Weeks 2 and 3

The first few days after having the bandage contact removed were pretty sore but it quite soon got to the stage of being uncomfortable 'only on occasion'. The cyclopentolate drops were still disabling the eye's function so vision was totally cloudy. Patience.

Two weeks in and the cyclopentolate drops were stopped. The immediate effect was that the eye was sore again. Presumably the flexing of the cornea as the eye attempted to focus was causing irritation. Only lasted a couple of days though. Now, the eye is sore only 'sometimes'.

Then vision began to develop. I could make out some things: those are books on that bookshelf! Very blurry and indistinct but definitely books. (I can't do that with the graft in my other eye without my contact lens.) There's no short-distance vision at all, yet. But already my uncorrected mid-distance vision is better than pre-op. I know vision will change dramatically over the initial recovery period so need to keep the excitement measured. Final outcome is still unknown. Good start though.

My uneducated guess is that the hyperopia (long sight) is due to the corena being too flat. As the eye adjusts I imagine the cornea will 'fill out' a bit more and my short sight improve. Of course there is no way of knowing what the final vision will be, either short or long distances. This is very different from my first graft so seems like a good news.

The three week checkup showed the timolol had worked and eye pressure reduced to a healthy 13 (from 26 just 2 weeks before). Good. Vision through a pinhole was good, well down the chart. Good sign for the future. Vision varies widely from moment to moment as tear fluid moves unevenly over the eye's surface. Sometimes it appears to be a bubble moving over the eye's surface. Consultant assured me that, as the cornea becomes smoother, as the gully around the graft flattens out and when the stitches are removed this problem will go. (Hope it goes before the stitches: it makes vision very difficult.)

A stitch at the bottom of the eye has 'rotated' and is not 'bedding in' properly. (It was unclear if this has been the case since the operation, rather than being a recent change.) Since it is not causing much of a problem it was decided to leave it, as is. The options were to try to rotate it or to fit a bandage contact again. This could be the reason the eye is still sore sometimes. This stitch will be removed early, especially if it becomes a focus for infection, but this can never be before 6-8 weeks. The plan is, as last time, to remove half the stitches after about a year.

Drop regime for the next period: pred forte x3 and timolol x2 but can now discontinue the chloramphenicol antibiotic. Next checkup in a month.

Still really tired. Not sure if that's coincidental or a natural part of the recovery.