I got Lasik eye surgery

khaebs · March 15th, 2006, 05:11 PM

I don't know if this is the right place to put this thread, but I thought I would offer my experience and answer questions for anyone who is interested

dakodas · March 15th, 2006, 05:14 PM

How bad was your vision to start with-did you wear contacts or glasses? Are you 20/20 now?

moomies · March 15th, 2006, 05:30 PM

Oh yea I'm totally interested!! Yes what was your vision like? Mine is something like -5.75 (my lense prescription).
What are the chances of surgery going wrong or your eye sight not improving etc? (that I'm scared of)
And how much did it cost you?
What kind of doctor did you go to? I don't hear good things about Lasik, they offer such a cheap surgery, One nearby my place is offering something like $300 per eye.

pacific breeze · March 15th, 2006, 05:59 PM

According to the top opthamologist in Vancouver, there is only one doctor he would even consider sending his patients to. And another thing I've noticed, nearly everybody selling/doing Lasik surgery, wears glasses. NOT a good recommendation. It is a risky procedure, no matter what anyone tells you, and the long-term outcomes are not known.

In this field especially, you get what you pay for, and you only have one set of eyes. I was very tempted to have this done since I've worn glasses/contacts since the age of five but after researching it seriously, I changed my mind.

dakodas · March 15th, 2006, 06:18 PM

That fugly red-headed bad nose job comic has some stuff on her website ranting about what a bad experience she had with this surgery.

moomies · March 15th, 2006, 06:24 PM

Oh yea I read it once, she had one botched surgery I remember. But it was corrected by another surgery/doctor.

chatterweb · March 15th, 2006, 09:42 PM

Can you see?

**NoDayButToday** · March 15th, 2006, 10:17 PM

I have VERY bad eyesight. My eye doctor is recommending I get Lasik within the next year or so (before I'm no longer covered by my parents' insurance, my case would be covered by insurance) to sort of delay my eyes from degenerating as badly as they've been. He figures if I get 5-10 years of good vision before I start the descent into glasses again it would be worth it. I gotta think about it still, I don't want to be blind at the age of 40, but I also don't know what getting the surgery would mean in the future. I'd love to wake up in the morning and be able to see the clock without putting on my glasses, though.

chatterweb · March 16th, 2006, 01:30 AM

I just want to throw this out there, My Brother is an optometrist, and so is my uncle, neither if them recommend this surgery. It is like taking a pizza cutter across the eye -a crap shoot- a gamble...Please be careful!!!!!

Barbara · March 16th, 2006, 01:51 AM

Noday, a friend of mine has very bad eyesight (-8 and worsening), his doctor told him it was not a good option to consider surgery before his eyesight got stable. Of course it might never become stable

**NoDayButToday** · March 16th, 2006, 02:21 AM

My eyes may never be stable. The thing about waiting for stability is to provide a long period of time where it would be considered "worth it". He was very realistic in telling me that by performing the lasik it may not provide me with a long period where I won't need glasses, but it would start me back close to where I was 15 years ago. His hopes are that it would get me the 5-10 years before I need glasses or contacts again. I honestly don't think I'd even get that.

I'm still giving it a lot of thought. I wouldn't be able to have the surgery until December at the earliest anyway, so I have a long time to give it the thought I need to. Besides, I wear contacts most of the time, so it gives me the option to get really wild or fun frames for the times I choose to wear my glasses. It's like an extra accessory right now

moomies · March 16th, 2006, 02:37 AM

A good prof of mine had laser eye surgery and told us in class that it was the BEST decision she ever made in her life. She's very active and plays a lot of sports so I can understand how happy she is with her improved vision. A couple of my hubby's coworkers have had it, too and they seem to be ok so far. Each to their own I guess.
I'd definitely consider it, too if I could afford it. I honestly don't think wearing contact lenses is that good for your eyes, either. I could just only wear glasses, of course, but I get a severe headache wearing them for some reason.

**NoDayButToday** · March 16th, 2006, 02:47 AM

I love my contacts because it gives me peripheral vision. As long as you keep them clean and lubricated enough, I think they're fine. The only times I've had problems with them was because they got too dry.

Barbara · March 16th, 2006, 04:33 AM

My mom's been wearing contacts for like 40 years and her eyesight barely changed. And that with having worn RIGID contacts for some 20 years, and semi-rigid since

moomies · March 16th, 2006, 05:01 AM

I started out wearing the hard contact lenses (those are called rigid lenses? we just call'em hard lenses in Japan

) My doc recommended that I wear those instead of soft lenses since I had allergies and allergens tend to stick to the soft lenses (I don't have allergies anymore since I've moved to Canada, yay!)
I couldn't handle taking them off though. You have to do this weird manuevering pulling the edge of your eye and squinting to pop out the lense. I could never master it so I had to use this suction device all the time but it wasn't recommended that I use that often. Plus, they were expensive. They last for a year or so but once you lose it, it's gone! Disposable lenses I don't mind losing, soft lenses don't come off all that easily anyways.