Anyone had Lasik done?
Thursday, December 6th, 2007 - 12:33pm
I went in for my first consult today, and type this with extremely dilated pupils (office lighting is bright). I have decided to go forward with the surgery after the consult, since they told me i was basically an ideal candidate. I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience with going under ther laser.. good or bad.
"Uranus is positioned for summer surprises." - from Tarot.com's mailing list
Xbox Live Gamertag - Yoreel
I had lasik about 7 years ago. It was by far the best money I've ever spent in my entire life.
Now remember, back then they actually took a scalpel to my eyes and sliced a section of the cover, peeled it back, did the laser bit and then replaced the cover. This required about 2 months of recovery until my eyes were perfect, and the first few days after the surgery were very uncomfortable (not painful, but gooey, crusty eyes, etc). As I understand, today there is no physical cutting, and the recovery is a matter of days. In addition, it's much safer today.
All that said, I cannot recommend it enough. I remember when I first switched from glasses to contact lenses, how amazed I was at the difference. Well, lasik is the ultimate difference, it's a totally different life afterwards.
If you can afford it, do it.
-- My Biking Team --
I have a friend who's wife is a opthalmologic surgeon and she won't have it done on herself because she doesn't know what the long term effects would be and she didn't want to risk her career. I also know someone that had a botched Lasik and barely recovered her eyesight. That being said, those are the only 2 detractors of Lasik that I know and I'm thinking about getting it done myself. I heard that the Lasik place by Stanford University will even let you drive home after a couple of hours recovery. That's confidence in your work.
My wife is scheduled to get it in about a month.
Shihonage discusses the possible problems here.
Me, I don't think I could let anyone with a knife or laser near my eyeball. I'll stick with contacts for now.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
Well, my tip would be to make sure it's not written as "Lasic" on your doctor's office, otherwise it's a bad sign...
I couldn't do it, I think I'd be too twitchy. I can't even stand the idea of contact lens near my eyes.
Plus I look smarter with glasses.
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
Yep, I'm getting custom lasik with the wavefront analyzer that is supposed to be miles beyond the old bladed surgery. I have poor night vision that no amount of contacts or glasses has ever corrected that I'm hoping this will help correct.
Plus the fact that since my employer asked for my resignation as of 1/15, and I'm using the healthcare flex spending to get my surgery on 1/10, this $4000 surgery will cost me a whopping $166.
Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
Title Fixed due to my own horrible spelling
"Uranus is positioned for summer surprises." - from Tarot.com's mailing list
Xbox Live Gamertag - Yoreel
Aww, now my joke is even worse
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
My wife had the procedure done 7 or 8 years ago with zero problems and she simply loves it.
As I remember, had a headache for 24 to 36 hours afterwards and it took a few days before she could start to see the results.
The surgeon that worked on her eyes had literally done hundreds of these procedures successfully (and this was even way back then). So you may want to find out how long your personal surgeon has been doing this type of work.
Fixed. Glasses make people much more attractive. Sorry to derail, carry on.
Last.fm
One is enough and it's driving me crazy
My surgeon is one of the first Docs to do the procedure in central Minnesota, so he has been at it quite a while.
I was just reading testimonials on a few sites dedicated to dry eye complications among other things that became permanent. Actually can be pretty scary stuff. I just wonder how many of these people had an extreme vision problems, and when they actually had the survey. I figure since my nearsidedness is quite mild I should be much safer from future complications.
"Uranus is positioned for summer surprises." - from Tarot.com's mailing list
Xbox Live Gamertag - Yoreel
Lasik freaks me out; the flap in your eye never heals. The CEO of my company had it done last year, and a couple of weeks ago, after a particularly long hot day when he was a bit dehydrated, he woke up in the morning, tried to open his eyes, and partially tore the flap open again. *shudder*
That being said, I had Wavefront PRK done a month and a half ago and am very pleased so far. (The main difference is that they reshape the top of your eye; no flap involved.) The recovery from surgery is a bit longer - 3 days instead of 1, maybe 2 - but I'm reallly happy with the results.
DAMNIT!
Don't you understand, Cliff? We put a chainsaw on a machine gun! That's it! It doesn't get more awesome than that! We've peaked, man! We've peaked! - ctrl-alt-del on Gears of War 2
I'm told little flap heals but not for a long time. I knew a guy that got an abrasion from a tree branch and it slid his flap right off. Those incidents are rare though.
I had mine done 2 year ago and I still see some starburst halos around streetlights at night. Its not enough to cause a driving problem, just a minor annoyance. The day of your surgery they'll probably give you a valium or something as a sedative, around 30 minutes before the procedure. Just a bit of advice: ask if you can take it 60 minutes ahead of time, to make sure its working. Mine hadn't fully kicked in and I was kinda anxious during the surgery. Also, use your flexible health spending account to pay for it.
my vote cancels out yours
The only two people I know who've had it done were in their late 30s and they were initially thrilled for a few years until they ended up needing reading glasses!
XBL: MikeMac75
Hmmm, I am thinking about going under the laser myself. But I heard that the PRK procedure is better (less side effect). Anyone can either confirm or deny that?
Though the link that Shihonage posted doesn't fill me with hope about the whole deal at all...
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
I realize I will need reading glasses eventually, but I don't mind that. I mean really, if I'm reading a book, I'm sitting in a chair or on a bus, I'm not doing anything active. Plus, then i can look extra hot/smart when I'm reading my copy of The Watchmen.
"Uranus is positioned for summer surprises." - from Tarot.com's mailing list
Xbox Live Gamertag - Yoreel
But just reading glasses instead of bifocals, right? They don't make decent bifocal contacts either.
Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
Yea yea, of course
They just thought they'd be done with goggles for life, joke was on them!
XBL: MikeMac75
I felt the same way when i took a look at the link, and went to a couple other links off that site. Then I realized i was on the internet, and realized i wasn't looking at the best sample source. One for example was only a sample source of about 500 people that had problems. Plus you have no previous knowledge of what their vision was like before hand, or when they had the procedure done. I tend to take any knowledge on the web with a huge grain of salt, but those on GWJ get the benefit of the doubt.
"Uranus is positioned for summer surprises." - from Tarot.com's mailing list
Xbox Live Gamertag - Yoreel
Here's a good comparison chart: http://www.the-lasik-directory.com/lasik_prk_chart.html
My doctor referred to PRK as the second choice, if Lasik wasn't an option, which this chart also seems to confirm.
Plus the lasik with wavefront can do much more fine-tuned corrections than a handheld blade. And I can't guarantee I wouldn't fight back if someone came at my eye with a shiny knife...
Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
You and me both, Mex. I have this irrational fear that if I was putting in contact lenses someone would jump out, slap me on the back of my head, and make me gouge my own eye out.
OG, that only happens like once a week.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
I had the procedure done about a year and a half ago and still consider it one of the best things I've ever spent money on. Not worrying about contacts or glasses and just waking up with perfect vision everyday is completely worth it.
Recovery time was minimal. By the next day I could see more clearly than I could ever remember seeing before. Your eyes are dry for a couple of weeks, but it isn't that bad.
AoC- Indozola (Guardian), Bauchelain (Bear Shaman), Aphesian (Demonologist)
Fixed.
Myself, I had the work done 3 years ago. Loving it immensely. Wish I had the necessary funds earlier, so I could have done it earlier. No problems whatsoever.
Xbox Live tag Gorilla800lbs
No, actually I've mentioned it twice so far, to my knowledge. Chill, dude.
Those of you that have gone under the laser, how many times did you guys have to go back to get your eyes checked? I ask this because I will probably get the surgery (if I decide to do it) done in MD, since I figure there are probably more patients in MD then in Rochester, thus there will be better (more experienced) doctors available.
So, I'd hate to drive back and forth every week for months
thanks
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
24hrs, 48 hrs, 72hrs, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months. Then an eye appt. with an optometrist every year to keep my 'warrantee'.
Don't you understand, Cliff? We put a chainsaw on a machine gun! That's it! It doesn't get more awesome than that! We've peaked, man! We've peaked! - ctrl-alt-del on Gears of War 2
I believe I went back in 3 times total. A few days afterwards, a month later and then 6 months after that. And not once since that last appointment.
-- My Biking Team --
No, bro -- I meant not Lasik specifically, but "the broader range of topics".
Xbox Live tag Gorilla800lbs
Since Chumpy mentioned PRK, check out this comparison. If you can ignore the blog title, the content seems to be very in-depth and certainly worth as much as any that comes from random people on the Internet (including mature, gaming-focused forums).
Xfire/XBL
gr.umpic.us
grumpicus.com
Well I must say that I'd be shocked if a site called "The Lasik Directory" were to actually recommend PRK instead. Grain of salt and all that.
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Edit: Though after looking at the comparison carefully, I'd say it still makes PRK more attractive.
Xfire/XBL
gr.umpic.us
grumpicus.com