DALK [Surgery + 8 Weeks]

I was surprised to have 2 stitches removed today in my visit to Dr. Holland's office. They were a little late getting me in due to an emergency surgery that was taking place. *Gulp* I was happy that I wasn't the person getting emergency surgery. Luckily, I had my iPad with me and had no problems waiting.

Once inside, they found my eye to be in very good shape. I'm still seeing 20/30 through the pinhole and reading some fairly small lines from the eye chart. They found my eye pressure to still be a little high (26 as opposed to 16 in my right eye) so they changed my dosage of Omipred to 3 times per day, down from 4. They took another topographical image of my eye and, based on that, Dr. Holland's assistant took two stitches out, one from the top and one from the bottom. They numbed my eye up pretty good with some drops, and then just popped them out. Quite easy. My eye is still a little sore, but none the worse for wear.

Let me just say, 8 weeks in...this is pretty incredible. I haven't read anywhere where they've removed stitches this early. I think the graft is looking that good. In fact, Dr. Holland said that they do see some people who test out at 20/30 through the pinhole and then continue to improve within a year or year and a half. I'm hoping that with prescription glasses I can be at 20/25 at least in my left eye. That is pretty darn good, basically what I was seeing with a hard lense in.

I can honestly say (and I know I'm setting myself up for disappointment here) that I can actually see a little better after the stitches were removed. It is hard to tell what's wrong when I see worse than normal. Could be the eye's natural healing process, or the effects of the steroids and Restasis.

DALK [Surgery + 7 Weeks]

There isn't much to report at this juncture. My eye seems to continue to do well. There are good days and bad days...periods of time where I'm not seeing as good as after the first two or three weeks, and there are other days (like today) that my vision is fairly improved. All in all, not much has changed. I see very well at close range...I can read the fine print on the shampoo bottle...I can make out some street signs. I can read books on my iPad with just my left eye. Still, there is some degree of astigmatism which I hope can be corrected when the stitches are removed. I feel good about my chances for excellent vision once the eye stabilizes enough to get a prescription lens.

As far as pain and discomfort, really not much. Occasionally, I'll have a slight ache or soreness in the eye, which could be the result of dryness, dust or sleeping on the left side of my body. In any case, the aches are probably 1% of the time. I just have to continue to be careful with the eye.

I go back for a visit with Dr. Holland next Thursday to see about my improvement. I have a feeling things will start to get hectic once he starts pulling out the stitches.