[Eriamjh]

After 30 years of wearing glasses or contacts (I'm 36), I'm finally having LASIK today.

I'll either have perfect vision, go blind, or something in between.

Wish me luck.

[dav]

good luck.

i'm fine with glasses myself. don't like the idea of messing with the eyeballs, plus i feel glasses offer me some sort of eye protection with two kids running around.

[wallinbl]

Good luck. My mom enjoyed the improvement for a few years, but it seems like her vision has betting getting worse again. She has downright terrible vision to begin with (20/200 in one, 20/400 in the other), so perhaps others have better luck.

[aberdeenwriter]

Many, many more people have great results with LASIK than bad. You won't go blind! Unless you masturbate a ZILLION times right before you go in there.

Good luck!

[DeathToWindows]

Lasik would be utterly impractical for me... I'm wearing reading glasses as a college student.

[ghporter]

Good luck and take it easy. Healing happens while your eyes are closed, so if the doc says "sleep all day after the surgery," then DO IT.

I had PRK in October 2001, and I am extremely happy with it. I'm 20/16 in both eyes (at 46) and I can't tell you how wonderful that is! It did take some time to settle down, but I was reading stuff I couldn't have SEEN without glasses as I walked out of the treatment room. Seeing is good!

[Mastrap]

My wife had it done last year and is 100% happy with the results. Best of luck.

[angelmb]

[wdlove]

My prayers are with you. May the doctor have wisdom as he performs the procedure.

[TETENAL]

Good luck!

[JazzCatDRP]

Don't freak out when they cut the lens off and you see nothing but static like on a TV. I did.

[turtle777]

Good luck.

[davesimondotcom]

I had LASIK 10 years ago next August and it's been one of the best things I have ever done.

It is slightly freaky (as JazzCatDRP said) when you can't see for a moment, but don't worry. I sat down not being able to read the clock on the wall. I got up 10 minutes later being able to read that clock.

Then I slept a lot. And after 3 days I was able to see so well, it blew me away. They tell you not to read a book or anything for a few days, I couldn't help it. I could see!

Good luck!

[UNTeMac]

Originally Posted by JazzCatDRP

Don't freak out when they cut the lens off and you see nothing but static like on a TV. I did.

[:.MacLone.:]

I was told that the best machines are the fourth generation and you should ask for them.
Good luck.

[olePigeon]

I can't get LASIK because I have really bad astigmatism. However, there's an alternate surgery that involves puting a permanent lense inside the eye. The nice thing about it is that it's also reversable. The bad thing about it is that costs a LOT more than LASIK and isn't covered by any insurance policy (unless damage occured in a work related accident.)

Best of luck.

[wolfen]

Afterwards you will see how small your Johnson really is.


Good Luck!

[Rolling Bones]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

After 30 years of wearing glasses or contacts (I'm 36), I'm finally having LASIK today.

I'll either have perfect vision, go blind, or something in between.

Wish me luck.

Good luck.

Been thinking about it too.

How much chunk of change? Both eyes at once? They only used to do one eye at a time in case you went blind. Just kidding, I think.

[alligator]

Good luck. Just don't blink. I always wondered what would happen if you did that. Would you have a stencil for an eyelid?

[Leia's Left Bun]

Originally Posted by alligator

Good luck. Just don't blink. I always wondered what would happen if you did that. Would you have a stencil for an eyelid?

Um they use clamps to keep it open.

[himself]

So, how'd it go? I'm planning on doing it myself, but I want to be thorough and research as much as I can.

[Railroader]

Good luck.

I had it done in 2000 and it was worth every penny.

Do exactly what the doc says about post op. Got the extra mile and take the post op care for a few extra days. I slept with the guards on for an extra week. I didn't rub my eyes for about three days even after the doc said it was OK. I used the drops for an extra week.

I had 20/15 when it was done, but it has dropped to about 20/20.

Again, worth every penny.

On a horrible side note: the numbing drops didn't work for me and it was the most painful experience of my life. But it was over quickly so it was no big deal. After I told the doc how it felt and what happened he just stared at me and after a few seconds he said "But you didn't even flintch..." I told him I was afraid it would affect what he was doing and he just shook his head and apologized.

Again, I'd do it all over and it was worth every penny not having to mess with contacts and glasses.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by olePigeon

I can't get LASIK because I have really bad astigmatism.

Not true. I had horrible astigmatism and the procedure worked wonders for me. YMMV.

[Eriamjh]

OK. I spent the entire day with my eyes closed (10Am to 11PM) even though they said to keep them closed for the first 4-6 hours. The eyes heal faster when closed and I wasn't taking any chances. I followed the drops like clockwork.

I can see almost perfectly clearly, except for a little cloudiness and some general discomfort. They said it will take awhile for my vision to stabilize, etc.

So far so good. When I feel better, I'll write a review of the process. Needless to say, it was unlike anything I had ever done.

So far,

[Gankdawg]

How much BTW? I've been considering it for a while.

[Eriamjh]

$3100, both eyes, all follow-ups included. I'm also doing it through flex spending so I will save a bunch on my taxes. My total out of pocket should be around $2000 when's all the numbers are balanced at the end of the year.

[cjrivera]

Originally Posted by Railroader

Not true. I had horrible astigmatism and the procedure worked wonders for me. YMMV.

There is a point where if your astigmatism is so bad, Lasik is not an option.

I'm in that boat. When I had my eyes checked and asked about Lasik, the optometrist laughed and said my astigmatism was so bad there was no way I could get Lasik and then made fun of me for being as blind as a bat for 10 minutes....

but then again the optometrist was my sister and it made up for the years I tortured her as a kid.

[Eriamjh]

To anyone considering LASIK, I suggest going to at least three different places before scheduling actual surgery. Get three opinions. Get three or more cornea thickness measurements. Don't go to a place that is "new". Go somewhere that has been doing it for 3-5 years or more.

To anyone who has been told they are not a good candidate mroe than 2 years ago, try again. Technology has improved just in the last 3 years. They said they couldn't do me 3 years ago. This year I was a "perfect" candidate.

Ask a ton of questions. Any reluctance to answer questions should be a sign that they are not confident and that they are merely a factory.

I just cleaned my eyelids of a whole day of gunk from the drops. They feel TONS better now. I have very little discomfort except for some minor irritation. It feels like my contacts have been in too long. Not scratchy. Not overly dry. Heck, it has only been 24 hours. My vision is supposed to improve and stabilize over the next 30 to 90 days. I couldn't be happier.

By they way, if you are in any way queasy about anything touching your eyes, the valium they give you will chill you out (although I don't think it had much of an effect on me).

[ghporter]

I may be wrong, but it's my impression that PRK can handle more serious vision problems than LASIK can. I had astigmatism and was nearsighted, and now I have NO astigamatism and "better than perfect" acuity. Note that PRK sculpts the outside of the cornea, while LASIK sculpts UNDER the cornea-that's the "cutting off the lens" bit; they don't but rather free up the cornea and flip it back so they can use the laser on the underlying lens. PRK is supposed to be less comfortable and take a bit longer to heal than LASIK, but I'm 100% happy with my results and the whole process.

By the way, the current generation of eye surgery laser machines track the eye very well, and if the eye moves too far out of alignment they just shut down. This is very good for your vision, but if you blink too much or can't stay fixed on the target to keep your eyes still, the procedure will take a LONG time.

[:.MacLone.:]

Originally Posted by olePigeon

I can't get LASIK because I have really bad astigmatism. However, there's an alternate surgery that involves puting a permanent lense inside the eye. The nice thing about it is that it's also reversable. The bad thing about it is that costs a LOT more than LASIK and isn't covered by any insurance policy (unless damage occured in a work related accident.)

Best of luck.

My mother had the same problem and now she wears permanent inside lenses. I mean, it is like going from night to day in a few hours. Now she sees better than me. I wear 3 point lenses (dioptría: f Med dioptre, US diopter) Which one is the correct word? DIOPTRE or DIOPTER? Sorry for my poor english.

[jcadam]

Originally Posted by wallinbl

Good luck. My mom enjoyed the improvement for a few years, but it seems like her vision has betting getting worse again. She has downright terrible vision to begin with (20/200 in one, 20/400 in the other), so perhaps others have better luck.

That's nothing. I'm about 20/1000 in both eyes.

Even so, I have more sex than krillbee.

[wdlove]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

OK. I spent the entire day with my eyes closed (10Am to 11PM) even though they said to keep them closed for the first 4-6 hours. The eyes heal faster when closed and I wasn't taking any chances. I followed the drops like clockwork.

I can see almost perfectly clearly, except for a little cloudiness and some general discomfort. They said it will take awhile for my vision to stabilize, etc.

So far so good. When I feel better, I'll write a review of the process. Needless to say, it was unlike anything I had ever done.

So far,

I'm pleased to hear of you successful outcome. May you continue to do well.

[Eriamjh]

Long story about the surgery. Read if you dare:

OK, the LASIK story. I'll try not to exaggerate.

I got there at 8:16AM, about a minute late, but that didn't really matter. They gave me a valium and made me wait another 20 minutes while it kicked in. I don't remember ever thinking it did. But then I wasn't very nervous about it anyway.

They took me in the back and then put those silly hospital booties on my shoes and one on my head. There are no pictures of this silly event.

The nurse-like person who put drops in my eyes for numbing and wiped my face with alcohol (around my eyes) was named "Alla" and went through her long, very well-rehearsed speech about what happens during surgery. Then she put in more drops and walked me to the next room.

The surgery room was no bigger than a large dining room. It was filled mostly by the two machines that did the work. I laid on my back on a leather recliner-like dentist chair as they propped up my legs and covered me with blankets to keep me warm.

The first part was cutting the flap on my cornea. This is done with a laser instead of a blade. The doc placed these tweezers that are designed to hold your eye open and then applied the "eye-sucker" that basically grabs your eyeball with massive suction to hold it completely still. He said, "You'll feel some pressure." Yeah. If by pressure you mean it felt like he was standing on my eyeball with his foot, then I felt it. My vision went black as the pressure does and I heard the laser ticking away and the tech counting down from 30 in 10 second increments.

They repeated this for the right eye. This was the absolute worst part the surgery. Both my eyes had nasty blood bruises on the whites from the eye sucker. Next was the actual correction part of the surgery.

"Stare into this blob of light while we correct your vision," they said. First, my vision was so bad, I could barely see the blob. Second, when the pulled back the flap (which I never felt or noticed), my vision got even worse, so seeing the blob was even harder.

The actual surgery was about 45 seconds. I started at the flashing blob while the laser ticked away like an arc of electricity. With each zap, the blob got smaller and came more into focus. Eventually, I noticed there was a red dot inside the now smaller orange blob.

After the lasing, the doctor flushed my eye with lots of fluid to wash away the vaporized tissue (which I almost could smell. Then the most important part is the folding back of the corneal flap. Again, I couldn't actually see what was happening, but I could see that the doctor was brushing my eyeball with some kind of brush (my boss, who had his eyes done in 2002, called it his "eye broom"). The doctor was trying to fold it back and smooth it out so that as little scaring as possible occurs and that the seam doesn't form nasty halos, etc. This took longer than the actual laser cutting.

Repeat for the other eye, then they tell me to keep my eyes closed and walk me to the next room. I could see. Everything was very cloudy, but clear, like looking through a thick fog. A quick vision test revealed that I was seeing 20/60, up from about 20/700 before surgery. They say this is good and put shields over my eyes taped to my head. They are not stylish.

I left at 10AM. Instructions: keep eyes closed the rest of the day and don't open them except to eat or move through the house from the couch to the bathroom and back. No reading, no TV, no computer use, no LOOKING! Try it sometime. It's tough without sleeping.

Other than having to put eye drops in every hour (they taste absolutely AWFUL) and the soreness and bruising from the eye-sucker, I can see pretty damn good. My vision is a little hazy and will take several weeks and months before it is finally stable. The next day I drove to the follow-up. I can see that well. I'm a little light sensitive, but driving without any glasses for the first time EVER.

Three days later, I'm taking drops less often and my eyes feel like my contacts have been in too long. Last night, my eyes actually felt normal for about 30 minutes. I lube 'em at night whenever I wake up and still put the plain ol' saline drops (not nasty tasting) 3-4 times and hour.

Bored yet. It cost $3100 and so far has been worth every penny. When I wake up, I see the clock. It's weird not putting in contacts or reaching for glasses. I'm sure I'll forget about it soon enough.

[Rolling Bones]

Seems rather expensive. I keep getting flyers in the mail for around 550 per eye. Must be hidden costs.

Also when I've watched it on TV they use a cheese slicer type of thing for the cornea flapping.

[Eriamjh]

Beware of "$299 an eye" and ads like that. One local place is offering exacctly that, but the fine print says, "1 diopter or less". That means that only people who need glasses for driving pay that price. People who have "normal" bad vision -3 to -9 diopters or more, pay more. Much more. Other things like pre-op exams, post op exams, eye drops, touch-ups, and long term follow ups are not included.

Plus, standard lasik is cheaper than wavefront and intralasik. Wavefront is custom cornea shaping (which also corrects astigmatism) and intralasik used a laser to make the flab, not a blade. The blade is the weakest link in the who LASIK process.

[MOTHERWELL]

I had LASIK when I graduated form high school. It was simple, quick, and painless for me. I could see 20/20 the next day and my vision has been perfect ever since. I dumped my girlfriend shortly after becuase I realzied how much she looked like a foot.

[himself]

Originally Posted by cjrivera

When I had my eyes checked and asked about Lasik, the optometrist laughed and said my astigmatism was so bad there was no way I could get Lasik and then made fun of me for being as blind as a bat for 10 minutes....

but then again the optometrist was my sister and it made up for the years I tortured her as a kid.

I'd get a second opinion if I were you.

[himself]

Originally Posted by jcadam

That's nothing. I'm about 20/1000 in both eyes.

Even so, I have more sex than krillbee.

Might have something to do with the fact that you can't see how ugly those freaks are.

[Hugi]

I almost passed out while reading the description of the operation.

[Eriamjh]

I thought I'd update.

There is nothing to update. And by nothing I mean there have been no ill-effects from the procedure. 18 months later and it's easy to forget I ever wore glasses. No eye dryness. The halo's at night are much less significant and almost unnoticeable. My eye bruises healed in about 2 months. I can see.

However, my life has not really changed like in those commercials where people go hiking and skiing and surfing and stuff. I can see the clock in the morning without having to do anything. Nice.

[zipperzap]

WAS legally blind - coke bottle style glasses since I was eight years old.

After/Now I have 15-20 vision.

Never suffered any problems.

Postscript: Only next to seeing my four kids born, it's the biggest miracle
I'VE ever seen - literally.

Would I recommend it to anyone/everyone else - I already have, for about fifteen years!

Aged: 62

[Sherman Homan]

Thanks for the update! I am glad it worked out (except for the hiking, skiing, surfing and stuff!)

[Camali]

Went to the eye doctor (cornea specialist) and was told I didn't qualify for InTacs. There was opaque spots where the RGP contacts made contact with the eye and my only option is corneal transplants! Figured sooner or later I was going to need it, as I suffer from Keratoconus. First eye will probably happen early September, the other 6 mos later.

There will be some improvement afterwards. Enough to wear soft contacts and/or glasses. I Can't see with glasses or soft contacts now.

[BryanPeter]

I have been wearing glasses for years. That's not to say I have a problem with it. I don't. But being able to see the clock in the morning, without having to put on my glasses, sounds like such a simple pleasure. I've been trying to read more about Lasik for the past four months or so.

Yeah, I know all the success stories. It just takes me a lot of guts to go ahead with it. And yeah, my eyesight is also getting a little worse each year.

[ghporter]

I wore glasses and contacts for decades and it was such a hassle that I chose PRK (Lasik wasn't available at that point-and I probably would have gone with PRK anyway). My vision has been 20/15 since October 2001, and I couldn't be happier about it. Yes, it was a little scary, but only a little and the results are superb.

[seanc]

This just reminded me that my sister is having this done today.

Hopefully in a few years when my eyes have stopped changing, i'll get mine done too.

[Kevin]

zombiiee eye thread.

j/k

[irunat2am]

Originally Posted by MOTHERWELL 

I had LASIK when I graduated form high school. It was simple, quick, and painless for me. I could see 20/20 the next day and my vision has been perfect ever since. I dumped my girlfriend shortly after becuase I realzied how much she looked like a foot.

I'm pretty sure that just made my day. Haha.

[maxintosh]

Good luck!

I hate my contacts, but I can't get LASIK because I box. Since the flap never fully heals, there's a decent risk a blow to the face could knock that thing right off. Not good. Though losing a contact or having it wander during a match always sucks too.

Anyone else have experience with PRK surgery? ghporter -- I heard the recovery kind of sucks but that the end result is a bit better. And no loose flap.

[Sörnäinen]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

After 30 years of wearing glasses or contacts (I'm 36), I'm finally having LASIK today.

I'll either have perfect vision, go blind, or something in between.

Wish me luck.

Good luck! I did it in 1999 - and it was fabulous, though i have some reflections at night. But hey - technology improved since then!