Wendy Willard

I can’t say I didn’t completely know what I was getting into, because everyone warns you that it can take up to 2 months before you have 20/20 vision from PRK vision correction. However, I figured I’d be one of those people who wakes up on day 5 with 20/20, and never loses it after that. Silly, but of course the favorite phrase among those who’ve had this surgery is… hindsight is 20/20

So today I had another follow-up visit with the eye doctor. I was able to vent a little bit of my frustration at not seeing that well yet. Prior to surgery, they tell you that you will be able to “function well” about 7-10 days post-op. Unfortunately, I think their definition of “functioning well” doesn’t include computer use, because that’s where I am *seeing* big problems.

I can take care of my kids, clean my house, cook meals, do laundry, and so on, without any problems. I can even fumble my way through the grocery store (although I’m certain I’m missing some of the good sales!) But when I attempt to work on the computer, things are very blurry. I’ve increased my default font sizes to around 18 points in both my email and web browser. (Sorry if you’re all receiving emails from me with HUGE font sizes!) I turned on the “vision impaired” services for my Mac, which allows me to run a magnifying lens or sorts across my screen at will. That’s really nice for the small details in some of the designs I’m working on, as well as for those applications that don’t allow me to increase the default font size.

Today the doctor told me I’m 20/30 in my left eye (which is great) and 20/70 in my right eye (not so great). Because my right eye is dominant, it’s really causing my brain some frustration while trying to interpret what I’m seeing, particularly when the light is behind the image (as it is on all computer screens). Ironically, it’s easier to read text on paper right now!

So everyone keeps asking if I regret the surgery. That’s tough. I don’t regret having the surgery, but I regret the timing. I think if I had known I might not see at least 20/40 in both eyes for up to a month post-op, I would have tried to find a better time of the year (maybe when the kids are out of school and I’m not working as much anyway, or over the Christmas holidays…). In any case, I can’t turn back now, but continue my eye drop regime and triple-dosing on Vitamin C. There will continue to be good days and not-so-good days, but… One of these days I really *will* wake up to 20/20 vision. That is certain. Unfortunately, how many days will have passed is anyone’s guess.