Vision got worse

It's been a year now since I did LASEK and Corneal Cross-Linking.

Vision got worse:
RE +8.50/-1.75 x 85
LE +2.75/-0.00 x 0

Both eyes have severe corneal haze and extend through all layers (very deep)
Eyes are too flat now.

• RGP lenses always slide so not a viable option
• Hybrid Lenses don't work because eyes are too flat.
• Kerasoft contacts should be OK, but vision is still poor with them due to change of RE from +6 to +8.5 and left eye 
• Eyeglasses provide mediocre vision and must be at a stable non-moving environment, such as a desk

1 year and still hanging on.

Vision Simulation

I found an interesting site: http://www.visionsimulations.com/
I used it to show how I see the world.  My right eye is by far a lot worse but I tried to approximate things to give an overall idea.   All images have a perfect vision vs my vision for comparison.


In ideal conditions, my left eye sees the clarity as shown below.

Ghostig Effect.  Right eye is 4 times as worse as the example shown (instead ofjust one ghost, I see 4 or 5 ghosts).  My left eye compenates and makes things better.

Another example of ghosting.  If I stress the muscles in my eyes I can achieve better vision.  Again, right eye is a loooooot worse than what you see.

Glare when there is a lot of light in the background.  Three images attached depending on how much light is coming from the windows.

Halo effect that makes me think this is how the light is actually seen by most people...when in fact it's not.

When I drive when it's sunny, things get a lot clearer.  In dim places, the negative effects of my vision are a lot more obvious like in the example below.

Driving at night is a nightmare.  Starburst from cars is painful.  The starbursts prevent me from seeing anything else.

As you can see I'm really placing my hopes on contact lenses.  Glasses don't help much with these problems.  Contacts almost take it all away.  I just have to be patient to get them to fit right.

Peace.

Still unable to wear contacts...

It's been months since I decided to go ahead with wearing RGP lenses.  After going through the fitting experience and finally placing the order I was informed my pair arrived!  Contacts, specially made for me, have arrived!  The promise of perfect vision is finally within my grasp.

I head to Dubai with my wife filled with excitement (wait...did I mention I recently came back from my Honeymoon after getting married?) and finally get to try on these expensive lenses.  The lens specialist places the lenses in my eyes, and after minutes of teary eyes and discomfort, things are not clear!  Apparently the lens diameter was not big enough and lens was sliding in my eyes (did not remain in the center).  Solution?  Send them back and get ones with larger diameters.

On the good news, hybrid lenses are now available and the lens specialist ordered trials to try them.  Due to my busy schedule and just getting back to work, the nearest appointment where I could make it was 3 weeks later.

Still hanging in there, hoping things will get better.

RGP Lenses ordered!

Vision is stable (still poor).
Eye shape is stable (flat).
Corneal haze still exists and is expected to reduce in time.
Cause of stromal tissue loss is still unknown - reason they believe is delayed epithelial healing which prolonged the exposure of the stroma.  Scar tissue has replaced the lost tissue.  Infection was never a cause and never occured.

Got RGP lenses ordered which will arrive in 4 weeks time.   Vision with these is awesome.  No haze, ghosting etc..  Adjusting period is required cause it feels like there's a hair in my eye when i wear them (especially first 10 minutes).

Hope exists.  Vision can be corrected with more conservative measures.  Time to live life.  No obsessing, no worrying.  Life smacked me in the face.  It's time to smack back and say "I will live my life, a happy life"

Day 227 Post-Op (Feb. 02, 2012)

Wow.  227 days.  It really has been such a long time.  Almost 8 months now.

I have a follow up appointment on the 8th of February.  Hoping my eyes have a better curvature (less flatter) and can actually manage with the trial RGP lenses.

Look forward to the appointment results.  Fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

Dec 26 2011, Lens Fitting Appointment

Yesterday I went for my lens fitting appointment.  I took a day off work since it was mid-week, drove for 1.5 hours as usual to the eye hospital and sat there in the waiting room expecting so many good things to come.  It seems like all I got was a smack in the face with everything going exactly the opposite to my expectations.

At first they were going to fit me with soft contact lenses.  That threw me off, as the appointment was for hybrid lens fitting.  I had to clearly explain to them that we tried soft contact lens fitting a week ago and the results were not satisfactory.  After this clarification they took me to another doctor who specializes in these fittings as opposed to the regular optometrist.

The doctor informed me that she will fit me with RGP lenses.  What?  I thought I was getting a hybrid lens fitting as my main doctor directed, to which I was informed that they no longer provide hybrid lenses since 2 years ago since the manufacturer no longer distributes to the Middle East region due to quality issues in the shipments.  OK....then why give false hope and tell me I will be fitted with hybrids when you don't have them!  After this hiccup I tried to calm myself down and said to myself "nothing wrong with RGPs, might as well try them".

As the doctor inserted the RGP lens into my eye it felt like I had a loose hair stuck inside.  She informed me that this is typical as the eyes are reacting to a foreign object.  I kept my eyes closed for a while till I could open it.  Vision was good, but not yet perfect.  Also, things kept on shifting from clear to blurry constantly, changing with each blink.  She told me my eyes were too flat and they don't have trial lenses for my curvature and she was using both contacts and glasses on me to get the right fitting.  I don't know why but this felt like a mechanic doing dentistry work.  I felt very uncomfortable as this is not how a high quality hospital should do things.

She went through various lenses and did various eye tests where she places colored drops in the eye and looks at the lens using a blue light (to make sure the lens is sitting correctly on the cornea).  However, since they don't have the right lens for my eyes, and she said she can't even order trial ones for tests, I can order the actual ones and use the one-time replacement warranty that comes with it to get a better fit later.  Oh, and she also mentioned the fact that my curvature has changed over the past two months (from 9 to 10 or something like that) and that my curvature could change again. 

Ordering lenses takes 4-5 weeks....which means by the time they arrive my curvature could have changed, and the RGP lenses will be a poor fit which I believe can damage/scratch my eyes due to being too tightly fit.  Why all the hassle, driving multiple times to see the doctor, poorly fit contacts, probable damage to my cornea, wasted time and money.....for the time being contacts seem like a horrible choice.  Although I have to mention that the clarity of my vision with contacts was great since lots of the haze issue is solved (still not perfect though).

Conlusion: Wait for eyes to heal, haze to disappear and let my eyes heal naturally.  I will not rush it and hope for a better long term as a result of letting the miracle of the human body regenerate itself and heal.

Dec 17, 2011 appointment

Slightly good news, as I have observed the following changes from the medical report:

Left eye went from +2.25 to +1.75, although has Grade 2 haze

Right eye went from +6.00/-2.00 to +5.75/-1.50, with Grade 2 haze

Haze is expected to disappear with time, doctor is approximating 6 months from now....so will have to see how things are in June 2012 (which will be 1 year after the surgery).

I inquired on what caused this issue and why I was unfortunate.  

• Was it the surgery itself that went bad? 
• Was it because the bandage contact lens was removed at day 5 while the epithelium has not healed completely?
• Was it because the bandage contact lens was reinserted at day 9 and kept in my eyes for a period of 5 weeks without being replaced once?
• Was it just my body that did not have the capability of regrowing epithelium at the typical expected rate?
• Or was it something else I have not considered?

Doctor's response was that I was unfortunate, and the delay in epithelium healing (which took me 2 months to have heal completely, while the average is 5-9 days) had my eyes exposed which lead to tissue loss (even though not a single follow up appointment mentioned that I suffered from an infection, so what cause the tissue loss is strange, even though they tell me at my 4 month post op appointment that there was tissue loss due to an infection....which was the first time they mention infection and they talk about it in the past?!).  To be honest, I'm not convinced with this generic statement from the doctor...

Doctor is expecting in a 6 month time left eye can reach +0.75 and left eye +3.00

I have an appointment on the 26th of Dec for a fitting for hybrid contact lens (the center is RGP with a soft skirt for extra comfort).  Look up SynergEyes for more details on what hybrid contact lens are.  I can't wear regular contacts because the center of my eye suffered tissue loss, and a soft contact cannot hold its shape with a hole in the center of my eyes.  Regular RGP contacts are not known for best comfort, so hopefully hybrid contacts can be a good solution as the haze clears from my eyes.

All I have to do is wait and believe.

Although I don't have closure yet as I don't really understand what went wrong.