts across the room. He tossed up the chart which should be easy to read by anyone, though all the letters looked like they had been smeared with ink. He asked which line I could read and I said I could read the third line perfectly, but when I tried, I failed at every letter. I didn’t know I failed, and said I couldn’t really make out the fourth line, but tried and somehow managed to get all the letters correct. Go figure. He laughed but I didn’t find out about it until my girlfriend told me today.