DAY 2
On wake things looked much more normal. Dilation was back to normal, inflammation had gone down and my eye was only slightly red instead of bloodshot like yesterday. There was still some mild blurring which was understandable. After breakfast I went for the ultimate test: standing on my front porch and looking up at the sky. For the past year I had become used to seeing the giant tumbleweed swimming across my vision, glare on light sources, and an overall blurring of reality. So preparing myself I took a breath and began a slow visual scan across the sky, houses, and trees. It was hard to believe but the world simply looked NORMAL. I was actually afraid to accept that this was happening because every good moment over the past year had resulted in the floaters returning seconds later. But it was true. The sky was a clear and solid blue corner to corner, with no tumbleweed flipping around as in the past. There was a random miniscule dustmote in places which I consider normal.

One downside was that the mild PVD floater in my other eye was now more noticeable. But instead of feeling depressed I was elated because now I had a plan: Phase 2 will be to get the other eye done in a month or so. I paid for this procedure out of pocket and will willingly do it again for the other eye.

DAY 3
I had been religiously using the drops prescribed to me as required. On wake, the slight blurring in the operated eye was almost gone. The focus balance between eyes was more normal. I realized some of this imbalance was my brain trying to figure out where the floater had suddenly gone. I found this humorous considering how floater sufferers are told in exams their brains need to adapt. Allowing my eye and brain to "adapt" back to normal after a year of annoyance was a wonderful feeling.

DAY 4
Focus and balance were normal today. All post-op blurring was now gone and my eye's clarity has returned to what I remember before my PVDs a year ago. Working on my PC is fun once again without text and images being obscured. Low light details are back, reality is clearer, and when walking the dog at 10pm lights on nearby houses were razor sharp with no glow or fog around them. It goes without saying that I am very pleased with my results. Rather than provide continual updates here I will update the page as needed.

CONCLUSION
While everyone needs clear eyesight the list of professions modeled around razor-sharp vision is endless: Surgeon, pharmacist, programmer, air-traffic controller, firefighter, astronomer, electrician, photographer, radiologist, art restorer, life-guard, airline pilot, watchmaker, and of course opthalmologist. How are these people supposed to perform their jobs if they suddenly have large floaters, can't see to work, and the only solution is to "deal with it"? Do they stay silent and continue with their jobs like nothing happened, hoping they don't make a mistake? Or do they give up and quit their jobs? It makes me wonder how many people over the centuries suffered with poor vision in silence, hoping no one would find out. A bit creepier are the catastrophes that may have been unknowingly caused by someone with floaters who missed seeing that one last critical detail.

Given all this, the lack of empathy and slow acceptance within the medical and insurance industries to address floater removal is frustrating. Modern medicine needs to redefine the definition of standard of care for FOVs by recognizing how debilitaing they are to the population. Insurance companies have no problem covering cataract surgery to restore eyesight and quality of life, they should cover a FOV for the same reasons. Refusing to pay unless there are underlying issues and only for a Full version seems heavy-handed. A Core may not be suitable for all sufferers but in my situation: Post-PVD, no underlying issues, and no cataracts yet, I believe it was the right choice for ME.

NOTE: I'm fully aware of the potential complications of an FOV. The purpose of this page is simply to document the details of my FOV—not to serve as an endorsement of the procedure. That said, Dr. Shakir at Coastal Eye in Greenwich, CT certainly has mine.