LASIK surgery

[DanaReevesLungs]

Getting LASIK surgery done on July 12th. Anyone ever have this done and what experiences did you go through or what would you recommend?

I've read up on this quite a bit, but what a doctor tells you and what people who have had the surgery tell you always seem to vary.

The type of LASIK I'm having is called CustomVUE, aka High Definition LASIK. They're charging me $3500 for both eyes. Does this seem like a fair price? I've seen quotes of $2000 to $2500 for the same procedure. But of course I want to have this done right the first and only time it's done. So I'm willing to pay for the shit to be done correctly and as accurately as possible.

[Absolutely]

Good Luck, I have really bad vision for a 23 year old and my parents have told me they'll foot the bill for LASIK but I'm too scared to get it done.

It's probably a .0000001% chance something gets fucked, but I don't like the idea of having my eyes messed with. I'd rather lose anything else almost than sight.

I've heard a lot of price ranges, so I'm not sure. I think I've heard some radio commercial saying $1,000 an eye...

[AJellyDonut]

LASIK is so 1990. Just go blind.

[bdc30]

I had it done in 2000. Greatest thing I ever done.

The only problem I had was when they gave me valium for the surgery. They didn't give me enough (I'm a fat fuck) and I had 2 people pinning me down while the doctor was yelling at me because my lazy eye kept drifting. Make sure you get enough of the good stuff, and don't ever view the surgery before you have it done. That was my biggest mistake.

It didn't hurt, and after a few days of wearing Ray Charles sunglasses and showering with athletic cups on your eyes, you will see great.

That's a decent price and as long as he is reputable, go for it

[gleet]

I just talked to a guy who had it done. He said after they peel back the eye tissue that they cut, they blast you with the laser. And he said he could hear his eye gorp sizzling when the laser burned. Enjoy!

He enjoyed the valium, anyway.

[Plunkies]

I'd consider it if it didn't involve me sitting there while lasers are shot into my eyes. Something about that seems kind of unpleasant.

[THE FEZ MAN]

i want to get it done, 3500$ seems cheep to me, if i have it done im going to wills eye hospital. no if ands or buts. i also want the fancy lazer tracking/mapping done, i want my eyes perfect or i will not do it. tiger woods had it done, and now he apparntly is better than 20/20

[fkornre]

my best friend had it done a year or so ago...he said it was the best thing he ever did for himself...cost $5000 for him...i went with him to drive him home...after the surgery he said if kinda felt like he had sand in his eyes...i took him right home so he took a nap...woke up 2 hours later feeling good...after he went to sleep that night he woke up feeling great the following day...after a month of healing he said his vision is perfect...

[thelord68]

Best thing I've ever done! I wore glasses for over 20 years, couldn't even read the alarm clock on the nightstand if it wasn't a foot from my eyes.

Had it done about 7 years ago in NYC by the doctor who helped develop the mapping technology. Only paid $1000 an eye because of a special referral deal.

Not everybody can get the surgery because of a number of factors. Even though the technology has improved, if they tell you otherwise and don't do a number of pre-screening tests - run!

I knew a few people who had it before I did, plus did a crapload of research. Virtually every complaint I saw about the surgery and side effects were from people who expected everything to be perfect immediately following the procedure. Most of the side effects seemed no different than what you would experience from wearing contacts - dry eye, halos, night vision problems, etc. A lot of complaints seemed to come from people who had never worn contact lenses.

Basic expectations and timeline:

Day of surgery:
- Procedure is very quick and painless.
- Your vision will be greatly improved immediately, but they will feel gritty and sensitive - more like a headache.
- Plan on having it done early in the day and taking naps between administering drops, usually about every 2 hours. Keep your eyes protected -no rubbing, etc.
- After each nap, you will notice an improvement. I had mine done at 9:30am and was driving that night.

You will see noticible improvements each day for the first week or so, but it can take up to 6 months for you to hit your optimum vision and no side effects. Your night vision takes the longest to improve. Majority of improvement was within a few weeks.

None of the side effects was worse than a normal day wearing contacts - a little dry eye and grittiness that was easily handled with saline eye drops.

Most surprising things:
- Hadn't felt wind on my eyes since I was 10. A little bit of a shock at first.
- Peripheral vision greatly improved. My vision is 20/20 with both eyes and 20/15 with my left eye alone.
- Kept reaching for my glasses as soon as I woke up in the morning. Did that for months.

[TrybalRage]

I was reading up one some guys (shooters) that had it done, and it seemed mostly positive.

One guy went from 20/500 to being able to pick out leaves on trees from 1/4 mile.

The only thing was, when they fix it, they can only fix it in one direction. So these guys can now see their targets great but get fuzzy on the sights.

One solution is one eye for close up work and one for far away.

My boss just paid $5000 for his (both eyes) and loves it.

[THE FEZ MAN]

im very near sighted so close up isn't a problem for me, as a matter of fact i were very small glasses so i can look under them for reading and fine work. the side effects don't seem all that different from getting welders flash, been there done that, maybe i will look into it a little more, i need new glasses (i HATE buying glasses, i fuck them up with in days of getting them and i dont know why, hell at work my glasses last less than a day, i guess i will have to stock up on safety glasses, i actually like having the eye protection that glasses afford me, i know plenty of people that buy them and have just clear lenses in them for protecton only

[MrBogey]

Got Dr. Brint to do both eyes with the procedure you talked about. Cost 4500$. The first month after is the real weird part because the day after surgery you'll see amazingly well but you'll get shitty night vision. Focusing will be weird for a while but after that first month everything will settle in. My right does pretty good both near and far. My left is a little weaker but it's still pretty damn good. I got 20/20 easily in the right while the left is just a hair lower depending upon the light.

[thelord68]

im very near sighted so close up isn't a problem for me, as a matter of fact i were very small glasses so i can look under them for reading and fine work. the side effects don't seem all that different from getting welders flash, been there done that, maybe i will look into it a little more, i need new glasses (i HATE buying glasses, i fuck them up with in days of getting them and i dont know why, hell at work my glasses last less than a day, i guess i will have to stock up on safety glasses, i actually like having the eye protection that glasses afford me, i know plenty of people that buy them and have just clear lenses in them for protecton only


You may lose some of that close up vision which is the result of being nearsighted, well worth not having to wear glasses or contacts all the time, and easily corrected with simple magnifying glasses (the $5 ones from CVS, etc.)

[HummerTuesdays]

It's probably a .0000001% chance something gets fucked, but I don't like the idea of having my eyes messed with. I'd rather lose anything else almost than sight.

I'm right there with you. I know the odds are slim, but I'm not about to risk my eye sight. I do just fine with contacts and when I'm not in the mood, I wear my glasses.

[Jim Beam]

paid 3700 for mine, now I see better than I did WITH the glassses before. only side effects were occasional dry eyes, and night glares. that would be when you look at a strong light source at night (headlights) you see a halo around them. in my case I had the night glares even before the surgery, and now it's a little worse, but not bad enough to affect my driving. best decision i've ever made.
I didnt get the valium for the surgery either, no painkillers at all except for in the eye. my best advise is during the surgery to just relax and DONT think about what they're doing. you'll barely feel anything, your vision will go grey for a minute and then they're done. be sure to follow ALL the directions they give you post surgery. take all the eye drops they give you, dont touch or rub your eyes, take a nap right afterwards, etc.

[Three Hole Puncher]

I had my bionic eyes installed two years ago. Paid $3700 for both eyes. CustomVue system... worked perfectly. I went from a blind bat(couldn't drive a car without glasses) to 20/20 hawkeye in less than twenty minutes on the table.

The Doc gave me an Ambien and I went home and slept for like four hours after the surgery.

It took like two months for the mild dryness and blurriness to go away, but after that, nothing but perfect vision.

The only bad part was how much I take perfect vision for granted. After twenty years of wearing glasses, I thought I'd still be reaching for my glasses every morning, and marveling over the fact that my vision was perfect... NOPE... forgot all about it. I just go about my daily bidness without even a thought about the modern medical miracle of laser vision correction.

[DanaReevesLungs]

Definitely re-assuring what I felt about this procedure. I can't wait to get it done now. I'm like Jim Beam, I have halos at night anyways, so that won't freak me out so much.

I'm not expecting perfect vision b/c I don't have it now, even with glasses and contacts, so any improvement is worth it to me. I just hate spending that extra 5 to 7 minutes stumbling half asleep to put in contacts each morning.

Appreciate the feedback everyone.

[Warfarer]

I have said several times and will stick with it, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I think it is a personal decision that is a risk vs reward. I had it done 6 months ago and I have 20/15 vision now with no side effects. I was at work the next day and had it the afternoon before.

Mine was $3000 for both eyes and they did a pre-sceening to see if I could have it done. When I went in the day of the surgery, they did all the tests over to see if there were any changes. I can't believe that anyone can say that the surgery was painless. I had a very vivid feel of them marking my eye, cutting it, peeling the flap away and then burning the cornea. You smell the cornea as it burns away. I am not a sensitive person so I never think about it, but for a squimish person, I could see it giving them nightmares.

Are contacts or glasses bad enough on you to warrant going in for surgery? If so, then go for it and don't think about it. I got myself siked up for it by reading websites devoted to LASIK disasters. I figured if the internet could only put together hundreds of people, then my odds are good.

[thelord68]

I have said several times and will stick with it, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I think it is a personal decision that is a risk vs reward. I had it done 6 months ago and I have 20/15 vision now with no side effects. I was at work the next day and had it the afternoon before.

Mine was $3000 for both eyes and they did a pre-sceening to see if I could have it done. When I went in the day of the surgery, they did all the tests over to see if there were any changes. I can't believe that anyone can say that the surgery was painless. I had a very vivid feel of them marking my eye, cutting it, peeling the flap away and then burning the cornea. You smell the cornea as it burns away. I am not a sensitive person so I never think about it, but for a squimish person, I could see it giving them nightmares.

Are contacts or glasses bad enough on you to warrant going in for surgery? If so, then go for it and don't think about it. I got myself siked up for it by reading websites devoted to LASIK disasters. I figured if the internet could only put together hundreds of people, then my odds are good.

Two words... ALA BAMA :icon_wink

[MrBogey]

They put a small stick with a circular ring at the end over the eye. It then sucks the eye up into it so it makes a perfectly smooth round eyeball. It then slices around the eye. But there's no nerves there. They then use a little plastic tool to peel the pupil back. All of that is painless. You just have to deal with the weirdness of it all. The smell of the burning cornea and the burning of it is painless also.

I guess if you're squeamish it will cause problems. I thought it was neat how I went blind when they sucked my eye up and how everything went drunk when they pulled the pupil back.

[Jim Beam]

I don't recall any burning smell, or any feeliny at all on my actual eye. It seems like everyone's procedure was different. In my case they gave me a numbing eyedrop, so I didnt feel any of the cutting, peeling or burning. Also they place one of those, uh, speculum? things around your eye to hold the lids open, which really helps so you dont have to hold still yourself.

[Plunkies]

So what keeps you from moving and fucking everything up?

[MrBogey]

Usually the laser has a tracking system that will aim it at the right spot. If you move it simply won't fire. You can never truly hold your eye still anyways.

[d0uche_n0zzle]

I'd love to get it done, but my script changes every year and a half. The Doc told me it has to remain unchanged for two or more years.

I might not be able to see shit without glasses, but I have awesome night vision and don't want to lose it.

[TreeFortRichard]

wow..let me just say this is one of the best threads on the bag....I am thinking of doing it some day....

[WOWmagnet]

CHANGED MY LIFE! I got it done when Opie was touting it back on WNEW. After 25 years of irritating contacts and faggotty glasses I'm freeeeeeeee! for like 7-8 years now.

Still 20/15 after starting at 20/750!

[LadyDi'sTrain]

I just had it done last December - NO REGRETS. Things to know:
A few freaky moments when they put pressure on.
Everything starts going grey.
Smells like burning hair. (they are burning tissue)
You sit up and walk down the hall and its like looking underwater but YOU CAN FINALLY SEE.
Its good to get emotional about it because you want to tear up as often as possible to keep your eyes moist.
For a week I wanted to take out my contacts each night, then realized they weren't there after 25 years AND I COULD SEE WITHOUT THEM.

And in some weird way I felt like an 8 year old again because I could see back then without vision correction. Before I grew enormous cans.

Do it. :D

[DanaReevesLungs]

*perk* enormous cans eh?

It's all I noticed

[dodisman]

just caught this on break by chance...seems like a pretty quick procedure
http://www.break.com/index/lasix_eye_surgery_up_close.html

[DanaReevesLungs]

wow....that made my eyes water the entire time. But very cool video.

[Snapman]

I'm finally looking to get this done, three years after I first considered it (see http://www.wackbag.com/showthread.php?t=10637 for my old posts if you want). Only question is who I should go to. Anyone get it done at LasikPlus? I wouldn't mind going to them but they seem a bit too risky.

[kimothee]

I'm right there with you. I know the odds are slim, but I'm not about to risk my eye sight. I do just fine with contacts and when I'm not in the mood, I wear my glasses.

Right there with you...have worn glasses for the overwhelming majority of my life, and only started with contacts 5 years ago. Between having a weird, rare skin problem and astigmatism with nearsightedness, I'm not risking eye surgery (even if I could have LASIK, which I'm not sure could happen). My eye doc is actually really impressed with how good my eyes look since I wear contacts, but that's also because I'm religious about throwing them out the minute they feel "old" and wearing my glasses around the house.

[WOWmagnet]

I had 20/800 vision.

25 years of contacts and glasses.

Went to Opie's doctor in the WNEW days.

20/15 since then.

Best, most life-changing thing I've ever done.

[Absolutely]

I've been pondering getting it done for about two years.
I haven't checked or got the evaluation to see if I even can, but assuming I can.

I'm also freaked out about the .001% chance or whatever that my eyes will be the ones that get fucked up.
Contact are relatively cheap, and work, so I don't know if I'll ever take the risk.

My eyes are really bad though, so it'd be nice to have

[Got One?]

i just went to get looked at a few weeks ago. my price was about the same, around 3k. few friends had it done as well and absolutely love it. they tell you about that tiny chance somethign could happen... but so far nobody has gone blind, and they do millions a year.

[ruckstande]

I've been pondering getting it done for about two years.
I haven't checked or got the evaluation to see if I even can, but assuming I can.

I'm also freaked out about the .001% chance or whatever that my eyes will be the ones that get fucked up.
Contact are relatively cheap, and work, so I don't know if I'll ever take the risk.

My eyes are really bad though, so it'd be nice to have
Yes, that .001% is enough to mess with my head. Just imagine being the guy who's cornea doesn't seal back on. Or maybe you rub it off someday. That thought alone makes me want to curl up and die.