Lasik or other eye corrective surgery

Snickerdoodle24

Mobile: Lasik or other eye corrective surgery

Has anyone on here ever had eye corrective surgery? If so, what did you have done... LASIK? Something else? Is Lasik like so 1995? Are there other/better options now?

I'm blind as a bat [near sighted and have astigmatism] and have wanted eye surgery forever, but I'm scared to death of something going wrong and having my eyes get seriously jacked up. I did end up getting a raise [booyah!] and so now that I can justify the expense of eye surgery a little easier, I'm just trying to get up the courage to go under the knife... er... laser.

Any thoughts? Words of encouragement? Horror stories?

Snickerdoodle24

lisajay09:

I would LOVE to get it done but it's too expensive for me now. I know several people who have had it all with positive results. Both of my parents had it done, but lucky for them, sort of, they had cataracts so it was covered under insurance. Mine will not be and it's like 5,000. I'm so sick if paying for contacts and glasses but I can't afford another monthly payment. Anxious to hear other responses.

Yikes, I thought it was only about 2,500! I guess I need to research a little more...

lisamonkee11

I had Lasik in 2006 and it was one of the best things I've ever done for myself. Seriously. I used to sleep in my contacts and wear them WAY longer than I was supposed to (like 6 months for 30 day wear lenses) and did some damage to the surface of my eyes. Because of that, I had to get a more specialized procedure which was a bit more expensive but was still only $4k (which I used a FSA for). Still - it was totally worth it.

Here was my experience. Because I had screwed up the surface of my eyes I had to stop wearing my contacts for a month before the procedure - most people only have to stop wearing them for a week. The first few appointments they take topographical measurements of your eyes so they can tell if LASIK or PRK is better for you (a lot of that depends on the topography of your eye - you don't necessarily have a choice). They make sure that the topography doesn't change between sessions and then schedule the surgery.

You need to be awake and alert during the procedure so they can't give you anything beforehand, which is a bit scary. My surgeon & nurse gave me a stuffed animal to hold onto - which really helped me stay calm. The whole procedure on both eyes only took about 5 minutes, not exaggerating - it was so quick. There is a moment for each eye when things go dark, the doctor warned me ahead when it would happen and it really is only a few seconds - this is when they cut and flip the lens I think.

When the procedure is over, they will give you a couple valium (or something similar) to help you relax and sleep. They will give you giant ugly sunglasses and goggles to wear to bed along with a really thick goopy ointment to put on your eyes. When you wake up in the morning & remove your goggles, you will be able to see perfectly. It's that quick.

You have to sleep in the goggles for at least a week (to avoid scratching while asleep) and put the thick goop in for a couple weeks. Then you'll switch to eye drops for about a month up to 6 months. Or as long as you have dry eyes. My eyes were only dry for about a month.

I'm still so grateful I did it. My husband is thinking about doing it too. It was so totally worth it.

If you have any other questions I'd be happy to answer what I can!

Deez10

DH had it done last year and chose LASIK with the customization option (there was a standard, less expensive option but he wanted the procedure customized to his exact eyesight especially since one eye is different than the other).  Total came to just over $3k.

He said the procedure was just awkward - it didn't hurt - just strange having work done on your eyes while you're awake.  The nurse handed him a stuffed animal and at first, he laughed, but then said he was actually really glad he had something to hold because at one point, his eyes felt a lot of pressure, and it made him uncomfortable and hard to sit still but it was over quickly.

He was given special goggles to wear and he put a sleep mask over it to keep the light out completely - took the pill they gave him and passed out (helped that he had it done later in the afternoon so he was basically able to just go straight to bed for the night when he got home).  I woke him up on schedule so he could put drops in his eyes but the rest of that day/that night, he kept them closed and the mask on.

He woke up the next morning and said it was unreal, being able to open his eyes and suddenly have perfect vision.  He said he noticed it the most at night, it was so nice for him to be able to watch a movie in bed and not worry about falling asleep in his contacts or glasses.  He also likes being able to see much better in the dark now, too.

I say go for it, you'll be really happy with the results!  DH wishes he'd done it a long time ago but they recommended waiting until his early 30s so his eyesight would be more accurate (your eyes change a lot in your 20s).

Snickerdoodle24

Thanks, I really want to do it even more so now! The whole being awake and alert while they operate bit makes me squeamish, but the idea of waking up the next day with great vision is amazing. Hmmm now I just need to decide if I can fit it in before I'm KU or wait until the next LO is born.

ebp913

susienick24:

Thanks, I really want to do it even more so now! The whole being awake and alert while they operate bit makes me squeamish, but the idea of waking up the next day with great vision is amazing. Hmmm now I just need to decide if I can fit it in before I'm KU or wait until the next LO is born.

 

I did Lasik back in 06 and am thrilled with it.  Honestly you are on so much Valium, you don't even care about being awake.  Like A LOT of Valium. 

Elsa1984

I cannot speak from experience but I have several friends that have done it and love the results. 

My eyes changed a lot when I was pregnant. I am going to do the surgery in a few years after I am done having kids.  

blu-eyedwife

I hate being the Debbie Downer after all the good stories, but my first law job was working for a firm that did a ton of Eye Corrective Surgery defense.  As in we had a file room with just these cases.  And we won every single one.  Not because my firm was so phenomenal, but because there are a lot of inherent issues with this type of surgery.

 The issue with this type of surgery is almost similar to Apple products - there's a new machine/technology/procedure that comes out every year.  Because there's always some sort of flaw.  Glitches - not big huge problems.  And part of this issue with this, is that in the rush to put out a new product that solves the old problem, there isn't a ton of long-term results available for each one.  So the people we were seeing had the surgery 5-10 years earlier, and were only then developing the issues of dryness/vision problems/cataracts/migraines/nausea, etc.

I stopped working at that firm in 2008, so I'm not sure if things are still the same, but seeing all the issues that were going on when I was there made me not want to risk it.

Snickerdoodle24

Elsa1984:

I cannot speak from experience but I have several friends that have done it and love the results.nbsp;My eyes changed a lot when I was pregnant. I am going to do the surgery in a few years after I am done having kids. nbsp;

Yeah, I think you make a good point. It's probably good to wait until after being done with pregnancies.

Blu, I appreciate hearing the other side as well, no worries. I wish what you said wasn't true, but I suppose it doesn't do me any good to stick my head in the sand. I guess it's just another one of those things in life where you have to take a calculated risk... or not.

Jazzym12

I had PRK about 4 years ago and love it. One side effect I do have is chronic dry eyes now but I don't mind. My vision was to bad my Cornea was to thin to do LASIK. With PRK you can't drive for a week and can't drive at night for a month. It took about 8 weeks for my eyes to be done healing. The actual procedure doesn't hurt but the days afterwards are a b'tch! The light sensitivity sucks and I could have not done it with a toddler! You have to take a week off work and if you work with a computer you need to get a screen glare reducer screen because you won't be able to read.

lynnblack

I had Lasik done in 2008 and my room mate had it done in 2011. We are both ecstatic about it.

We both did the custom wavefront lasik which is done with a computer that scans your eye and adjusts the laser to a much finer detail than other processes. 

 

The procedure takes less than a minute an eye. The Dr. gave me a valium to take 30 minutes before the procedure. He had me look up at the yellow light, I smelled burnt hair, then I could see the yellow light was 3 leds and my vision has been clear ever since. I did have some dry eye for about 3 months and some halos for the same amount of time but no worse than the reflections off my glasses.

I would do it again in a heart beat. Mine cost about 4k but I did my research and went with a very good surgeon who had some of the nicest lasers so the cost was higher but really worth it.

 

Snickerdoodle24

lynnblack said:

I had Lasik done in 2008 and my room mate had it done in 2011. We are both ecstatic about it.

We both did the custom wavefront lasik which is done with a computer that scans your eye and adjusts the laser to a much finer detail than other processes. 

 

The procedure takes less than a minute an eye. The Dr. gave me a valium to take 30 minutes before the procedure. He had me look up at the yellow light, I smelled burnt hair, then I could see the yellow light was 3 leds and my vision has been clear ever since. I did have some dry eye for about 3 months and some halos for the same amount of time but no worse than the reflections off my glasses.

I would do it again in a heart beat. Mine cost about 4k but I did my research and went with a very good surgeon who had some of the nicest lasers so the cost was higher but really worth it.

 

Thanks! Yeah, I definitely feel like this could be a "you get what you pay for" situation... don't want to get Costco lasik! (Nothing against big box stores, just sayin)

kellybug80

I have been thinking more and more about having the surgery. I feel like my vision is even worse after having Sophie, and I would love to be able to see without my glasses.

I do think a part of me would miss the glasses. I have worn them for 27 years so they feel like a part of me.

jmcdionne

kellybug80 said:

I have been thinking more and more about having the surgery. I feel like my vision is even worse after having Sophie, and I would love to be able to see without my glasses.

I do think a part of me would miss the glasses. I have worn them for 27 years so they feel like a part of me.

I thought so too. I LOVED my glasses. I now don't miss them one bit. So much freedom!

jmcdionne

Lol totally thought I had replied to this. I had LASIK done just this May past. LOVE IT!!

I've had absolutely NO undesired effects. Honestly. Except for the 4k bill.

I love the freedom and the fact that I can sleep/open my eyes anywhere and never have glasses/contacts to take off/wonder where the hell I left them last.

We are going on a trip this weekend and I actually laughed when I saw leftover contact solution in my toiletries bag. HA! So satisfying.