Read about my consultation here. Read about the operation here. 

I decided to get PRK surgery so that I would no longer have to rely on contacts to see. I was so sick of the daily routine: 1. wake up 2. put contacts in. Totally sucked. Been about 7 years of it now- so my prescription has stabilized. I went to the Duke vision center to have my eyes checked out and determine whether I was a candidate for LASIK. While I was there, the doctor mentioned another surgery called PRK. This was the first I’d heard of there being another procedure available to treat myopia, and I was very interested because PRK does not require any “cutting”. The idea of slicing a flap into your cornea (as is done in LASIK)  was never particularly appealing. Come to find out that PRK is used almost exclusively by the military and Navy to correct pilots’ vision. It is widely regarded as the safer option because there is no chance that eye trauma may result in a dislocated corneal flap. PRK is often done to younger patients, and does not require that you have a thick cornea. Doctors shluff off the top layer of the epithelial cells on the outer surface and then use the laser on the exposed portion of the eye. The downside of PRK is that vision correction is not immediate (as  in LASIK) and instead takes up to 3 months to stabilize. The procedure is also more painful, with a longer recovery time (at least 5 days). The Doctors send you away with temporary (non corrective) lenses that allow the surface of your eye to heal and reduces the risk of infection.

I am writing (wrote) this paragraph 1 day after having my surgery. I am lying in bed with my eyes closed typing without looking at the computer screen. I have plastic see-through goggles on so that I do not rub or scratch my eyes when I am sleeping. I am going to keep a diary of my recovery so that others can prepare themselves for PRK.