6 years later

Well, my six year anniversary since my ICL surgeries came and went, and there's still nothing new to report, so that's good, I guess.  I do find that I'm using the very thin reading glasses my optometrist prescribed after my surgery more often, but only when reading for long periods.  I don't need them at all, most of the time.  Plus, my office chair is a recliner, so most of the time I'm sitting much farther back from the computer than most people would, so I am probably straining them a bit more than necessary.

The only thing notable, really, is that a couple of days ago I had a migraine aura occur, and I haven't had one of those in at least 15 years.  I've got some job stress going on right now, and for me, aura is never accompanied with pain, so after it completed its usual C shape, it was over after about 30 minutes.

I do sometimes have migraines without aura, and they always are painful, but the aura-types are always pain-free.  Just really weird!

I continue to be amazed

I recently went for my annual vision checkup at my optometrist.  Still reading at 20/20.  Pretty amazing for someone in their forties to not need reading glasses. Distance vision, though, is what really impresses me.  As I drive on the interstate and see so sharply at long distances, I still ponder on how novel that is for me.

My eye doctor commented on my adjusting the distance at which I held reading material (backwards) during his checkup. As if that signaled a need for reading glasses on the horizon.  Maybe so, but I pointed out that for my first 30+ years of reading, I had to bring things closer to me to be able to see clearly and I'm still sort of in the habit of bring things close to read, and then adjusting backwards, even 5 years post-ICL.

5 year mark

I hit five years with my ICLs at the beginning of this month, and not much has changed.  Literally.  I still have halos.  I still have YAG hole artifacting.  I still see 20/20.   I am still happy I had my surgery.  And if you are considering ICL surgery, my mantra is still the same:  do your due diligence (research) and be realistic in your expectations.

4 years later...

Tomorrow marks my four year anniversary with ICLs.  Four years later, I'm still 20/20 with no major issues to speak of.  The halo problem persists, but I really don't think about them much any more.  I don't use the anti-halo drops at all these days.  Some nights, the halos are barely there and the next night they'll be worse than ever.  Their impact on my quality of life is minimal.

Now having gone four years without contact lenses or glasses, it's almost like I can't remember what that was like, and how much of a hassle it was.  I love being free of those things!  I love seeing the alarm clock in the middle of the night, even if there is a halo around it. ;)

If you're considering ICL, really think about pros vs cons, and accept that there are likely to be cons.  It's amazing to think about going from total nearsightedness to 20/20 in a couple days' time.  That kind of magic has to have a price with it, and apparently my price was a few halos.  I'm happy to have paid it and enjoy my clear vision.

3 years later

It's been a little over 3 years since I had my ICLs done.  As far as they're concerned, everything is holding steady.  I'm still seeing 20/20, and still impressed by how clear things are outside in the daylight.  The halos, unfortunately, are still holding steady, too.  No change there.  I've accepted them as a necessary evil with my ICL.  I don't use anti-halo drops much anymore.  I just use them in certain situations, like concert halls, dimly-lit restaurants, driving in unfamiliar areas in the dark.  That's about it. I don't use them on a daily basis, as I really don't like how they make my eyes feel and it sort of dries out my sinuses.  But they do the job when necessary.

My biggest problem at the moment continues to be the tear dysfunction problem.  I don't call it 'dry eye' these days, because most of the time my eyes are anything but dry.  They tear like crazy and are really red without some sort of steroid drop.  I assume the tearing is due to my punctal plugs giving my tears nowhere to go.  I don't know what the red is all about.

I went for a new procedure called "meibomian gland probing" (not as painful as it sounds!), that was supposed to free up the meibomian glands in the lids, but it didn't work for me.  So now I plan to have my punctal plugs removed, or at least, a couple of them, to address the tearing.  This will be done by a doctor at my ICL surgeon's office, so hopefully they will have some new ideas on what's causing all this.  I have tears, just not good quality tears.  It's frustrating, to say the least.