Hoo boy. Today, I met with the surgeon rather than one of the fellows training under him. The surgeon made it clear that the fellow’s records of my chief complaints have been wrong, hence the fellow’s diagnosis has also been horribly wrong.

As some of you have mentioned, my symptoms sound a lot like astigmatism. The surgeon concurs. The astigmatism is either in my epithelial layer (good!) or in my corneal layer (boo!).

If my epithelial layer is astigmatic, it'll heal itself. Otherwise, it's another surgery.

Epithelial Astigmatism

Part of the LASEK procedure involved delaminating the epithelial layer of my eyes using an alcohol-based solution. As in, dissolving the top layer of my eyeball. The bandage contact lens that I wore offered some protection, much like a bandage does when your actual skin is opened up.

I’ve been keeping my eyes well-hydrated because epithelial cells grow from the outsides of your eyes and migrate towards the centre. They’ll effectively fill in the astigmatic pits and everything will be fine. However, that’s only if they’re given sufficient fluid to move through.

I’m not entirely sure what the fellow was thinking1 in my 4-week and 5-week follow-ups. Regardless, she had been decreasing the frequency of the lubricating drops and lubricating ointment, making it impossible for my eyes to heal.

So, not only am I doubling up on my lubricating drops and lubricating ointment, I get to put a lubricating rod in my eyes every morning, too.

I’m definitely not terrified by this prospect at all. I hope there are instructional videos on YouTube.

Corneal Astigmatism

If it’s my cornea that is misshapen, then an “enhancement” surgery would be required. As I’ve mentioend before, for someone with a –6.25 in both eyes, the surgeon said there would be a 6 to 8 percent chance of an enhancement surgery being required.

I will know more when I see the surgeon again (not the fellow) in a month’s time. If another surgery would be required, my eyes would have to stablize before we began. That would put it three to four months out. Wish me luck.

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1. There were other mistakes made by the fellow, but I’ll leave those for another time. I’m totally okay with people making mistakes. I’m bothered by the kind of mistakes and the fact that the fellow had difficulty learning when the surgeon brought her in. ↩