OT-Anyone have Lasik surgery?
 

I had a pre-op screening this morning to see if i'm a candidate for Lasik. They tell me that i am a candidate, however, my corneas are thin (420 microns?) and that i need to have a different proceedure done, not the procedure where they cut the flap and fold it over. Is anyone familiar with this? Have you had it done and if so, when, and how are you doing now? Regrets? How your life has changed? All i can think about is riding my motorcycle with a new pair of Oakleys, and not prescription glasses.

Todd

I had LASIK on both eyes, back in January of 2000. For me, it turned out great. I now have 20/15 vision in each eye, 20/10 combined. It turned out much better than I could have hoped for. I remember the first time I woke up in the dark, and could read the clock without fumbling for glasses!

I had it done in October of this year. Words cannot describe how utterly amazing it is. Went from being borderline legally blind to 20/15 combined vision.

I dunno what 'other procedure' you're getting but, as far as how it went for me...

Day 1 post Op: I Could See. You'll be very sensitive to light that first day. There was a little irritation, but the eyedrops they provide and a nap was all it took for me to feel fine. No pain after that first day at all.

Day 2 and Beyond. No problems at all. I went back to work the day after surgery, no trouble. The only thing to note is, early on, you'll notice some fairly obnoxious halos around objects at night. This just takes longer to work itself out. Not that bigga deal, basically the same as wearing dirty glasses/contacts.

Now, some 2 and a half months after the surgery, it's like I never needed glasses. Utterly fucking amazing.

My brother had it done in Feb. He had 20/400 vision before the surgery. He now has 20/30 vision in both eyes.

A friend of mine had it done a couple years ago and I've talked with him about it several times because my wife is interested in it. He said that he was almost blind without glasses before the surgery, but after surgery he was immediately 20/15.

He said that the procedure he went through was about 15 min per eye and everything went incredibley smooth. After the procedure they told him to go home and sleep, basically they didn't want him going out and "testing his new eyes out". They also gave him the drops CW spoke of earlier and told him he should use them for 30 days because his eyes will have a "dry" feeling to them. After the 30 days he quit taking the drops and hasn't had 1 problem with his vision.

I did it this last summer. Though I still have to wear glasses to get 20/25 vision, I had terrible vision before that so I really didn't expect it to be perfect. I think it's 20/35 without the glasses.

My wife did it and has 20/20 vision.

If I'm thinking of the same thing, the doctors described the other procedure you are asking about and said that it was still experimental when my wife went in, and had just been approved when I went in. Neither of us needed it, but we'd have hesitated to be among the first to get it.

Find out what you can about that procedure from the internet. Can you remember what they called it?

The procedure is called EPI Lasek, using the Alcon LADARVision laser. They have had this laser for 14 months and apperantly they use it for people like me with thin corneas. I asked about the halos, and the Dr. said that this laser eliminates that problem. So, it is fairly new technology i think, and that makes me a bit nervous.

Is that the one where they don't cut your eye?

Yes

I've heard about that then, not like a ton but still. It intrigues me because I know there is now way on this earth that anyone would ever be able to get near my eyes with a friggin scalpel or a needle. Keep us updated, I haven't heard or anyone getting the cut-free surgery just the regular LASIK.

Also, my insurance is covering $500 of it. So the total cost to me is $2700. ($1350/eye) I was suprised the ins. covered any ot this.

In my procedure, nobody comes at you with a knife. They use a tool to cut a flap in your eye, and then it gets peeled back and the lasar does its thing.

I went looking for some info on the other procedure but I soon grew tired of weeding through the ads.. if you are serious about it, go on Google.com and do the search.

Wasabiak, you should check into if your employer offers a flexible spending account. If so, LASIK and other forms of eye correction surgery can be used by non-taxed funds.

--tim

Re: OT-Anyone have Lasik surgery?
 

I haven't but I've thought about doing it. I hope all goes well for you.

Wanted to bump this, as I had this surgery done almost 2 years ago now, and it seems like the vision in one of my eyes is now failing or going back to its old crappy vision. It is actually worrying me, and I discussed it with my wife who made it worse by noting something that Kathy Griffin said about not to get this surgery, and that her vision is actually failing completely.

I had 20/50 vision, in both eyes and one eye is doing well still and the other is getting worse. Anyone else experience this?

Bump...moved to GD.

It's been over 6 years now for me, and both eyes are still better than 20/20.

How old are you? The docs told me as I approached 40, that the muscles in the eyes weaken naturally, so I'd probably need reading glasses again sometime around that timeframe.

28. It has actually been a growing concern of mine. I do stare at computers all day, is that a possible reason why my vision is getting worse?

I've heard of that being a problem for some people. But I do the same thing and it hasn't affected me. Best thing to do, for your peace of mind, is to go to an eye doc and get a checkup.

I went for all of the adjustments (checkups) after I had the surgery and all was fine. Now all of the sudden one eye is getting gradually worse, but not yet back to its original pre surgery vision. And I don't mean the "adjustment period" shortly after the surgery, this is almost 2 years after I had it.

I'm talking about a non-Lasik checkup, a normal one. That's your best bet at this time.

yeah, that is what the wife is stressing (ie nagging) me about at this point.

my wife had it done this winter and she took the required 6 hour nap woke up and no need for glasses she sees perfect. perfect vision. no pain for her and she is very weak when it comes to pain. no halos as others mentioned. she is very, very happy with it
i would highly recommend it

Sounds like people in general have had good experiences with the laser surgery, though I'm still not sure I could do it. I had the evaluation and they said I was a candidate, but even though I'm 26, my vision is deteriorating somewhat steadily. Until my vision stabilizes (i.e. I have the same scrip for at least a year), I'm not even really considering it.

Gotti, could this type of thing be your problem? You said you were about 20/50 before the surgery, but were you declining? Just a thought, but I'd echo what your wife says...go get it checked out!

/tk

So it's now 2006. 3 years since I got my eyes zapped come October.

I can still see. My vision faded a bit after about a year post-surgery, but it's been steady since then. Haven't had a single problem, don't need glasses, and am quite happy to have the restriction removed from my driver's license.

I had it done 5 years ago this month, easily the best investment I have ever made.

My vision was so bad they thought I was going to have to have the surgery twice to get close to 20/20. The morning after the surgery I went for my appointment and I was 20/25. I didn't think I could do the surgery but I am so glad I did.

This will be an option for me next year. I would LOVE to not have to wear glasses all the damned time.

I'm a candidate, but one of the things that freaks/grosses me out the most in the world is having someone cut my eyes. Not sure why.. so I haven't done it. Wish I could get over it.

I am seriously considering this as well, I will probably go for a consultation over the summer.

Its not that bad, and it doesn't hurt. Your eyes are numb so you cant feel anything, the only thing that somewhat hurts but isnt painful is the thing that keeps your eyes from shutting.

I've heard that, although the concept of being able to see something cutting my eye while its doing it is kind of freaky, guess I'm just weird.

you are not weird, I feel the exact same way.

I couldn't do it for that reason. Also, I think my glasses are actually a good tool for my job.

I felt that way too before the surgery, but I couldn't stand contacts anymore, so essentially I "cowboy'd up" and went for the surgery. Its actually not bad, you can hardly feel anything and the most you see is similar to if you put your index finger right up to your eye, so kinda of like a big blurry object up close.

How did you guys find a good doctor to go to? How did you find out which method was for you? I'm thinking about doing this, but I have no idea where to start.

I'm checking into this currently - at the moment I'm blind as a bat (put it this way back in the 1980's when they looked into the discount for prescriptions back then they had different grades of sightedness - I came under 'blind' as I can only see clearly around 2-3 inches normally).

With contacts my eye sight is just about good enough to drive, without it as I indicate its naff - I'd love just to be able to wake up and be able to 'do something' without needing sight correction (especially important now I've got kids).

Bats aren't blind....... ;)


.....says the girl with a bat tattoo on her right shoulderblade.

:D ;)

I've got nothing useful to add to this. :D

/tk

Its the best thing I ever got done. I went from 20/400 vision to 20/15 within two days of my surgery.

Heh. I agree with you completely but probably for different reasons. I tend to trust doctors and dentists more if they have glasses. I don't know why for sure, but I would guess it's because they probably ruined their eyes studying to make people better. :)

I got LASEK last May. Totally worth it and the only real side effect I have right now is that it's really dark out at night. It's almost as if I'm wearing sunglasses when I step outside at night.

Been a year for me, and I don't even remember wearing glasses. I still have the halo effect from headlights at night, although it has diminished a little. Best 2k I ever spent, thank you tax refund.

I'll probably end up getting this at some point, but for now, I'll stay with glasses.

I had my Lasik three years ago, and had to start wearing glasses again about a year ago. For me, however, I'd developed a bit of astigmatism in one eye that wasn't present before my surgery. My other eye had gone from near to farsighted, which is a little odd.

Still, my eyesight is nowhere near as bad as it was, and I could have the LASIK done again if I really wanted to. Right now I just prefer to wear glasses again.

i want to get this done badly...

i'm a little leery of getting my eyes cut...

but contacts irritate my eyes to no end, and factor in the astigmatism...

yuck

i'm a good candidate.. i get 15% off due to who my employer is (but no insurance converage) and can use FSA...

maybe i'll look into this more strongly during the summer.

What were your odds? Did you place? I think I had you in a tri-fecta.

I took Lasix once. Ran a 9.9 100 meters. Then crapped like a mother for a week.

I only made it 2 furlongs.

i felt the same way before i had the surgery...i got it about 2.5 years ago and went from 20/1200 to 20/15 in 7 hours....the thing is, you cant see anything, at least not with the technique they used at my surgical center...the thing that they put over your eye to hold it open has an inflatable cuff that presses down against the edge of your eye and overloads your optic nerve, so your vision blacks out to everything except the red dot of the laser that you are supposed to be focusing on...the whole thing took 45 seconds per eye, and when it was over, i had a bit of dull pain somewhat like having been punched in the eye on one side, but that went away in about 30 minutes.

best 2k ever spent, and my vision is still perfect. (32 YO)

Question to all who have had the surgery: Any problems swimming or getting water in the eyes or any problems if something gets in your eyes or you rub your eyes?

I was considering having the surgery done, but, was turned off by the fact that the lady told me the piece of your eye that gets cut, never heals. So you could potentially one day rub your eye and have a piece of your eye flapping around like an extra eye lid or something.

I haven't had any problems like those you described over the past 6 years. I've been swimming, whitewater rafting, skydiving, all sorts of stuff where wind and water have gone with great force over my eyeballs with no ill effects.

#1: Love your name.
#2: She's lying. With PRK, it will take about 3-4 months to heal completely. With LASEK and LASIK, it should only take about two weeks to heal. The epithelium will heal eventually. It just depends on what surgical procedure you go through.