PRK Post 1: The decision

I have worn glasses since 3rd grade and contacts since 7th.  I started on contacts worn for a year and that lasted until college when I changed to Acuvue2s.  I wore Acvue2 contacts until I started my travel job.  Even though they are designed for dry eyes and I didn’t sleep in them I had horrible issues with dryness on long flights.  That led me to Acuvue Oasys which I used up until the surgery.  I was pretty happy with them.  I would sleep in them, wear the same pair for over a month, and still had little issues with discomfort and dryness, but red eye flights became frequent and even the oasys became uncomfortable.

Other contributing factors: although contact solution is exempt from 3-1-1 since it’s a medical liquid, that doesn’t mean TSA won’t stop you to test the liquid.  I prefer to get through the check point as quickly as possible so I chose to stick with contact solution bottles under 3.4 fl oz.  Of course contact solution manufacturers like to package in 2 fl oz and 4 fl oz packages.  Renu was always uncomfortable so I had to buy Alcon Lasting Comfort. I’d run out of this stuff often and would constantly spend $3 for a new bottle.  Of course this was my choice to stick with small bottles.

I wanted laser vision correction for a while, but wasn’t sure where to go, how to pay, or when to do it.  Then on of my acquaintances got Lasik in one eye and PRK in the other and was quite happy with her experience so I finally took the plunge.  I found out that everyone I know in Charlotte went to Providence Eye and Laser so it made the “where” question quite easy.  I decided to call right away and just get it over with.  Since my open enrollment is in December and I didn’t have anything in my FSA this year I financed with CareCredit for 18 months at 0%.  I could have paid with visa or mastercard and gotten points, but I didn’t want to pay interest.

Everything was set up, I started taking my vitamin C and antibiotic drops and headed in for the procedure.