Princess:
Yeah, no hotel stay for me!! But is it still okay to get hammered?
LASIK surgery
by drwtsn32 47 Replies latest watchtower medical
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primitivegenius
i had RK done quite a few years back and it sucked lol. then i had to have it done again.................... and that sucked equally as bad but for a short time i had 20/10 vision and that was amazing to me....... unfortunately it didnt stay that way and now at night all i see are starbursts and my vision still changes by the hour......... but it stays generally around 20/25 but before......... although it was 20/400 lol can you say coke bottles.......... my glasses were so thick i could read your mind lol.............. with the glasses my eyes stayed the same all day long. i keep hearing that lasik is what they do to correct F'ed up RK....... keep us updated lol. what does that surgery go for these days......... my RK cost 1200. they ended up giving me the maximum amount of valium.............. and it of course didnt take effect untill i was at the resturant eating afterwards lol........... thats my damn luck tho lol.
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drwtsn32
prim: You really had RK? That's the older method where they make radial cuts by hand in your cornea? Yeah, that method worked ok for the time but had some bad side effects. PRK / LASIK is sooooo much better! It's amazing how the technology has advanced.
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Swickley
Several of my family members and friends have had the surgery. They were near-sighted and can now see far away with no problem. But what they didn't count on is that now they can't see up close. None of them can thread a needle anymore, without high power magnifying glasses, and all of them must wear reading glasses. One of them can't even see the computer screen and had to order a magnifying cover for it. May be this is not a problem for most, but reading is important to my job (and for relaxation as well). So, why have the surgery if you're going to have to wear glasses anyway... to see up close?
Since I'm nearsighted, I asked my doctor (also nearsighted, with glasses) why he didn't have the surgery..? He stumbled trying to find the right words to answer, and finally said he didn't think the technology was perfected yet. So I said, yeah, I don't want anyone cutting on my eyes either..! He also admitted that you actually trade one defect for another -- i.e., you can see far away but will need reading glasses for anything close up. But, from what I have observed, the reading glasses don't seem to help much because all of my relatives (who had the surgery) still can't see up close and even squint with their reading glasses.
Something to think about...
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drwtsn32
Swickley:
It sounds like they were overcorrected. Overcorrection will cause hyperopia (farsightedness). No one I talked to so far has mentioned that their up close vision was sacrificed by getting LASIK done.
One thing that is true is that LASIK might cause presbyopia to start at an earlier age. There's no way to correct for that problem...
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Piph
Ahhhhh, I'm soooo jealous!! I want LASIK bad. I've been wearing contacts for the past ten years and glasses the ten years prior...twenty years of corrective lenses...it's time for a change! The New System isn't coming any sooner! LOL
I know lots of people who've had it done and had success with it. Congratulations!!
<- Dr. Watson
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LittleToe
I had PRK done early last year. I was due to get new contacts and lenses, which would have cost at least the price of one eye, so I invested instead.
I wanted LASIK, but my cornea's were too thin, after years of contact lens wear (yes they do wear down the front of your eye!!!)The operation actually took about 3 mins, with about a minute of cutting time.
Incredible!
(I think it's a little longer with LASIK, though, as they have to cut and open the corneal flap.
Sorry about the gorey details, I know some are squeamish.I wouldn't get plastered, if I were you, in case you start rubbing your eyes in the night. It's potentially more risky to rub with LASIK.
The secret, I found, was to keep the eyes well lubricated (as I had a bandage lens to make it more bearable).
First night was gritty, second day was fine, third day was hell, then it got far better.
After about a month it had settled down and by three there were no more changes.
I had one eye done at a time, to reduce the risk if anything went horribly wrong.Now I have just below 20/20 in my left eye and just better than 20/20 in my right.
I would have been happy if it was just above driving standard, but I got far better than that, having previously been around -6.5 and astigmatic.I would willingly recommend it to anyone. It really is liberating, and in the long run costs less.
Other than the very occasional dry eye's, it's fantastic! -
drwtsn32
Piph: Yep... I have to take matters into my own hands since this new system is late! Wasn't it supposed to be here in 1975?
LT: Thanks for sharing your experience! From what I heard PRK is a bit more painful than LASIK. I don't think either compare to the pain I endured after my strabismus eye surgery though. So I'm ready to go for it!
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RN
Dr. W--
It will be 1 year ago (on Oct. 15) that I had my LASIK procedure done. As Little Toe said, it is quite liberating. With each passing year it was becoming more difficult to be fitted with a soft contact lens that would properly correct both my myopia and astigmatism. The annual cost of keeping me in corrective lenses had become financially painful with having to fund a years supply of toric lenses, bifocals (needed since age 36) and reading glasses (to use w/ the contact lenses). Traveling anywhere with all that junk was a nightmare. Now I just wake up and go!
The procedure itself I would describe as uncomfortable rather than painful. My eyes felt gritty for about 2 1/2 days and I only need to use artifical tears for about 3 months I still need the reading glasses if I'm going to be reading for longer than 15-20 minutes. LASIK is definately one of the top 5 best things I've ever done for myself.
RN
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xjw_b12
I've been wearing glasses since the age of 6, and contacts since the age of 23. I have always wanted to do the corrective surgery thing, but I am too darn chicken to go through with it.
Nice to see both sides of the story here. Maybe I'll reconsider. Trouble here is no one performs it locally, and I'd have to go to Toronto, or Winnipeg.