I had PRK surgery in late August of this year. I then applied for Pilot as a DEO in September. The CFAT and interview went well, however the fact that I had eye surgery has stalled the process. I will need to have my surgeon sign off on a form that basically says my eyes are stable and that there are no follow up appointments remaining. The Medical Officer told me the norm wait time for this is 6 months (not sure if that's the norm for PRK specifically, or for Lasik as well). When I asked if the 3 month mark was a possibility, I was told not to rush it like that, since afterall these are my eyes we're talking about. He also gave me the impression that the ophthalmologist exam is fairly rigorous on the eyes, and that it may not be best to subject eyes that are still fresh from surgery to it. Disappointing, but it sounded reasonable to me. However when discussing this at the clinic where I had the procedure done, the lady doing the check up on my eyes (not sure what her official title is - she's not the surgeon but does all the pre/post testing) at the most recent follow up appointment, she said she saw no reason why I wouldn't be good to go after 3 months, and that the surgeon would sign it off at that point. She used to work at an ophthalmology clinic and was familiar with the test I would be getting done.
So my question is, has anyone here had PRK surgery and later gone on to do the ophthalmologist exam? If so what was your experience with wait times, and any other suggestions or information would be very appreciated. I don't mean to undermine the advice of the Medical Officer, I'm just excited to keep the process moving and if there's a chance to get it moving in late November vs late February, I would definitely take it.
As an aside, my eyes have improved significantly in these last 2 months, and my left eye is 20/10 and right eye 20/20. They feel great 95% of the time, but every now and then get a little itchy which is solved with some refresh eye drops. I would recommend it to anyone considering it.
