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MrsLarry · May 1, 2006, 08:26 AM

If anyone remembers I was looking for LASIK stories awhile back because I was considering getting it... Well, I did!

Last Thursday, I couldn't read the big 'E' on the eye chart,

Friday, I was reading the 20/20 line.

I'm so excited, and though it was pretty expensive, seems completely worth it now. Thursday morning, before surgery I took a valium and 4 Advil. After the surgery, Took a sleeping pill and half a Vicodin, all this put me in a pretty good place to sleep the rest of the day. I woke up at about 3pm, looking at the clock and said "it's 3, time for my first set of prescription eye drops - holy CARP I can see the clock across the room!!!" That made me very happy!

Just wanted to share my excitement...

dark3lf · May 1, 2006, 08:28 AM

Cool

Big Mac · May 1, 2006, 08:37 AM

Delighted to see it worked out for you - I may consider it for myself some day.

blackbird_1.0 · May 1, 2006, 08:52 AM

That's awesome.

DeeKat · May 1, 2006, 08:52 AM

I was always really scared that I get my eyes screwed up for good. Might as well wear glasses.

Eriamjh · May 1, 2006, 10:24 AM

Been there. Done that.

LASIK rules!

turtle777 · May 1, 2006, 10:29 AM

A mircale.

-t

mdc · May 1, 2006, 10:30 AM

That is very cool.
I can't imagine what it would be like to not be able to read the big E.

brassplayersrock² · May 1, 2006, 10:45 AM

congrats on the great success of your lasik. i really want to get it, but alas, to expensive, plus me am skured of the possible screwing of me eyes.

congrats though, it must seem like a miracle to you.

Mastrap · May 1, 2006, 10:48 AM

My wife had it done and loves the results. The only annoyance was that for months she kept reading me things in the distance that I could see perfectly well myself.

"See this sign? It says 'No turning'"
" Yes, dear"

Tomchu · May 1, 2006, 10:50 AM

How's your night vision?

production_coordinator · May 1, 2006, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by mdc

That is very cool.
I can't imagine what it would be like to not be able to read the big E.

I'm one of those lucky people that has nearly 20/20 vision. I've never needed glasses, but I'm sure I will.

BlueSky · May 1, 2006, 10:56 AM

brassplayersrock² · May 1, 2006, 10:59 AM

^ very funny.

thank you for that bluesky

MrsLarry · May 1, 2006, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by Mastrap

My wife had it done and loves the results. The only annoyance was that for months she kept reading me things in the distance that I could see perfectly well myself.

"See this sign? It says 'No turning'"
" Yes, dear"

Haha - thanks the the heads up, Poor Larry, I've done the same to him. "I can read that" "I can see that" Poor guy.

MrsLarry · May 1, 2006, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by Tomchu

How's your night vision?

Headlights look a little "starbursty" at the moment, it's not obnoxious, definately tolerable, but i'm only 4 days out from surgery, they say, and i'm hoping, it will get better with time.

jcadam · May 1, 2006, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

I'm one of those lucky people that has nearly 20/20 vision. I've never needed glasses, but I'm sure I will.

My wife has perfect vision also. I, however, am sitting at -8.75 uncorrected in both eyes (which is horrible if you don't know what that means; not only can I not read the big 'E' on the eyechart, I can't even tell there is an eyechart on the wall).

I wonder how our kids will turn out?

Oh, and the thought of LASIK scares me

ghporter · May 1, 2006, 04:07 PM

It's really exciting, isn't it? The world is different without glass or plastic between you and it, and you'll be experiencing it a lot more as the healing finishes. It's fantastic, really.

On the way out of the clinic after my PRK in October '01 (that long ago?), I was reading signs, flyers, EVERYTHING. It was like suddenly having vision after not being able to see for a long time. I still "notice" it now and then... It's wonderful!

jasonsRX7 · May 1, 2006, 04:24 PM

I really want to get that proceedure done, but it scares the bejeesus out of me.... And my dad is an eye doc, so you'd think I'd be ok with it. Maybe I'll get up the nerve one of these days.

Railroader · May 1, 2006, 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by MrsLarry

Haha - thanks the the heads up, Poor Larry, I've done the same to him. "I can read that" "I can see that" Poor guy.

Wait until you to the the beach or swimming and realize you don't have to wear geeky prescription sunglasses any more.

I had my surgery done '01 and it was worth every penny. Still 20/20.

Let's hear some arguments on why the insurance companies want to pay for exams and glasses every year for life but won't pay for a one-time procedure that reduces your need for yearly exams to every other year and no costs for glasses/lenses!

MrsLarry · May 2, 2006, 08:08 AM

Agreed, RR, insurance companies need to jump on the bandwagon here!

those of you who had it done...what are the differences (if you can remember) you notice from week 1 til now?

what im asking is... how will healing more change my vision? at night, during the day, anything...

quilmes · May 2, 2006, 08:56 AM

Can someone do a proper cost analysis. I assume that over the long-run it would be less expensive. Depending on how much you have to pay for contacts, etc...

ghporter · May 2, 2006, 09:54 AM

Right now the cost is "uncontrolled." That doesn't mean it's out of control, but that there's no external factors in play that could establish a "going rate" that would make either PRK or LASIK something most insurance companies would cover. I have no idea how much the actual medical bill for my bilateral PRK would have been; not only was I on active duty (and thus completely covered for all treatments) at the time, but mine was part of a research study for the healing rate, efficacy, etc. of PRK for aircrew members; study participants often are PAID for their participation (which of course I wasn't...). But with the increasing track record of laser surgeons with increasingly sophisticated laser systems at their disposal, success (as in reaching or exceeding the refractive correction goal) is going up and prices should go down.

I think the first thing that will happen is some large company will arrange with their insurance company to cover a chunk of the cost, making it a copay situation. Once both employers and insurers see how much EVERYONE benefits from permanently corrected vision, they should begin to jump on the band wagon.

How do others besides the patient benefit? Some studies show that 1 in 20 contact lens wearers will experience a serious eye infection at some point during their use of contacts, 1 in 10 will experience AT LEAST one corneal abrasion or scratch (I had more than one), and 1 in 6 will be at risk for corneal ulcers from contaminating the lenses and introducing some pathogen onto the cornea. Each of these situations is additive - the same user may experience all three, even all three at the same time (which is fairly likely if the user is contaminating their lenses in inserting them). This all adds up to lost productivity, high medical costs, and lower quality of life for the user and those around him (ask my wife how whiney I was when I scratched my cornea...).

Railroader · May 2, 2006, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by MrsLarry

those of you who had it done...what are the differences (if you can remember) you notice from week 1 til now?

what im asking is... how will healing more change my vision? at night, during the day, anything...

The only difference for me over time was that my night vision cleared up. My close up vision is fading, but that is unrelated to LASIK and entirely related to getting closer to elderly status.