Yesterday was my appointment with the specialist in LA to see if I could fix my eyes. I found out some very interesting information.
Ophthalmologists measure vision in Diopters. This is the +1.5 or –1.5 you might have as your glasses or contact prescription. The amount of correction needed falls into four categories, mild, moderate, severe and extreme. I am nearsighted or myopic. For myopic patients, the levels correspond like this: Mild ( less than –3.00), Moderate (-3.00 to –6.00), Severe (-6.00 to –9.00), and Extreme (Greater than –9.00).
With my hard contacts, my prescription was in the –12.00 to –13.00 range. After three weeks of not wearing my contacts, which did help hold the shape of my eyes, I am in the –14.00 to –15.00 range.
The good news is that the Phakic Intraocularlens implants are meant for patients up to –20.00. The main concern of the doctor is if my cornea is thick enough for him to implant the lens. The good news is, they are.
I am scheduled for surgery on May 15th. The process is a little more drawn out than I realized. They do one eye at a time and depending on healing time, they surgery’s can be scheduled minimally a month apart. In addition, three to four months later, they will want me to come back in to do a final touchup of vision correction and to fix my Astigmatism. This will be done by either Lasik or PRK. It depends on what needs to be done.
So there you have it. I should be fixed by the end of the year. Yes, there is some risk involved but Dr. Maloney has had very successful surgery rates.
In the meantime, I continue to wear my glasses until May 15th. I will have to wear one contact after that, although I am not quite sure how I will handle removing the last contact when I have one eye fixed… I guess that I will need to pop out one lens in my glasses so I can see. Yeah, that’s going to be attractive. Anybody wanna set me up on a blind date? (That is just a joke people)
And in case you were wondering, my glasses prescription is the same as what my contacts were in the –12.00 to –13.00 range. This is what I wear everyday. Driving and reading and working and all.
So if you see me driving down the street, get off the sidewalk.
2 comments:
Hooray! This is good news, yes? Sounds like it is going to be more involved than we had hoped, but they will be able to make your vision better and you won't have to mess around with hard lenses or coke bottle glasses anymore.I'm so happy for you!
Hey, maybe instead of popping out one lens of your glasses, we can get you an eye patch or something. Arrr! ;)
I am proud of you (again) and i want to let you know i will be thinking about you on your surgery date. the only experience i have had with this kind of surgery is with old people, who had to correct cataracts... but they all said it was a great improvement and they could begin to see very quickly after the surgery. and let michelle know you WILL have an eye patch... at least to sleep in while you heal (arrrrrrrrr.)
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