Lasik, or PRK? Both!

Kevan went "under the knife" well, laser actually, Thursday 9/14 for vision correction.

Originally he was going to have Lasik performed on both eyes; however, his right cornea was highly asymmetric (probably why he has an astigmasism). This put him on the borderline for a potentially evaluated risk of a condition called corneal ectasia; that is a bulging of the cornea. Corneal ectasia can some times be treated, but sometimes requires a cornea transplant. Not a risk Kevan wanted to take, even if he was borderline and there was only a potential for an increase in the risk. The left eye was not in the risk category, so Kevan had Lasik for that eye and PRK for the right eye.

The difference is this, in Lasik a “flap” is created and the Laser ablation is performed under the flap and the flap is replaced. In PRK the top layer of cells, the epithelium is scrapped off, then the same laser process is performed on the top of the cornea, but now the epithelium just has to grow back, and the cornea experiences more trauma. The result is, the day of surgery after a nap the left eye was possibly already 20/20 and relatively pain free while the right eye 5 days later is still pretty blurry. The right eye was also very painful for the first 48 hours. The other difference is that the left eye only needs drops for 5 days, the right eye will be getting drops for over a month. According to the doctor by the 6-month follow up (there are other follows before then) the results should be the same. The right eye could take 6 weeks to 6 months to reach optimum vision. Kevan is hoping for sooner that later.

For the eye undergoing Lasik the result was nothing short of incredible. Fantastic vision the next day after surgery. However, it should be noted that once a “flap” has been cut, there is always a “flap” (this is how “enhancements” are done). Once healing is complete for PRK it is possibly undetectable with no residual difference.

If your thinking about it Lasik, go check it out, but also look into LASEK, it has the promise of falling in between Lasik and PRK. However, given the almost immediate results of Lasik, it is not likely LASEK will catch on. So far (5 days out) Kevan is really happy with the results, that is as long at the right eye continues to get better.

Our New Car!

Kevan purchased his first new car last night! He is very happy that he finally has his Toyota Hybrid. I've posted pictures below. It is a very pretty car and I am happy too. The Prius gets over 60 mpg and has a lot of really cool features. :o)

Shuttle from Backyard

Kevan and I watched the shuttle take off this morning in our backyard. Here are some pictures.

New Office

Pictures of New Office:

Photos

Kevan and I worked on our new office all weekend. We painted the room, put up crown molding and put in the wood floor. Now, we just need to finish the threashold and then the base molding. :o)

Fun at the Beach!

This past week Judy (Kevan's mom) came to visit and we went to Daytona Beach for the weekend. On Saturday we drove down to Merritt Island and enjoyed the scenery there too. Sunday we went for an airboat ride on Lake Jesup. More Pictures:

More Pictures

Sewing Room

I painted our Guest Room this weekend. Here is how it turned out. It used to be a yucky brown color, but now it is blue/yellow. :o)

The Shuttle - Independence Day 2006

Kevan and I went and watched the shuttle take off from the beach. Here is a picture below:

The Riley Garden

Well, it's April and we already have peppers (already picked 2) and tomatoes! Click on the link below to see our garden.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jayde0401/album?.dir=/dc35re2

Well, I made my first purse over the weekend. It turned out really cute. I've included a picture below and a picture of the quilt that I finished a few week's ago.

My 30th Birthday

Well, I turned 30. :o( My best friend Julie sent me the beautiful tulips below and I wanted to add a picture so she can see how pretty they are. Also, I've included a picture of the sunset from the beach. Kevan took me to the gulf side of Florida so that we could see the sunset. Then, we had a nice seafood dinner! Mmmmmm! It was a great birthday. I even got to go a little shopping for some new clothes too!

Mom's Visit

My mom came to visit this week. We've had a lot of fun sewing and decorating our house here in Florida. Also, we all went on an airboat ride in the Everglades. It was beautiful! We saw an alligator that had a missing snout. The whole top portion of the top of his snout was missing. We thought it was a prop, but he jumped into the water when we got up close to him. It was pretty sad. The driver said that it is mating season and they must've been fighting. There is a blurry picture of him in the pictures. Here is a link to the photos:

Pictures of the Everglades

Quilting Class

I'm taking a quilting class at my church and here are a couple pictures of my first 2 quilt blocks. The first one is for a quilt I'm making for myself and the 2nd pic is for a baby quilt. I will be making/finishing a quilt in class to donate to the crisis pregnancy center in town.

My First Sewing Project!

Kevan bought me a new sewing machine for Christmas and I am learning how to use it. Here is a picture of my first project. I made Kevan a robe. :o) It is a little short, but that is how it was on the pattern. I guess I will need to follow it up with some pajama pants too...and maybe a pipe.