LASIK

[slowrev]

Mike,
Thanks for the reply, that is what I had pretty much heard said, but was not sure about it. You know how rumors and such go /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ben

 

[bcarter]

I had it done almost 4 years ago at a cost of $4k... I don't part with money easily but I can tell you it was the best $4k I ever spent. My vision has been 20/20 since...

I had worn "coke bottle" glasses since I was 5 years old...and my motivation for getting the surgery was to be able to get by without them. My biggest fear was that if there was some kind of emergency and something happened to my glasses I would be close to helpless. This was acceptable when it was just me, but once my son was born my perspective changed.

I got a bonus at work that year and could use the "cafeteria plan" to lessen the financial impact so I went ahead and did it.

As others have mentioned it was a life altering experience for me (up there with watching my son being born and getting married - and I'm NOT going to discuss the heirarchical order of which was more important than what because my wife might read this! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif).

Also as others have mentioned, it will not "fix" the problem of eventually needing reading glasses. This was not the reason I had the surgery... As I age my eyes will change and I will need glasses to read. However, my distance vision is stable (and should remain so) so I should not be dependent on glasses.

I've heard of a couple of people who had a problems and it was partially their own doing. One guy didn't watch the green dot while the laser was operating and although the surgeon cut the laser immediately every time it happened, the guy did end up with a slight astigmatizm (miss shaped cornea). One other woman accidently rubbed her eyes right after the surgery and pushed the flaps out of position. The Dr. said she was "pretty uncomforable" until she could get back to the office to have them smoothed out again. The worst problem I heard about was one person that got an infection and physically damaged the vision in one eye...the fact that they weren't careful about taking the anti-biotic eye drops certainly contributed.

Find a surgeon who has had plenty of practice and go for it...

My $0.02,

 

[8NTX]

Be aware though, that with any operation there are risks involved. My wife, unfortunately, was one of the "casualties" of this procedure. Her eye is permanently scarred, to the point that she is now considering a cornea transplant.

She had RK done in 1990, and lasik on one eye on top of the RK in 2000. Recurring minor irritations for 3 years, then she got an infection (extreme pain) in the eye on a Saturday night a year ago. The doc said come see me Monday morning; by then the infection had permanently scarred the cornea. After a year of suffering, trial and error fittings, etc., she sees "fair" through the eye, with the help of a hard contact on top of a soft contact.

 

[Varmintmist]

I had PRK done, not LASIK. Its been about 6-7 years and I am happy as a clam. 1800/eye, and ones short and ones long. I shot at Camp Perry National matches in the Garand and Springfield shoots this year, didnt win, but I sure didnt embarrass myself. Open sights 200 yds.

I did have a problem with reoccurent corneal abrasions. Its like getting a paper cut on the cornea. That hurts, that hurts a LOT. Most likely it was caused by my job. Outside in the wind and freezing cold I think I messed it up. Eye doc agreed.

However, if I had to go through the pain again to see, I would.

Go to a place that does more than LASIK. It isnt always the best option.