Through Nina's Eyes

My experience with PRK Laser Eye Surgery

On June 17, 2022, I had a PRK Laser Eye Surgery. Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is a type of laser eye surgery used to treat nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism by reshaping the cornea.

For myself, it was to correct my nearsightedness which means, I will be able to see far. As far as the reading goes (farsightedness) because I am close to 50 years old, I would need to wear reading glasses which I’m good with. Especially I was getting to the point where I was needing to wear reading glasses over my contact lens therefore it is no real issue for me.  I wasn’t happy wearing reading glasses over my contact lens, now I am pleased to wear reading glasses over my natural eyes. Plus, there are so many cool reading glasses.

Having the PRK Surgery was one of the best choices I have made for my health. I have this amazing feeling of joy inside. I can see far without any glasses, I can read words in a distance with clarity and objects and sights are so vivid, crisp. I love it. It will take several days for the epithelium to heal. It will take 3 months to stabilize the vision and it will take a full year to completely heal and the cornea to develop.

When I first came out of the PRK Surgery, I stayed in the dark bedroom to avoid any light into my eyes. It stings to see brightness.  I was wearing bandage contact lens for the first 5 days. This was so the cornea doesn’t get damaged. Also, for the first 5 days, I was on a strict schedule when it came to putting in eye drops. There were 2 different medicated eye drops given which was to be used at a scheduled times given by the surgeon.  I stayed on it religiously. Also, I used tear drops to keep the eyes moist, to prevent any dryness.

They gave me pain killers which I never used. I never experienced dryness, pain in eyes, feeling of sand in the eyes or itchiness. These were all said what I would experience once I have the surgery. They also gave me sleeping pills if I can’t sleep. I never used it either. My eyes did feel tired, yet I slept when it did. I allowed my eyes to speak, and I listened.

The truth is the first 5 days – I felt like I was wearing contact lens all day long and sleeping with it. Sleeping with it felt weird.

Before the surgery, I watched you tube videos of people who have done the PRK laser eye surgery. They explained by live videos (day by day) what experiences they had and what you should prepare for.

I could do the same here, could have written about my day to day experience, but I won’t because each person’s experience will be unique. I have had another person who has had the PRK surgery a month later and she felt pain in the eyes, and I didn’t. We are two different individuals.

The youtubers had tremendous pain as they are filming day to day recovery. It makes sense that if your eyes are exposed to light that watery eyes will occur, they will feel tremendous pain and that they will be unable to open their eyes. They are exposing their eyes to the camera when they shouldn’t be.

The pain and experience of PRK will be unique from one person to another. It all depends on how healthy your eyes are and how you take care of yourself after the surgery.

What I can tell you about my experience and what I did-

Before the PRK surgery, I stopped wearing contact lens for 4 to 6 weeks. This gave my eyes the rest. Also, I started applying tear drops – Systane Ultra – Performance High as it has less preservatives. Systane Ultra helped my eyes to stay moist.

After the PRK Surgery – the surgeon indicated that the 1^st 5 days – do not use cell phones, watch TV, basically no screens. Simply listen to podcasts or listen to books such on Audible – this is exactly what I did.

It is best to let your eyes to rest and heal.

My recommendation for those who are planning to do PRK Laser Eye Surgery is to follow the instructions of the surgeon who performs the surgery.

Prepare yourself by letting your eyes rest from contact lens (if wearing one) , moisturize your eyes and don’t stress.

After your surgery, rest your eyes from all screens to allow proper healing process.

It is a wonderful feeling being able to see without glasses and contact lens

Life is beautiful

Since May 2022, I have been silent from blogging. These past months , I have been on a rollercoaster with my health.

June 2022 – I had a PRK laser eye surgery which has helped me see far, I was near sighted before the surgery. This means I was unable to see far without glasses. The surgery has helped me to see far . Honestly, it is amazing to be without glasses. As reaching 50 years old, I have to wear reading glasses, no matter what which I’m good with. Later on I’ll share more about this.

July 1 2022 – and yes, exactly on Canada Day – I broke my fifth left foot toe. I was in recovery mode. I have been off running. This actually gave me time to reflect my life as I was rushing into doing things . – It was a way the universe said, “slow down Nina” Just last week in August, I started running . To build commitment to it – I registered for an 8K run. When I broke my toe – my goal was to recovery and visioned myself running again. I had a target to heal fast and properly.

August 2022 – At the beginning of August – I got sick and once again – on recovery mode. This just lasted the first week of August .

All of this gave me time to reflect back at how life is and being grateful .

Now I have returned.

As sitting , recovering from my surgery and gaining health, I sat back , reflected on what I like to write about . I just simply like to write , write about what goes on in my journey. If something resonates with someone that is great and if it doesn’t , that is good too. My goal is to express .

As recovering , there were topics that came to my mind such as telling all of you the experience I had with PRK surgery and honestly , it is one of the best things I did for myself., I had my view what types of friendships and relationships mean. There are 3 types of relationships that I witnessed and will explore that here. Also, as going through the ups and down these months , I’m grateful for life and I like to share with all of you. No matter what happens , to never give up , to keep moving.. In life, everything falls in place when it does. Building a mindset of success is important . Success means having abundance in all areas of life – health, wealth, relationships and more… If one has success in one category and not the other, you truly are tipping through life. Moving forward, I’ll share my thoughts as I have experienced.

Working on what is essential

Yes, I have registered for the 5k Shoppers Drug Mart 5k run

On April 23 , I did a 5k timed race ..good start to participating in races….I’m taking little steps.. I noticed I started too fast

And today, I ran the Shoppers women’s 5 run. I ran in 37 mins …im taking it easy …running comfortably. I started the race slow and progressed with increasing speed but maintain a comfortable running pace….

I felt energetic and good …and now looking forward to my next.

My next race is in July which is in Langley, BC…another 5k…I will see if I can find something else.

The most expensive liquid in the world is a tear

It’s 1 percent water and 99 percent feelings

Think before you hurt someone

These past weeks , I have been running, that is running on the treadmill…building my running legs…

This week, I have moved my running from treadmill to road running..my goal is to run 5k , 3 times a week.

I’m planning to enter the mother’s day 5k run which is for raising funds and awareness on women’s mental health

Life Changes Every Moment

Sometimes a serene shade and

Sometimes a harsh sunlight

Live every moment to the fullest

This moment might not be there tomorrow

Someone who truly loves you is a rare thing in this world

If you find such a person

than that’s the one for you

hold onto that hand

That person might not be there tomorrow

Live every moment to the fullest

This moment might not be there tomorrow

The moment you have now

might not be there tomorrow

Live every moment to the fullest

as this moment might not be there tomorrow

Last month , I mentioned I would start running in the new year….well January 2022 gave me a surprise and had to recover my overall body and health.

I wind up getting sick, just all of sudden I got Shingles..how fun…

Now , I’m all recovered and just this last week, I started running.. im taking steps to change and take care of my health. Little steps leads to big changes , better ones…

Little steps leads to success ..

Big visions are realized through small steps..

So I take my running vision by little steps each day

Who you were a year ago is not the same person you are today.

In today’s world, we revolve, change and grow. Through our day to day experiences in relationships, work , health , wealth and just life overall, you grow either for the good or bad. It depends on how your mindset is.

When having a vision, embrace change. It is part of your life. It comes in all shapes and sizes. Here are a few quotes on change

Winston Churchill said ” To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often”

Icelandic Proverb ” A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will”.

Harriet Tubman “Every Great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

True life is lived when tiny changes occur – Leo Tolstoy

Steve Jobs said ” The people. who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do”

Abraham Maslow – “In any given moment, we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety” —

I choose to step forward

“Be the Change that you wish to see in the world” said by Mahatma Ghandi

Oprah Winfrey ” The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude”

Thomas Fuller – “All things are difficult before they are easy”

“Good Things take Time” John Wooden

John Maxwell ” Change is inevitable. Growth is optional”

Hermann Hesse said ” Some of us thinking holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go”

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” Raymond Lindquist

Stepping into courage is being bold and unique

I enjoy reading books , educational books that help us as an individual in health, education, wealth and success overall.

The last book which I completed was “Atomic Habits” written by James Clear. He explains to us in a clear, concise and easy way to create good habits. He explains how we can take a goal and start working on it by making tiny changes . Also, he teaches us how we can break bad habits.

One of his method is using a 2 minute rule. It is easy to start small and build on it

For example – you have a goal of reading a book each day for an hour. Instead of looking at the big picture , start small , read 1 page out of the book and then build on it. Anyone can do anything for less than 2 minutes. Any habit can be build on this concept. The next time you pick up the book, read two pages and then three and until you reach 1 hour – your final habit to build … You are slowly climbing the mountain to reach the top . Instead of doing all at once and falling down. Habits are built by progressing slowly.

Another way You start the habit with easy tasks and then build on it until you reach the maximum . For example – a goal of writing a book.

Very Easy – Write one sentence

Easy – write a paragraph

Moderate – write one thousand words

Hard – Write a 5 thousand word article

Very Hard – The final product – Write a book

The goal of starting a habit by the 2 minute rule -is to master the habit of showing up , a habit must be established before it can be improved. Master the basic skill to reach the finer details.

The 2 minute rule states as per James Clear is – ” When you start a new habit, it should take less than 2 minutes to do” You will fall into a state of focus that will lead to building a strong mind to continue the habit. It becomes a routine.

I have been off from running but not from exercising . I needed the break in order to heal my legs . My last run was on Nov 20 2021. Yet I have been using the treadmill, speed walking which becomes a slow jog. Instead of running, I have been concentrating on lifting weights and substituting running with Elliptical, Spin Bike and Rowing machine.

Sometimes the body speaks to us, that it needs a break to recover and for myself, my body spoke. Just like we need to reset our mind, we need to reset our body .

Sometimes it is good to give the body a break to recover and when returning back, the body will be stronger . It allows the body the opportunity to rebuild and the strengthen the muscles .

Well timed breaks leads to big performance gains

That is because during the downtime, muscles tendons and bones get some time to heal. Body repairs from those nicks and dents that occurred from those hard days training which protects you from major injuries. In addition, layoffs restore your enthusiasm for running and training. My mind is looking forward in going back to my training.

I’m planning to start running in the new year using the Vancouver Sun Run training plan and work upwards .

Some runners choose to include minimal running in their downtime, in all my off season of running , I always choose to perform Elliptical/Spin Bike and weights to keep my endurance up . I do add in walks on the treadmill on occasion. I always noticed that once returning back, my performance is up as my muscles and tendons are fully restored.

This works for me yet for others a downtime might be running once a week if you usually run 3 times a week to stay in shape. OR run twice a week if you usually run 5 to 7 times a week.

Each person is different, find out what works best for your rest period.

Discover your performance gains