OT-Anyone have LASIK surgery before?

[DreamDelta]

I'm scheduled to have LASIK surgery on May 5, 2006 . I have worn glasses and/or contact lenses since the age of 7 (I'm 36 now) and I've had enough! Anyone had the surgery done before? What were your results? I'm not apprehensive at all. Should I be? Any information that you all can share with me will be greatly appreciated!

Keep your fingers crossed and pray for me!​

 

[wacampbell]

I personally have not had the surgery, but my aunt did, and now my fiancee wants to have it done. My Aunt grew into glasses and since she does a lot of fine detail sewing, got annonyed with having to wear glasses, so she got the surgery done and could see PERFECTLY within seconds of the surgery being done. She swears by it now. She was nervous going into the surgery but said it was a breeze and took less time then she thought. Good luck! And I hope this helps you with your nerves!

 

[DreamDelta]

Did she have any side effects?

 

[katallo]

Had Lasik six years ago. It's the best thing I ever did. I was totally dependent on glasses and contacts. I chose monovision, so I don't need glasses to read or distance. No side effects. Your eyes will feel gritty for about two days.

 

[miller2470]

I would definitley recommend anyone to have this done. I had it done 3 years ago and was considered "Legally Blind", I now have 20/15 vision...thats better than 20/20. I am amazed by the results. Since then my mom had it done and had the same results. I had the surgery in the morning, came home, took a nap and woke up fine seeing well. No real down time.

 

[wvjovifan]

Lasik is wonderful !! I went from bifocals to 20/20...and it is great!!!!
No regrets at all...

 

[thelionqueen]

I had Lasik 3 years ago, and I cannot speak highly enough about the amazing results!!

I went in for my surgery and 20 minutes later was on my way home! The surgery itself took less than 5 minutes and wasn't uncomfortable in any way. Of course my husband drove me home, and I went straight to bed for about 11+ hours, but within 5 days I was swimming @ Disneyland.

I would not be apprehensive at all, enjoy your new eyesight!!

 

[lisabelll]

Ugh, I want this done so bad!!!! I talked with my eye doctor about it and he said that I would be a poor candidate. The surgery makes your eye surface flatter, and I already have large eyes with a flat surface. He said I would see "halos" around everything.

Good luck to you! I will sit here in jealousy reading through my glasses.

 

[wee-haggis]

Good luck with your Lasik.
I had it done just over a year ago can't beleive how great it is.
The procedure takes no time at all and there was no pain. Your eyes do feel gritty for a few days but as long as you use the drops they give you as per the instructions you should have no problems. I have had three check ups since and everything is great. I LOVE NOT HAVING GLASSES.

 

[DreamDelta]

20/15! That's amazing! I am so excited about having this done! The place where I'm having it done is totally reputable! Dan Hampton from the Chicago Bears had his surgery done there and Bernie Mac! It's nice to hear some positive stories...although I know I'll hear some horror stories as well!

 

[midwestdee]

DH had it done last summer in Oakbrook. He had to decide whether he wanted to correct general vision or to also correct the readng glasses thing (I'm guessing you can follow hwat I mean). He decided to go with the general correction - so he does use reading glasses for very fine print - there were some reasons he chose this approach - recovery was really quick - still occassionally uses eye drops. One warning about the monovision approach - I tried that with my contact lenses - because then you don't have to use reading glasses - but a couple of months into it - started having headaches for no other reason - went back to regular contacts - headaches went away - so if you are considering the monovision Lasik - you may want to do it with your contact lenses for a few weeks first. Good luck - I've never met anyone that regretted it and I can think of 5 people, including DH ,who have had it done within the last 3 years.

 

[miller2470]

Ugh, I want this done so bad!!!! I talked with my eye doctor about it and he said that I would be a poor candidate. The surgery makes your eye surface flatter, and I already have large eyes with a flat surface. He said I would see "halos" around everything.

Good luck to you! I will sit here in jealousy reading through my glasses.

You may be the perfect candidate for the earlier type of surgery called RK. My husband had this done and has perfect vision as well. His eye surface was flatter and he couldnt even wear contacts. He had starburst affects when we went in the mountian the first few times, but thats very rare if ever. The RK procedure requires that they actually use a blade to cut the eye, but he said that he didnt feel a thing. He went home, went to bed for the rest of the day, because of the grit feeling being slightly worse than lasik, but woke up feeling great.

 

[mickeymousemom]

I had it done several years ago by the ophthalmologist I worked for. She did a wonderful job and I love it. I'm not a perfect 20/20 but my prescription was very strong to begin with and this was also the earlier LASIK. I still love my vision and am just now getting to the point where I need readers for fine print. In a few years, you'll probably need the readers too(we all do at some point) but its no biggie. I see great at a distance and that's all that matters with me! Let us know how it turns out!

 

[DreamDelta]

I can't wait to be glasses free! My Mom doesn't want me to go through with it. She is freaked out by new technology. I explained that there are some risks, but there are risks in any type of surgery...

 

[sallysmom]

I, too, would love to have the surgery, but am confused why I can't get a price quoted. My eye doctor said it would be in the range of XX and XX, but until i went in and had the testing done (which means two weeks without contacts) they couldn't give me an exact quote.

Can someone give me a clue as to cost. I live in the New York metro area and I'm sure rates are super high here. I'm almost willing to fly to a cheaper area and get it done there.

Any advice?

 

[scrappinmom]

Another nod here! I had mine done 5 years ago - & I LOVE IT! I had extreme astigmitisms in both eyes on top of my poor eyesight!

NOw that I'm 40 I can see a slight change in my ability to read things that are close...although my doc told me that might happen....

but it was still by far the BEST money I ever spent!

 

[DreamDelta]

The cost is determined upon the severity of your vision and what type of surgery must be done. My surgery will cost $3000.00. I have very poor vision so it's going to cost me a lot more than a little bit!

 

[clkelley]

Wonderful, Wonderful!!! I had mine done just over two years ago!! Best thing I ever did. I started at -700 in both eyes with severe astigmatism, and I'm at 20/15 also!! My doctor told me I would need reading glasses "sooner" than later. I'm seeing a bit of that problem now (early 40's), but then again I'm convinced part of that is I was so used to holding everything up to my nose to read it, that I'm still getting used to holding things at a normal distance away to read.

Driving at night in the rain, I do see some halos, but nothing significant.

As far as the cost, mine was $4200 for both eyes. I travelled to Birmingham to have it done. My regular eye doctor got $700 of that for the follow-up visits.

Mine was an all day affair. My local doctor did the initial evaluation, then recommended that I was a good candidate. We set the appointment, then the day of the surgery we arrived with several other folks and went through all the screenings that morning, then went to lunch. After lunch, the doctor went through all the pros, cons, and probabilities of success. Then we all had to read disclosures and sign release forms. We then were scheduled. (Those that had the furthest drive were scheduled first) I was given a valium at 4pm. My surgery was actually at 4:30 pm and we were on the road home by 5pm. The difference right after surgery was amazing!!! However, I had no depth perception that first night. It was dark, raining, and rush hour. I had to lay back and close my eyes, I couldn't watch the traffic as hubby was driving me home. My follow-up visit the next morning, I had 20/40 and by my 1 month checkup was at 20/15, which is where I stabilized. Some folks have reported needing an adjustment within the first year, but not for me, mine was perfect!!!

My biggest benefit to the LASIK has been watersports. I can now see when I swim, kayak, white water rafting, climbing steps to the water slides at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon!!! It's great!!!!

 

[DreamDelta]

Thanks for the report Carol! What I'm looking forward to the most is not having to reach for my glasses on the bedside table first thing in the morning! I'm trying not to get overly excited, they told me not to expect 20/20, but I'm still crossing my fingers!

They told me to expect to have to wear reading glasses in a few years or so, but that's a cakewalk compared to the glasses that I wear now! My glasses are horrible! One week from today they surgery will be over...I can't wait!

 

[clkelley]

I know what you mean about the glasses. My worst horror story which what really convinced me to have the surgery was I was on travel for work and fell asleep reading and my glasses fell off under the bed. I was crawling around the hotel room on my hands and knees looking for them. I was almost to the point of calling housekeeping at the hotel to help me find them. That really scared me being by myself and away from home and not being able to see!!

Good luck with your surgery, I know you will love it!!

Oh, the one negative I do have is if for some reason I woke up in the middle of the night as long as I didn't put my glasses on and focus on stuff I could fall right back asleep, well now that I can see and focus, I have a little more trouble falling back to sleep if I wake up in the middle of the night.