LASIK Surgery....

[TundraBear]

hi all!

i was just wondering what people's thoughts are about lasik surgery. i am contemplating it, and my wife just got her eyes zapped this past tuesday. i have talked to some people and they claim to have been able to drive and see comfortably within 72 hours of the operation, but for some reason (and i hope it corrects itself very soon), my wife's vision is still blurry to date. of course the vision is considerably better than before the operation, but her results do not seem to be as others have claimed.

the doctor states that this is normal, but still seems weird. one thing is strange though, she hasn't had a headache! for those of us who are fortunate to need visual enhancers (hehehe) can understand that without glasses or contacts, one will tend to get a headache after some time squinting and being irritated by the lack of clear vision.

oliver

[ausk9-0]

Yeah, my wife has been wanting to do this for awhile. The doctor said that she has to wait until her eyesight has stabilized for a certain amount of time with no significant changes. I said that maybe she should do one eye at a time so if there is a problem, she still has the other "good " eye

One thing you shouldn't do is bid on the surgery like we have right now in the Honolulu Star Bulletin. There is a section called The Bidding Advantage where businesses offer new products or services to the highest bidder. If they're advertising in the paper then maybe business isn't so

[fourtoys]

Tbear,

my father recently had lasik and lens replacement surgery and his results were excellent.depending on the condition being corrected it may take some time for the eye to either assume it's new shape or heal completely. she may find her vision continues to improve.There is a new technology that puts the actual lasik procedure under computer control that allows for much more precise shaping of the cornea,zero impact of any eye movement during the procedure and allows you to watch your vision correct itself as theprocedure takes place(looking at an eyechart)as I understand it it's still expensive and not yet widely available,so if you can see well with glasses it might be a good idea to wait a year or two,as I'm doing.by the way I understand it often takes a second procedure to achieve optimum results from lasik,which was what my father eventually did, but it takes several months for the eye to stabilize.

[toy4x4boy]

Good thread! I have been contemplating having it done so keep the replies coming!

[ElDiabloJoe]

Mrs.EDJ and I had it done in July of 99. Like others told us, we too could see better right away. Went to the Dr. for an informational seminar first. Then came back for consultations. Then again for a mapping of the eye. Then finally for the surgery.

On the day of, we were checked once again, and then fiven a valium (weeee). They clip these little things on your eyelids to keep you from blinking (that would pretty much interrupt the laser, wouldn't it ). I had to look up at the red light for about 10 seconds on each eye.

Went home with those plastic eye covers with little air holes on em taped to my face. Took a 3 hour valium-induced nap. When I woke up, if I squinted so I was looking out of one of the little airholes, I could read the street sign at the corner!!!

Every day it got better. The bluriness stars out lasting most of the day. Then it goes in phases. Things will all of a sudden get blurry on you for 20 minutes or so. It pretty much all went away within 2-3 weeks.

I remember we weren't allowed to lift anything heavier than 25 or 50 pounds for a few days, and weren't allowed to swim for a month. Also had to be careful not to let water rush over your face in the shower.

Oh, and I had astigmatism too (football shaped eye-ball), and it still worked great for me.

Its still harder to see at night when I'm driving, but not nearly as it used to be without glasses/contacts. About the same as it was with them. No starbrights or light pattern problems.

Daylight reading/eyesight is fantastic!!!! I can read street signs, business names, license plates, etc. with no problems at all! I love the results. It was the best $1000 per eye I ever spent. I know it is half that now, but even with what I paid, I think we got the deal of the century!

PS--We used Dr.Gosheh in Mission Viejo, CA

YMMV, HTH

EDJ

[Boone]

Got mine done 5 years ago this month. I was worse than 20/200. Had the surgery done on a Thursday, slept the rest of the day. The next morning, I woke up, took the plastic "bug" eyes off, jumped in the shower and I could see.

It was amazing. I then drove to the Dr. and my eyesight was 20/40. It took me 3-4 months to even out. Had a physical done last week and I'm 20/20. Couldn't be happier. I paid $1800/eye back in '97 but well worth it. My only advise is go to a reputable Dr. DO NOT try to save money on this surgery. This was done in Phoenix, AZ at Barnett Delany (sp?)

[arkie6]

There is another option out there for vision correction that looks promising. It is called Intacs corneal rings made by Keravision. These are transparent rings (they look kinda like a set of split rings) inserted into the cornea to reshape the lens. That vast majority of people that have had these installed have achieved better than 20/20 vision. My contacts are currently serving me well, otherwise I would have probably already had this done. The idea of using a laser to remove part of my eye doesn't really excite me.

[molecule]

Oliver; I had it done about 4 years ago ,IMOP one of the best things I ever did .After wearing contacts for over 25 years .The key is to find a doctor who has performed many surgery's and check with former patient's the surgery only takes a couple of seconds . and from what I remember it took one day for my vision to settle down and about a week to stableize. Good Luck Bill

[TundraBear]

thank you all for your wonderful replys. it has been 1 week tonight since her surgery and she is stabalizing. she still can't drive to/fro work (but i think that's an excuse to get me to drive her around which is a hell of a lot better than staying late at work). she saw that doc yesterday and he said that she is just healing a little slower than most of his patients and gave her some different drops. i'll keep you all posted on her vision and will definetly post when i'm ready to do mine!

oliver

[TundraBear]

well it's nearly a year since her surgery and all things are well. she's still got me driving her around like miss daisy, but atleast we always take the tundra!

and now it's my turn to go under! that's right, i got an appointment this friday for lasik! i'm sooooo excited! wish me luck!

[HockeyFreak]

I got my lasik done in 1999 and have had no problems! You have your fuzzy days when your eyes are really dry, but other than that, it has been great.

[Boone]

Good Luck Oliver. We'll be thinking about you on Friday.

[JnEsPappa]

Oh man I wish I could get Lasik done. I went to an ophthalmologist (say that three times) for an eye exam and he measured the diameter of my pupils. Mine are too large for Lasik.

He says the treatment area of Lasik is about 6mm diameter and my pupils are a good 8~9mm, so I would end up seeing the star patterns around lights. :cry:

Definitely something to consider before doing Lasik.

[Genthar]

I had mine done in 2000 ( I think...I don't remember exactly). And I went from:
Dr.: Take off your glasses and tell me what's the smallest line you can read on the chart?
Me: Chart? What chart?
Dr.: Ok, put your glasses back on.

To now where I have 20/30 vision. I don't need corrective lenses to drive anymore, and I haven't had any of the problems that some people have (dry eyes, stars around bright objects, etc.). I can heartily recommend it. Being nearsighted and astigmatic, I was pretty worried about whether or not they could correct both conditions, but, they did an excellent job.

The place where I went does a multi-day process. First step, come in and be evaluated to see if you can even go through the process. They checked things like my eye geometry, the thickness of my cornea, my credit rating (j/k), etc. And we started the financial paperwork.

The next step was to come in and go through what I call their "CYA" process. They go through what's going to happen in the procedure, and what risks this entails. And they don't sugar-coat the risks. I guess it's to make absolutely sure that you want to go through the procedure, and to cover their end for liability. They also did a more thorough work-up on my eyes to make sure that everything was OK to do the procedure.

The final step was to go in and have the procedure done.

I was able to drive myself to my appointment the next day, though my vision wasn't perfect yet, it was definitely clear enough for me to drive. Over the next few weeks my vision stabilized little by little, until it settled to where it is now. I've been very happy with the results. I was hoping for 20/20 or better, but realistically, getting to 20/30 was great since it still eliminated my need for corrective lenses.

[Simias]

hey four eyes...errr i mean Oliver!! hope everything works out well for you bro..will keep you in my prayers.

btw, thanks for the update and following up on this thread. jen is planning on getting this done as well, but she's still kinda hesitant (scared), so i'll let her read this thread. thanks again all!

also, give my regards to Miss Daisy!