Blinded By The Light

by wjw on February 15, 2013

Okay, making this brief . . .

Yesterday, buoyed by stories of people having the operation and leaving with perfect vision, I had Lasik to correct my vision problems.

Let’s just say it didn’t go as well as I could have hoped.

I have become so sensitive to light that, pretty much, I can’t see.  Sunlight blinds me.  I can’t wath television or look at a video monitor because they’re too bright.  I can’t read because I can’t focus well enough.

Basically what I can do is sit in a darkened room and hope this goes away.  Which it probably will.

But in the meantime, please know that if you’ve sent me any email, I haven’t been able to read it.  If you’ve made any announcementx on your home page or on places like Facebook, I haven’t seen them.  if you need me to know something please telephone, bcause my ears and vocal cords still work perfectly well.

So anyway . . . here’s hoping for better days.

UPDAte, 18 hours later:  Things have improved somewhat.  I drove a car around the neighborhood this morning, and though it wasn’t comfortable, it was do-able.  I can wath TV, though it’s blurry.  And I can read a video monitor sprovided that it’s about five inches from my left eye, and I turn down the intensity.

So the trend is positive, though frustration remains the order of the day.

Peter Nordgren February 15, 2013 at 11:22 am

Delurking to say… what the hell? I had my eyes done a few years ago, and was very specifically cautioned that I would be extremely light sensitive for days and that I should wear wraparound sunglasses outside for some time. While there is a chance of side effects, the light sensitivity is not worrying in itself, just painful. (add not-an-opthalmologist caution)

My best wishes, and hoping that someone’s already told you this. Otherwise, that someone calls you.

Jean Sigman February 15, 2013 at 1:51 pm

Dear Mr. Williams,

I am so sorry to hear of your experience with Lazix. I do hope it is a temporary problem . In this age of electronic media, being blind is a true disability. As an author, I am sure that you can dictate to someone, but having to rely on dictation and someone to read back to you would be an agonizing process for a mind as creative as yours.

I wish you all the best.
Jean

Brian Renninger February 15, 2013 at 3:21 pm

Hope they heal up well. Good luck.

–Brian R.

Ted February 15, 2013 at 7:04 pm

Yeow. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.

Mike Bentley February 15, 2013 at 7:15 pm

I recently suffered a weird eye-related injury by being bopped on the eyelid with an empty plastic bottle. The result was a rough patch inside the eyelid, I guess, that causes irritation and a tetch of light sensitivity. I had to turn the lights down and the screen brightness way down to even read email.

The eyedoc told me to use Blink eyedrops. It is taking a while to get used to using them as I hate anything going near my eyes. The light sensitivity that erupted from the irritation to the eye has been alleviated by the drops, tho the rough patch seems to persist.

Shash February 16, 2013 at 4:13 am

I had lasik several years ago and, sadly, I am not someone it worked well for in the long run. But others I know have had very good long-term results.

Have several pairs of sunglasses stored in strategic places (luckily you can buy the cheaper, non-prescription ones now. Have good eye drops handy everywhere you go and use them every hour. The need for the drops should lessen.

John F. MacMichael February 16, 2013 at 11:02 am

Very sorry to hear this. It certainly sounds like you were, at a minimum, not given the proper pre-operation information as to what to expect after the procedure. Hope you continue to improve!

Michael Grosberg February 16, 2013 at 1:56 pm

Glad to hear your state is improving. I had two LASIK operations, one in both eyes about 10 years ago – I was lucky enough to be able to see almost perfectly a day later (except for halos at night but I guess you were told about those). The second time around, three years ago, a corrective procedure in one eye since the first one didn’t give me perfect vision. This time it was closer to what you experienced, light sensitivity and blurriness, and moreover, a difficulty in focusing both eyes on the same object. But it got better. I think your eye has to re-adapt to controlling somewhat different optics and it takes time.

d brown February 18, 2013 at 8:47 am

I wish I had posted what I found out after my mother was pushed in to getting LASIK by her Doc. Who made a lot of money out of it. A fair percent of the time it makes things worse. And when it works it may only works at one distance. If you use your eyes a lot you may still need glasses. The people who do this don’t tell all the truth. They have to pay for the their new tools.

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