LASIK Anybody?

[djones520]

So the optometrist told me this year that my eyes have stabilized enough for me to begin to the process to see if the Air Force will pay for LASIC surgery. I'm excited about this, but also a little worried. I am not at all a fan of any "surgical" procedure. I almost had a panic attack last year when they tried putting me under for my wisdom tooth extraction. I also have a pretty severe sensitivity about my eyes. It freaks me out just watching someone else touch their own eye, let alone my own.

So has anyone ever undergone the procedure? I've read they'll provide a sedative, but how well does that work. I've never been sedated before, so I don't really know what the state of mind is like. Do you really not give a damn about anything? How was the recovery process?

I'm not wondering about any medical advice, I'm just curious about any experiences that anyone could share. Thanks.

[dutch508]

So the optometrist told me this year that my eyes have stabilized enough for me to begin to the process to see if the Air Force will pay for LASIC surgery. I'm excited about this, but also a little worried. I am not at all a fan of any "surgical" procedure. I almost had a panic attack last year when they tried putting me under for my wisdom tooth extraction. I also have a pretty severe sensitivity about my eyes. It freaks me out just watching someone else touch their own eye, let alone my own.

So has anyone ever undergone the procedure? I've read they'll provide a sedative, but how well does that work. I've never been sedated before, so I don't really know what the state of mind is like. Do you really not give a damn about anything? How was the recovery process?

I'm not wondering about any medical advice, I'm just curious about any experiences that anyone could share. Thanks.

had mine done in San Antonio by the Air Force. No issues and other than a local, no drugs. You'll need someone to drive you home and stay out of the sun for a bit.

[IassaFTots]

I haven't done it, but I know 5-6 people that have, and have had no ill effects, or complaints about the procedure.

[Mike220]

Had my eyes fixed (PRK) by the Navy in Bremerton back in 2006. They gave me a Vicodin and a Percoset as a sedative, which was nice.   It was disconcerting to feel it but not have it hurt.

Had to take a week of leave and went home with a dozen Vicodin and a bottle of 800 mg Motrin. The first few days wasn't bad, but Thursday (I had it done on a Monday) was horrible. Felt like someone had stuck a pebble in my eyeball and it wouldn't go away. The painkillers really helped and by the next Monday I was back at work.

Not sure how the AF does it, but the Navy requires you to be driven to the surgical appointment, the next day follow up and the Friday followup, and the driver has to check in with you. If they don't, you don't get the surgery. Had to fly my stepdad up from Texas to drive me around. Fortunately he and my roommate hit it off as I didn't get out of bed except to go to appointments, use the head or eat for most of the week.

Side effects were very noticeable at first, mostly halos around lights and light sensitivity. I don't even notice the halos anymore unless I'm consciously thinking about it, but I'm still very sensitive to light, though it's gotten slightly better over the last couple years. I still have to wear sunglasses when I'm outside even on cloudy days or I get a bad headache.

Best thing I ever did though.

[Gratiot]

I went through it, back in 08.  

As far as the sedatives go, they generally offer something like a xanax or vicodin (I believe) to help calm your nerves down about the procedure.  Everyone seems to get nervous to some degree about it.  I also get nervous about my eyes, I never even considered the possibility of contacts or the old PRK-Knife procedures.    

The whole procedure is over in a matter of minutes.  

It is a strange sensation as the laser burns the outer covering of your eyes, even stranger when the surgeon bends the flap over.  It doesn't hurt at all, but is a bit uncomfortable.

They than bring the laser over which performs the procedure.  As it basically locks on to your eye, I did find it rather uncomfortable, but it did not hurt at all.  A slight tingling sensation as the laser performs the corrections.  Than the surgeon is folding back the outer coverings of your eye lids and applying bandages.

You will need a ride home.  Than be prepared to spend the next 12 hours or so with your eyes closed and bandaged.  With your only relief from boredom, being the application of half a dozen eye drops every 30 minutes or so and reapplying the bandages/gauze.

You will likely have a follow up appointment the very next morning.  Most people are able to drive themselves by than, but I wouldn't count on your ability to do so.  I certainly wasn't able to, fortunately I had a friend stay over.    

It seems everyone I knew and had spoke with before hand had no problems at all.  Most had perfect vision the next day, not a single issue.  I was still nervous about an operation, especially on my only set of eyes!  I paid thousands more, to have it performed by the surgeon who pretty much pioneered the procedure, trained the other practitioners, and had the most up to date (in America) equipment.

Unfortunately, I had pretty much every non-serious complication on the list.  My eyes were badly bruised, and the whites of my eyes were solid red.  It was creepy.  My vision, initially was quite hazy, halo's were on every light, and driving at night was... well... I likely shouldn't have.  Plus, I had painfully dry eyes.  The surgeons had me coming back every few days to check on how my eyes were healing.  After a few weeks, they had healed enough to where I was only asked to come back the next month.  For quite awhile, I was rather apprehensive about the whole ordeal.  No one I knew who had the procedure, had the side-effects that I did.  

It was a few months before all of those symptoms faded away.  My vision actually became progressively better also.  I'm still beset with dry eyes, however it's reached the point where I only need to put a drop of Refresh on them every now and than.  Occasional dry eyes is the ONLY side-effect I still have.  My vision is now just slightly better than 20/20, and I'm quite thrilled that I had the procedure.  

[Chris_]

I had a similar procedure done to remove a growth that had formed after my first eye surgery and again during my last operation in April.  The laser procedure is painless, but it does feel weird.

I had a local anesthesia injected directly into the eye which doesn't hurt any worse than the one you get from your dentist.  At least the dentist takes the needle out when he's done with it and doesn't leave it hanging there while it's still stuck inside.

[Gratiot]

The laser procedure is painless, but it does feel weird.

This is worth stressing again!  It is painless, but it certainly feels weird!

Thread jack: Chris, how are your eyes doing now?

[djones520]

I'm not so much worried about the pain as I am just being able to keep my brain settled down while the doc is manhandling my eye.

[rich_t]

I had LASIC done several years ago.  I'm back to wearing glasses again.  As one gets older the eye sight can get worse for some of us.

I had no complications with the procedure itself.  They gave me a couple of valium and put a numbing agent in the eyes.

I suffered from dry eye (not bad, but bad enough) for over a year after the procedure.

One thing that took me off guard during the procedure itself was that I could smell the burning flesh as the laser reshaped the eye.  I wasn't expecting it.

ETA:  I was also pretty sensitive to bright sun light for several months after the procedure.

[Chris_]

Slightly better.  The doctor removed the opaque cataract and replaced it with a mostly-clear one; it's a slight improvement.  I'm going to wait six months or a year and see if he'll put in an artificial lens to replace the cataract but it's a high-risk operation.  The whole thing could fall apart and there's no fixing that.

[Chris_]

I'm not so much worried about the pain as I am just being able to keep my brain settled down while the doc is manhandling my eye.

I started panicking during my first operation... it was not fun.  They upped the anesthesia and it helped a bit.  The worst part for me was being covered entirely under a surgical blanket including my face.  Hard to breathe under there.

[debk]

I went through it, back in 08.  

.  My vision is now just slightly better than 20/20, and I'm quite thrilled that I had the procedure.  

Was your vision very bad to begin with?

I've worn glasses since I was 10. Part time at first then within a few years, full time. I've worn contacts for 42 years (oh my!!) and my vision is corrected to somewhere between 20/30 and 20/40.

Several years ago, maybe 6 or 7, I went to see a Dr about having lazix done. I had to leave my contacts out for two weeks, first. After they checked my eyes, they told me I could be corrected to 20/40 for a mere sum of $2600 ...PER EYE!!

I never saw the doctor, just the person who did the exam, and whoever it was that gave me all the info. She was quite insulted that I was not jumping at the chance to have the surgery done....while I was equally unimpressed with paying a whole lot of money (insurance wouldn't cover it) to risk my eyesight for the same correction I had with contacts!

At that time, the group I went to was "the" group to go to for this surgery. I'm sure that there are others now, but I haven't checked anyone else out, because if I can't get 20/20 or better, I don't see any advantage for the amount of risk.  

It would be nice to not have to wear contacts, and to be able to really see.

But I know I would need some serious drugs, before someone could touch my eyes.

[Gratiot]

Deb,

No, my vision actually wasn't that bad to begin with.  I actually had more of a problem with an astigmatism than anything else, which is what they corrected.  I never knew I had a problem till I was about 20, than on an annual eye exam they said congrats... you're now old!  Your eye muscles can no longer self-correct it for you!     I wore glasses, most of the time till I had the procedure at 27. 

I still can not grasp the thought of placing contacts in my eyes!  Than again, it used to take me multiple tries to simply use eye drops without blinking.  42 years of placing contacts in your eyes   

I understand the shock over the pricing!  I found it pretty entertaining, how they proposed my original sales pitch.  The examination doctor, after performing all of the tests to determine my eligibility pretended to start up some small talk.  Started chatting about random local news, obviously not paying any attention to his own conversation, while he pretended to be scouring my procedure on paper.  Than he fumbled, as he tried to change the subject to; "So where do you work?".  Which, than brought his full attention.  I honestly wanted to laugh at that very unpolished delivery.  It was rather apparent how their pricing schemes were going to be.  I declined their original offer, than set aside the funds into a flexible spending account for next year.  Called them up six months later, with my tax free coins, and asked for a 'current' offer.  Which just so happened to be quite more reasonable than their previous offer, so I accepted.

It really has come down in pricing lately though.  Perhaps more importantly, or at least for my comfort level, almost every surgeon advertising seems to have the bladeless machines now too.  That's really shocking that your eyes could only be corrected to 20/40, how is your vision without glasses now?

[debk]

I really don't know how bad my vision is right now.

At one point, about 5 years ago, I wore one lens that was -7.5 and the other was -7.0. I'm now wearing -6.5 and -6.0. That really won't mean anything to you, since you've never worn lens, but I was worried when I was wearing the stronger lenses that I was going to end up legally blind!

For a long time, from 16 until about 33, I wore hard lenses and they seemed to keep my eyes from changing much, because I think I only got new lenses a couple of times in those years, just had them cleaned and polished at the dr's office. I didn't have a problem with them...I really liked them. However, my eyes didn't because I developed corneal calluses. 

I wore gas permeables for about year, but it was like looking through a water bubble. So I switched to soft ones that I leave in 24/7. I don't have dry eyes, and I have never had a problem with "deposits" on my lenses, so when a pair gets kinda cloudy, I will take them out for the night, and put a new pair in sometime the next day. I end up wearing a pair for 4-6 weeks. I use some drops, Clerz, that clear them up while in my eye, about 1x a week.

Without my contacts in, I can see to walk from my side of the bed, to the bathroom.  I can read if I hold the book about 3 inches from end of my nose, yet I have to wear "readers" with my lenses in, even for the computer or cooking. I have trouble shaving my legs in the shower if I don't have my lenses in. My glasses have lenses that are about the size of an eliptical quarter, because if they were larger,  they would be the depthi of "coke bottle bottoms". Got an idea of what my vision is like?

I totally understand how you would not want to put contacts in your eyes. The very first pair I got, when I put the first one in ... at the dr's office....I fainted. Then when I had to take it out, after recovering from the faint...I did it again. I was mortified.  I still can't put on directly on the iris...I have to put it just inside the lower lid and "blink" it up. Even after all these years, I sometimes have trouble. 

[BEG]

I have a friend who had LASIK and the side effect that has stayed is dry eye. Her vision is great but the dry eye drives her nuts. I have gone through dry eyes for the past two years (dr thinks it's auto immune related). It has been miserable. I had plugs put in my tear ducts and I hardly ever have any issue with dry eye any more. I don't use drops anymore and I used to use them several times a day and used a gel at night. 

[littlelamb]

My dad did it and said it was the best thing he ever did for himself

[vesta111]

My dad did it and said it was the best thing he ever did for himself

Funny you guys, the first time I saw the hard lens for contacts was in min 60's, boyfriend had them and took me to an amusement park.   On the roller coaster both lenses ran down his face.

I never needed glasses until I was over 50.   How I hated them.   I went and had the exam for contacts and found that since I had problem with close up seeing, it was a big problem to get them in -- I had problems seeing if the lens was itself in the correct bowl position or inverted.

After spending 45 minutes trying to get the buggers in I gave up. 

So I began to think of getting colored lenses, perhaps I could see them better then the clear.

Anyone out there get colored lenses.??

[IassaFTots]

Funny you guys, the first time I saw the hard lens for contacts was in min 60's, boyfriend had them and took me to an amusement park.   On the roller coaster both lenses ran down his face.

I never needed glasses until I was over 50.   How I hated them.   I went and had the exam for contacts and found that since I had problem with close up seeing, it was a big problem to get them in -- I had problems seeing if the lens was itself in the correct bowl position or inverted.

After spending 45 minutes trying to get the buggers in I gave up. 

So I began to think of getting colored lenses, perhaps I could see them better then the clear.

Anyone out there get colored lenses.??

My first ones were colored.  Then I had some that were just tinted.  For that very reason.  I don't have any problems now. 

[debk]

Funny you guys, the first time I saw the hard lens for contacts was in min 60's, boyfriend had them and took me to an amusement park.   On the roller coaster both lenses ran down his face.

I never needed glasses until I was over 50.   How I hated them.   I went and had the exam for contacts and found that since I had problem with close up seeing, it was a big problem to get them in -- I had problems seeing if the lens was itself in the correct bowl position or inverted.

After spending 45 minutes trying to get the buggers in I gave up. 

So I began to think of getting colored lenses, perhaps I could see them better then the clear.

Anyone out there get colored lenses.??

Yep, mine were blue.

My old college boyfriend saw my picture on my company website several years ago, called me up and asked me when I started wearing green contacts. I don't and never have. It was just when he knew me, I had the blue contacts.  

The soft ones I wear now, are barely tinted blue, just so that I can see them. Otherwise if dropped, they are impossible for me to find where it went.

I also remember having the hard lenses "pop" out too. I got mine in 1968. Had to be so careful with those things.

You think you had trouble determining the "bowl" with hard lenses....you should try it with soft. Half the time, I put them in, inside out.  

[Thor]

I've read that in almost every instance, LASIK  eventually renders itself ineffective.

[debk]

I've read that in almost every instance, LASIK  eventually renders itself ineffective.

I have friends that have had it done, and if they wore "readers" before, they still have to wear them. If they didn't, as they have gotten older, they have to.

[Mike220]

I've read that in almost every instance, LASIK  eventually renders itself ineffective.

I was told when I got my surgery that by the time I hit my mid-40s, I'll need reading glasses.

20+ years without glasses though was a good trade off for me. If I need the real thing again, not that big a deal to me. It's been nice without them.

[debk]

I was told when I got my surgery that by the time I hit my mid-40s, I'll need reading glasses.

20+ years without glasses though was a good trade off for me. If I need the real thing again, not that big a deal to me. It's been nice without them.

Do they still tell you if it doesn't work, that you can't wear contacts again?

That was what they told me. That scared me. 

[Mike220]

Do they still tell you if it doesn't work, that you can't wear contacts again?

That was what they told me. That scared me. 

Not sure. I've never worn contacts, so it never came up. I'm sure it is though.

[docstew]

Had PRK at Womack Army Medical Center back in June 07.  Pain the day after, but had percocet for that.  By the end of the week, was able to drive, swim, all that.  Just had to wear my sunglasses outside.  Vision went from 20/400 to 20/15.  Three years and one deployment later, still can read the 20/15 line, but will make a mistake on one letter.  I would recommend it to anyone.