I have just had two different sorts of laser shot into my eyes. The
eye-squeamish may not wish to keep reading.
This was IntraLASIK, done at Moorfield's. First they use a
femtosecond laser to blow a pattern of gas bubbles 0.1mm below the
surface of the cornea; this cuts loose a thin flap, which can be
lifted out of the way (by hand) for the next stage. The main treatment
is a computer-guided excimer laser, which re-shapes the exposed
tissue, after which the flap is replaced.
Leaving surface skin intact apparently leads to faster healing than
simply working on the exposed layers. The whole thing is a bit
disconcerting, but not at all painful, and as long as one can keep
one's head reasonably still and eyes pointing in the right direction
it's all done in half an hour or so.
The fog that is a standard after-effect has been gradually lifting. By
the time I got home I could just about see to write; a few hours later
there was still some blurring but I was basically functional, though
not quite for driving.
A nifty thing, at least if you're me: the excimer laser is guided by
optical recognition of the iris. So while the initial lasering needs
the eyeball immobilised relative to the laser head, the later
operation doesn't.
Now I just need to know why the smell of burned (or rather decomposed
by ultraviolet, which is not quite the same thing) wet flesh was so
immediately recognisable to me.
- Posted by Michael Cule at
11:49am on
12 August 2015
You are reincarnating backwards in time and recalling your experiences in the Asteroid Belt Wars of the Twenty-Second Century.
Alternatively, have you ever had any warts removed? That's when I discovered what my own burning flesh smelled like. And more importantly felt like.
- Posted by RogerBW at
01:02pm on
12 August 2015
When I was in the Asteroid Belt Wars I didn't get close enough to my enemies to smell their flesh.
And no. Never had any sort of medical procedure more intrusive than drugs or a chest x-ray before yesterday.
- Posted by John Dallman at
01:02pm on
12 August 2015
Glad it worked so well. That smell sounds like wet people on a beach being sunburned.
- Posted by Ashley R Pollard at
02:22pm on
23 August 2015
Susan had her eyes done a few years back. Remember to use eye drops every night before going to sleep as the process can cause dryness. Anyway, I hope that the procedure was worth the inconvenience for you, and improves your vision.
- Posted by RogerBW at
02:30pm on
23 August 2015
Thanks. I'm on a variety of drops every four waking hours for the next couple of weeks; after that it's as required. (This is an improvement, I understand - the old system didn't allow you to have time off to sleep, and for the first couple of days it was drops every hour without the option.)
Vision is great, better than it ever was with glasses or contacts, and comfort and convenience are excellent.
- Posted by Susan Parker at
07:46pm on
07 September 2015
It took a good few weeks, months even, for the haloing effects of strong light/dark contrasts (mostly at night) to fully go away but that was something I had been warned about beforehand.
So now for archery I can focus both on the target butt (at 30, 40 or 50 yards) and the bow's sight (recurve) or tip of the arrow (longbow) without having to resort to wearing glasses. Still need to get out and practise more though.
Since that was my original "specification" upgrade goal I can say that I am happy with the result :)
- Posted by RogerBW at
09:49pm on
07 September 2015
I was OK to drive at night 36 hours after surgery; there's still some halo (more like a giant dandelion ball really) but it's continuing to improve. I have just taken the last of the Really Nasty-Tasting Eyedrops.
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