Lasik Anyone?

My experience:

If you are in San Diego, I have the BESTEST Opthamologist. I was very picky when I chose mine and it was such an easy decision for me. Trust me, I sized them up in every angle. Some probably weren't fair but it gave me piece of mind and that is priceless when it comes to such a serious procedure. My Opthamologist had a serious list of clients but what impressed me more was his personal lifestyle (I told you, picky picky...) I actually was his son's teacher and babysitter and never knew he was an Opthamologist!

His children hardly watched television, they would always read, or play sports (and the kid was ony 3-4). His son was SO SUPER SMART because he was always reading. I took him to Basketball tryouts and he was the best, I was so proud. He was so obedient. He had his surgical magazines in his son's room. His son told me that his dad would read to him from them each night. And he loved looking at the photos (which were nasty, eye tumors, etc...) His wife was also a doctor which also made me happy. And I knew he graduated the top of his class.

I know those things probably didn't matter that much but I liked knowing that when he came home from work, he wasn't partying like a rock star or anything crazy. That his home life was well balancee (they often went to sports games - he is also the official opthamologist for the San Diego Chargers). He and his wife are serious and dedicated doctors. And the decipline for their children shows a reflection of his.

Like I said, I can be crazy but those things really gave me a piece of mind and that made all the difference to me... I walked in the day of my surgury cool and calm (and trust me, I am the biggest scardy cat when it comes to incisions, blood, etc...). I trusted and respected the man professionally and personally.

Presurgery:
I was planning on doing the surgery when my husband got home from Iraq. I went in with that in mind and was sent home with a pair of glasses. They had an opening the following week and somehow I was so estatic I took it. That meant I was going to have the surgery 2 days before Nathan went to Iraq (which I wasn't too happy about - I didn't want his last days of remembering me with fly eye goggles) but I was so estatic to be contact free.

They would like you to wear glasses for at least a week. I didn't even know where my glasses were. So they lent me a pair, they had a bunch that I got to choose from. So don't panic if you don't know where yours are.


++My girlfriend the one that used TLC, her place charged her for a new pair of glasses since she couldn't find hers. Funny, they only had Kate Spade glasses to choose from $$. Their theory was, you can just turn them into sunglasses later. Did my girlfriend? No. Who really does that? So that was another $200 out of her pocket

Day of:
I like knowing what I am getting myself into. There was a patient before me so I watched the procedure on the screen. That made me feel better too. I liked knowing what was going to happen. I know some people rather not, but for me, it was good.

Surgery:
Dress warmly that day, the surgical room is cold to keep the bacteria down. Be comfy. I wore my Juicy Jump Suit and tennis shoes

You can opt for a laser incision or a blade incision.

Some people prefer the laser since it is all high tech sounding and to them that means it is better, so they think... doesn't really make a huge difference.

I learned that a laser incision, then all the laser done inside just inflames (or something like that) the eye a little more and would add to the healing process. Which made sense. But we are just talking a few days extra. But I opted to go blade anyways, I am kinda old school, conservative.

They have these things that keep your eye open so you can't blink. Kinda strange but nothing painful.
Then they give you numbing drops! Thank goodness!!

The blade is like a cigar cutter. So they place it on your eye and then they slide the blade almost all the way across. Since I am asian, my eyes were a little smaller than most. He told me this before going in. He told me that if the blade couldn't fit on my eye we would just go with a laser incision but he would try since I really rather not do that.

He had some trouble with it, I could tell he was really trying to wiggle it in. My second eye (my smaller eye) he had more trouble. My husband who was watching outside said he really used his body to force the sucker in. It didn't hurt but I was like "is my eye going to explode?"

The cut is made, and your cornia is flipped back, you see everything clearly then BAM it goes BLACK!
It's a freaky moment you are like "Oh No! I am blind!" But seconds, I mean barely a second goes by and you are seeing again. I was told to look into a red light. Trust me, I was going to do as I was told. I stared at the light and he went zap, zap, zap.

They take the readings from your eye days before and that gets computed and programmed into the machine before your surgury so there is no way for a mistake to happen. It is all programmed in there.

yea, you will smell the burning. It's like bad fireworks but literally it is only a few minutes (2-3). And viola, it was over, he puts the cornia back over. And he gets a thing that reminds me of the white out sponge (ya know the triangle spongy thing) and wipes that over your cornia to ensure there are no air bubbles and that it is smooth.

On to the next eye!

I was done both eyes in about 10-15 minutes. And most of it was prepping, laying down, getting acquainted to the teddy bear they introduce you to, getting the numbing drops, getting the eye opener thing on... I'd say the surgery was only about 5-10 minutes.

No pain during the surgery, just strangeness. I wanted to blink but couldn't, strange feeling! but no pain!

You walk out and asked how you feel. Then you get an eye test. Perfecto! You are told to go home and sleep for a few hours. I was too excited so I made my husband take me shopping. I kept my sunglasses on and was seeing fine! No pain that night.

Next morning, I went in for my eval. He told me that my eyes were healing faster than normal. I had 20/20. And I felt good enough, I went to work! No problem-o.

I wore my fly goggles the first night only. With my hubby leaving for Iraq I wanted him to see me not my funny goggles the last nights he was here! :smile:

Never had any pain. NO problems, 1 month check up, 3 months, 6 months. Perfecto! :smile:

WARNING....
Light/ sunlight SUCKS the day you get dialated! I suggest you have a friend drive you that day if not WEAR your sunglasses, I had a VERY hard time driving home after being dialated. That could have been me, but it scared me to drive!

Another note...
I drove my other girlfriend to and from surgery and to her check up the next day. It was like a cattle call. They had 30 patients (that had surgery the day before) show up 30 minutes before the building opened (which was rude I thought). Then they called people in 5 at a time where the "students" gave the final check up. The surgeon was never there. She paid $1000 less than I did but I was happy that my opthamologist saw me EVERY time I went in.

I went in to see my opthamologist when I had a bump on my eye. It was not from the surgury but now that I had a eye doctor I was like "cool" I will go see him. His staff is ALWAYS SUPER NICE and OH SO FRIENDLY (they gave my hubby a huge bag of glasses when he told them those would be great in Iraq). So I went in and they gave me some eye meds for free and told me to come back any time if I was concerned!

I cannot say enough good things about where I went. Not one mean person. Service was outstanding. And my Opthamololist was the best I could hope for!

Make sure to do your research. You only have one set of eyes!

PS. Also when you ask your friends for referrrals, ask if they got any coupons. Most places give coupons out to their customers so they can get referrals. I know I got four 25% offs for my friends!

Good luck.... don't worry, it is a cake walk! And all worth it, every penny!
 
OMG my poor bad eyes are like tearing up right now from how helpful you guys have all been , Iliabags, you don't know how helpful all the info was, so enlightening I am printing this information! You guys are the best!
 
I'm a good candidate as well. I've been wanting to get laser eye surgery for the longest time but my bag obsession always wins. :biggrin: Seriously, I'm getting it done this year.
 
BagLovingMom said:
I have horrible eye sight :sad: ! I have consulted dozens of doctors about lasik and they feel I'm a good candidate, but the thought of it scares me to death :shame: After all it is your eyes!


That's correct - and because it is your eyes (and we all only have one pair each), I personally wouldn't rush to get laser surgery until the technology has reached the stage where it is government-approved across the board to be 100% safe for everyone. I believe that at this stage, laser surgery is still predominantly privatized. Also, just because many other patients had success stories with their surgery results doesn't guarantee anything for how your surgery may turn out - ie, your own eyes may react differently or adversely to the surgery. I, at one point, was curious about laser surgery as well. I'm near-sighted. But I changed my mind for the reasons I just mentioned.
 
I plan on having it done in the next couple years. My Dr said as long as long as my vision isn't changing, I can have it done. I'd love to have that and not worry about wearing contacts or glasses anymore! Just sunglasses with cute contact-free eyes underneath!!
 
both my mother and brother had it done and both are delighted with the results - even though my mom still has to wear glasses to read and drive, but doesn't have to wear them ALL the time just to see like she used to. both of them had to use those tear drops for almost a year afterwards though due to severe dry eyes, but I guess that's the price of not wearing glasses?

thankfully I don't have vision problems yet, besides the regular anti-glare issues on the computer for long periods. good luck to all that undergo it!
 
BTBF said:
Not really. In my case, I started buying lots of sunglasses and each costs a lot more too.

I love Lasik! The surgery was so simple and quick.[/quote

I had mine doen in 2000 when I was 45. My astigmatizim was so bad I couldnt see when I got out of bed..had to put my glasses on right away. Now 5 yrs later, my vision has changed. I can still see really well but I know I really should get some reading glasses.
If you have it done be prepared for discomfort..you need to lubricate you eyes constantly. Dry eyes feel like there is something in them...very annoying. Lasik effects your night vision, too. Most people I know had minor issues with the surgery that fixed themselves with time
Lorri
 
BagLovingMom, I am glad I could help. If you have any more questions, please feel free to email me.

Love2shop, Prices change depending on the Opthamologist and location. I have even seen $295 per eye but I strongly advise against going there.

From my research, $4K-$6K for the best Surgeons, with a good client's list (which isn't everything, I know). I paid $4K, my friend paid $6K. I would say most my friends, about 10 of them paid $3-$3.5K. But I would not go below that amount! Make sure you check out the facility and be picky!!

You have to go in to see if you are a candidate for it. There are lots of things they measure such as your cornia, if it is too thick or too think, then the curvature, stuff like that... The consultations are free so just go in and ask all the questions you have.

My Opthamologist prefers that people wait until they are after 25, when their eyesights don't change as much. I was told in college that that starts leveling off at 21 and I was looking forward to it but it wasn't so for me. I got about 50 worse each year! So I just, why not, if I have to pay the same price next year, why not just get it over with?

As for getting touch ups regularly. I don't know how true that is. I specifically asked about it. Your eyes will still change nothing will stop time from doing it's thing. I asked what I would expect for my vision. Yea, I might need bifocals when I get older and there is a small chance that I might have to do Lasik again but for right now I am loving life without it. And it's worth it. But he didn't think I would have to.

I understand eyelove's concern. I wonder if and when it will be 100% safe for everyone. I don't think that is ever true in any surgery, like you said, every patient is different. Ask anyone in a hospital, no surgery is every 100% safe. I don't know if you know eyelove but when you get your eye tests, it is all printed out on charts, measuring everything. Those charts are entered into a computer so it is practically impossible to go wrong. My surgeon checked the figures the morning of my surgery to double check. It is all in the machine. My surgeon doesn't do much but the leading. The machine knows where to zap, how much to zap from the readings on my chart. So, I don't know what more we can ask for. I even asked, "what happens if my eye rolls off to the side, or for some reason I pop the things out and I blink while it is zapping?" The machine is so sensitive, the second my eyeball moves the whole thing shuts down for safety! I'm not a professional but if you are waiting for it to get better safety that is, I don't see how it can. Just get a good, smart, and reliable surgeon, one you truly trust.


This surgery has been done for years. My friend's mom had this done when we were in elementary school along with my boss. And back then they did the whole thing with a scalpel! And they are doing fine now. They tell me "it's the best thing I've done!" That was over 15 years ago and they haven't had a touch up yet!

It all depends on the skill of the surgeon and on the way your body takes to it. It is not for everyone. Some people will never warm up to the idea! And that is fine. But it was definitely an easy choice for me! I have no regrets! My husband either (he is happy, he doesn't have to fetch for me any more because "I took out my contacts already")