LASIK thursday, wish me luck! UPDATE 1wk

[Nerf]

Finally have the money to get it done, so thursday is the day.

Getting the 2-laser HD Wavefront Intralasik (VX-4 laser) done, hoping for the best.

And yes, I realize the "HD" is just a marketing ploy, and that almost every LASIK surgeon around is using the exact same fucking machine, what can I say, I'm a sucker for marketing.

[Viin]

Hey good luck with that, let us know how it goes!

I plan going getting Lasik in a few years.

[Abagadro]

How bad is your eyesight? I'm interested in doing this but I have really bad eyes with a wicked astygmatism in one eye.

Anyways, good luck.

[Nerf]

Nearsighted (I think thats it, I can see close, sub 18" or so, but not far), rx is iirc a 2.75 in one eye and a 3.25 in the other, with a slight astigmastism, which the doctors told me isn't very bad at all.

I'd say just go get a free consultation and see what they tell you, a doctor with a good rep isn't going to lie to you and tell you that he can correct to 20/20, if you'll still need glasses afterwards (which some people do, my neighbor has this problem), they'll tell you.  Just to be safe though, go see a couple, and ignore the price they throw at you, I jewed em down about $600 from their '30% holiday special'.

My only complaint so far was the "consultant" (read: salesman) that did my iniatial free consulation, he was trying some day 1 high pressure tactics on me and stuck to his guns even after I called him on it.  I'm sorry, but that price you gave me is not just good for today if I don't get my $150 pre-op done right now, this is major fucking surgery and costing me several thousand dollars, so I'm going to think about it.  Making a big deal out of the special note you wrote on the form that says "EXPIRES TODAY IF NO PREOP" does nothing but piss me off, I've sold longer than you and I'm better than you at it, so try your hack tactics on someone else.  When your manager calls me hours later, apologizing profusely, and assuring me that yes, that price is good whenever I decide to come back in, and that you're a jackass, don't come in all smiles and sunshine trying to shake my hand when I'm waiting for my pre-op.

Course, I still got it done, although I'm going to make a point (after the surgery of course) to express my disdain with his staff to the surgeon, and how if I wasn't fucking motivated to get my eyes fixed, he would've lost a sale.

[Paelos]

You know how they lose a sale. You go somewhere else. If you hate the sales person and bitch enough to the manager, don't go back. Those salespeople learned nothing. You've sold before, why the hell did you go back?

Oh and good luck.

[Nerf]

Eh, I've been in sales for over 5 years now, I know exactly how it works, truth be told they cut me a deal noone else would match, and I'm not one to waste money on spite, doubly so when we're talking a difference of $700-1000.  I will, however, waste some energy on spite whilst high on valium, and I get some solace in the fact that douchebag doesn't actually get commision, they just have a spiff program based on total numbers, and judging by his techniques, he's probably not going to make it.

Edit to clarify on yours:  I could get someone in Dallas to match it, but I'm in Arlington, and I don't really feel like an hour drive for my 1 day, 1 week, and 2? month checkups.  There are 2 guys in Arlington that do it, and the others wouldn't go below $1800/eye, money and convenience will win over me be angry about hack sales techniques that were entirely unnescessary.  I'm motivated, I wanted this done ASAP.

[Paelos]

Eh, I've been in sales for over 5 years now, I know exactly how it works, truth be told they cut me a deal noone else would match, and I'm not one to waste money on spite, doubly so when we're talking a difference of $700-1000.  I will, however, waste some energy on spite whilst high on valium, and I get some solace in the fact that douchebag doesn't actually get commision, they just have a spiff program based on total numbers, and judging by his techniques, he's probably not going to make it.

Not a bad answer. Still, I can't believe you couldn't have found a similar deal with people who didn't straight piss you off in a decently sized city. I'd probably do the same though.

Let us know how it goes. I'm 3.75/4.00 and I've considered it for a while at my age of 26.

[lesion]

A friend of mine got this done around a year ago and ended up with some fucked-up 20/18 supervision or something. Hope it works out the same for you. Go science!

[Nerf]

I'll give you high as a kite post-op debriefing sometime after 4:00PM thursday, hopefully seeing 20/20 (or better!)

Also, it wasn't as bad as I'm making it out to be, I've got a mild head cold right now and am kind of pissy, everything went very smoothly and up until the very end where I started dickering on price everyone was professional.  When I went back for my pre-op, I had a different set of people run me through 4 or 5 different tests/scans, and all of them were extremely friendly and polite.  My only qualm was him trying to create a sense of urgency that I felt was inappropriate, I'm not buying a car here, this is fucking surgery.  Had he given me a 3 day window on the quote I wouldn't have been upset at all, hell, 24 hours and I would've been happy, but when you tell me at 11:00AM that this deal expires in 4 hours, I'm not going to like you.

The entire reason I went back was his manager (I think, it could've just been a different salesman), the one who had confirmed my appt. for 1:30pm in the morning and was more than happy to bump it up to 9:30 for me since I was already awake, called me back around 2:00.

Yes, I know he was just trying to close the deal on a walkout, but he was apologetic, courteous and professional, he did exactly what I would've done and it saved the sale for them.

Lesion - I've actually heard of alot of people ending up with 20-10 or so, which is what I'm really hoping for, I'll be dissapointed with only 20/20.  Mainly, because I won't be able to yell out "go-go gadget eyes!" and really/ mean it.

[schild]

First thing I'm doing after I finish this stupid fucking diet is lasik. I'm stoked.

[Nerf]

You might need some rhinoplasty too, wouldn't want to burn a hole in that big ol jew schnoz of yours.

Edit: What the fuck, diet? How does that have anything to do with lasik?

[schild]

One thing at a time, dude.

[Righ]

He doesn't want to be able to see how fat he is. 

[schild]

Signe's going to pinch you for that.

[Selby]

A friend of mine got this done around a year ago and ended up with some fucked-up 20/18 supervision or something. Hope it works out the same for you. Go science!

20\15 here.  It totally rules.  I was 20\300 in one eye and 20\200 in the other with a pretty noticeable astigmatism in the 20\200 eye (but not the other, go figure).  I had been dealing with trouble reading and concentrating due to the undiagnosed condition as well.  Now it is gone and I can actually see without glasses.  The new techniques they use map the entire surface of the eye and can individually correct any waves or ridges that shouldn't be there.  Expensive, but damn well worth it in my experience.

[SnakeCharmer]

I've had a couple friends that have had lasik done.  I've thought about having it done, although my vision isn't quite that bad.  I can get away without wearing glasses but headaches and migranes really aren't any fun.  I don't know if I could ever have it done though.  I hate anything near my eyes; I can't even put eye drops in my eyes by myself.

Edit: Good luck!

[Sky]

So want to do this surgery. I'd say 'good luck', but I hope luck doesn't have to enter into the equation!

[UD_Delt]

Good luck with the surgery. It's really not too bad at all.

I had it done about 5 years ago. I was worse than 20/400 in both eyes (legally blind ie.. I couldn't read that big ass E on the eye chart) with a pretty severe astigmatism in my left eye that made it impossible for my to even wear soft contacts.

After the surgery I was 20/20 in one eye and 20/30 in my left. My left eye still wasn't perfect but it was a VAST improvement.

5 years down the road now my right eye still seems pretty good but my left eye is starting to get a bit worse. I still don't wear glasses for anything but I imagine I'm due for a trip to the eye doctor in the next year or two. Luckily the place I had the surgery done has a life time guarantee so I can go back in for a touch-up whenever I decide. Or I can just maybe get a pair of glasses for reading & work.

The surgery itself is quite simple. It was over in a matter of seconds. The only freaky part was the smell of burning hair. I didn't really enjoy that.

[Sky]

The only freaky part was the smell of burning hair eyeball.

[Morat20]

A friend of mine got this done around a year ago and ended up with some fucked-up 20/18 supervision or something. Hope it works out the same for you. Go science!

20\15 here.  It totally rules.  I was 20\300 in one eye and 20\200 in the other with a pretty noticeable astigmatism in the 20\200 eye (but not the other, go figure).  I had been dealing with trouble reading and concentrating due to the undiagnosed condition as well.  Now it is gone and I can actually see without glasses.  The new techniques they use map the entire surface of the eye and can individually correct any waves or ridges that shouldn't be there.  Expensive, but damn well worth it in my experience.

I'm hoping to do it in 2008 (I've been saying "next year" for three years now) -- my eyesight is pretty much roughly what yours is, although my one-eye astigmatism is barely noticeable.

I've had an initial screening done for viability (my eye doctor is very helpful -- only thing she hasn't checked is corneal thickness, I think -- something requires eye dilation to check -- and feels I'm a good candidate). I'm mostly worried about haloing. A friend of mine had the surgery about 7 years ago -- the very early days of LASIK -- and not only has horrid problems at night (she won't even drive, the haloing is so bad), but is now back in glasses even during the day and pissed as fuck at her surgeon. OTOH, my father-in-law just had his done last year (he's 60ish) -- apparently the new machines are so damn good they were able to correct his vision in both eyes, even around what is a highly nasty and visible cornea scar. He's like 20/20 in the good eye, and 20/40 in the one with the scar (no shit -- you can see it if you look into his eye from close up. Took a chunk of glass in it when he was a kid).

I understand the machines they're using now (The wavefront ones are supposed to be ultra-spiffy) tend to be considerably better than what they hacked around her eyeballs with.

[Nebu]

If it's any comfort to you, everyone that I know that has had the procedure done has been very satisfied with it.  Yes, there is some risk.  Overall, I think the benefits far outweigh the risks.  If my eyes continue to degerate from the 10+ hrs a day of reading that I do, I'll be following right behind you. 

[bhodi]

Good luck! I've always been leery of life-changing items like this, but it's pretty much as safe as it gets at this point. I know several people who have done it and none of them have had any problems.

I'm just wondering what the next big thing is coming down the pike for eyes, I keep wanting a custom-generated lens using radar mapping or something. I figure the tech is getting better, but I'm not willing to take the plunge until I can actually get surgery that makes my eyesight better than the contacts I wear every day.

Edit: Oh, and I deeply value my night vision. I don't want to lose it.

[Yoru]

I had this done a few years ago and mine was a very extreme case, I believe about 7.5 diopters in one eye, 7.75 in the other. The doc told me I was extremely lucky to have very thick corneas, because 7.75 diopters would have been the most they could slice off without risking corneal collapse. My vision isn't perfect, around 20/25 most days, but it's been a while since I've had it tested, but that's good enough to go around without glasses. Having worn coke-bottles all my life, it's been a real joy to wake up in the morning and be able to see unaided.

For the first year or so, I had recurring dry-eye problems, and it still happens once every few months. The symptoms, for me, would be itching eyes and degraded vision. This is readily solved by having some lubricant eye drops at home and in your desk at work; your doc should give you some after the surgery. Get a bunch of them and use them constantly for the first few weeks, it helps a lot; they're pretty cheap and I've had no problems finding them at various pharmacy chains whenever I've needed some and not had any around.

Recovery is pretty rapid, but it was a few days, in my case, before I could really see stuff. Prepare for a few days of music, books on tape or movies that don't really require any kind of detail beyond "the blob on the left is talking to the blob on the right."

One downside, at least in my case, is that my night-vision is significantly worse than I recall it being pre-surgery. I believe this is due to the pupil expanding beyond the 'optimal' central part of my corrected corneas and into less-optimally corrected parts. This has happened less and less as time has gone on, so it may have been just a side-effect that is now healing. Still, I'm leery of driving at night now, because I find it harder to see stuff in my rearview due to headlight glare.

Still, if you have any significant vision impairment and the means to do it, I strongly recommend at least getting a couple consultations to see what your prospects are.

[Nerf]

Two things on the nightvision -

One, my nightvision is already really fucking bad, I get horrible glare off of everything, it's been explained to me as more little black dots than I should have, and the laser gets rid of them.

Two, from everything I've ready, the haloing is caused by the pupil dialating to the point where light is refracted off of the incision made to create the flap, and the 2-laser intralasik is supposed to leave MUCH less scar tissue than before, eliminating most haloing.  (no scar for the light to hit and cause it)

T-26 hours now, still not nervous, but I imagine that'll change tomorrow.

[Signe]

Signe's going to pinch you for that.

I was going to pinch him anyways. 

[Trippy]

That flap of eye that never actually heals that's sliced open with a razor is one of the things that freaks me out about the procedure. Also there was that Everest documentary "Into Thin Air" and one of the guys who got trapped up there had gotten RK surgery and it turns out that at that altitude and cold it literally made him blind. Not that Lasik would necessary do the same thing and not that I would ever climb Everest but like others have said the long term effects are still not known. I'd rather put with the glasses I've been putting up with for so long than go blind in 15 to 20 years because of the procedure. I also don't like the idea that it's not "reversible"/"correctable" -- i.e. it permanently removes stuff and if there's a mistake or if my vision changes radically later on for some reason, like become more farsighted as people tend to do as they get older, I'm kind of screwed. I like the idea of some of the newer technologies that are being worked on like those "rings" that get embedded that reshape your eyes that can be removed and adjusted as needed.

[Yoru]

Two, from everything I've ready, the haloing is caused by the pupil dialating to the point where light is refracted off of the incision made to create the flap, and the 2-laser intralasik is supposed to leave MUCH less scar tissue than before, eliminating most haloing.  (no scar for the light to hit and cause it)

That makes sense to me. My incisions were done with a microkeratome, as the two-laser stuff was just coming out of testing when I got it.

That flap of eye that never actually heals that's sliced open with a razor is one of the things that freaks me out about the procedure. Also there was that Everest documentary "Into Thin Air" and one of the guys who got trapped up there had gotten RK surgery and it turns out that at that altitude and cold it literally made him blind. Not that Lasik would necessary do the same thing and not that I would ever climb Everest but like others have said the long term effects are still not known. I'd rather put with the glasses I've been putting up with for so long than go blind in 15 to 20 years because of the procedure. I also don't like the idea that it's not "reversible"/"correctable" -- i.e. it permanently removes stuff and if there's a mistake or if my vision changes radically later on for some reason, like become more farsighted as people tend to do as they get older, I'm kind of screwed. I like the idea of some of the newer technologies that are being worked on like those "rings" that get embedded that reshape your eyes that can be removed and adjusted as needed.

Radial Keratotomy is significantly different from LASIK, it's an ancient procedure long since superseded by PRK/LASEK (not a typo, it's distinct from LASIK). The rest of your concerns are perfectly valid. I anticipate that, if my surgery causes problems 40 years down the road, intraocular lenses (or other corneal replacement technology) should have advanced enough to correct what may arise.

Or maybe I'm fucked and will be blind at 50. Still worth it to me for now. :)

[Nerf]

They don't use a razor anymore, the incision for the flap is made with a second laser now, which is what reduced the haloing side effect.

As far as it never healing, I've got to call bullshit on that, see a few posts up about the fellow with a chunk of glass in his eye that healed up and left a scar.  Our bodies heal, if your body stops healing, you're probably already dead.

[Trippy]

The healing thing was from somebody at a place where I used to work who got it done around 2000. He said the flaps would never totally seal themselves up -- i.e. they could flap open again given a bizarre enough set of circumstances. Dunno if he was given incorrect information or if things have changed now with new technology.

[Nerf]

I'll make a point to ask about that tomorrow, it just seems wrong to me though, it's a membrane, and it gets damaged and heals up all the time, ever had a corneal abrasian?

[murdoc]

I got this done about 5 years ago. If I remember correctly my eyes were -4.0 and -4.5 and I ended up with 20/18 eyesight.

5 years later, I wear glasses when I drive at night and my vision isn't 20/18 anymore, but I would never change the fact that I can still wake up in the AM and see what time it is.

[Nerf]

I got this done about 5 years ago. If I remember correctly my eyes were -4.0 and -4.5 and I ended up with 20/18 eyesight.

5 years later, I wear glasses when I drive at night and my vision isn't 20/18 anymore, but I would never change the fact that I can still wake up in the AM and see what time it is.

May I ask how old you are now, and what kind of glasses you wear at night?

[murdoc]

I'm 31 and they're a very very slight adjustment. I don't have anything exact about what my vision is now, but the glasses clear the halos at night and just kinda put everything into focus again. I was warned before I got the surgery that they really didn't know how long it would last since I had a pretty severe astigmatism. Don't let that disuade you in any way though. Wearing glasses at night is a very small price to pay to not have to worry about contacts while water skiing, or playing any sports in general.

Plus, I hardly ever wear them during the day, unless I'm sitting at the back of a classroom and need to see something put on a screen by a projector.

[Selby]

The healing thing was from somebody at a place where I used to work who got it done around 2000.

Honestly, that is ancient technology by today's standards (compare Edison's victrola vs. CD audio technology).  Only semi-recently (2002-2003) have they been phasing out razors and nowadays it is completely done with a laser that essentially just pushes your cornea down compared to years gone by where they sliced the eye to make the changes.

The surgeon who did mine specializes in this.  He mapped out the entire surface of your eye to determine ridges, curves, and shapes of the cornea.  They then make a custom treatment for your eye and yours alone.  They also still use a razor to make the incision, but only if you choose.  I chose to spend the extra $100/eye to have the laser do the incision, I don't do razors near my eye.  When the laser does it, it displaces material rather than cutting it, which means you will heal and seal back up within 24-48 hours with very little scar tissue (if much of any).  My doctor did the consultation, the measurements, the double-checking, and the procedure itself.  I spent about 6 hours in his office just doing pre-op work and then 45 minutes for the procedure.  I've had it for 11 months now with no halos at night (or at least not any worse than before) and my night vision is just as good if not better than before.  I can read far away and see up close.  It's pretty nice compared to having to wear glasses just to get by.

It isn't a cure for future vision problems, but a restoration of what you have currently.  If your eyes get worse just by themselves due to your body aging (which they would have done anyway without Lasik), over time the surgery will need to be performed again.  My vision hadn't changed in 10 years, so I felt it was time to go ahead and get it done.

[Sky]

I'm in Selby's boat (AHOY DERE). Stable vision, pretty much ready because the tech has matured quite a lot.

And I could give a fuck about a bargain. IT'S MY EYES. If the doc tells me there's a $100/eye fee for anything remotely sensible, I'm on it. I'm not going to dicker about price for EYE SURGERY. You're fucking nuts if you want your doctor thinking about shit like that when he's applying a LASER to your EYES.

Fuck, I'll tip the dude a couple Benjies just to have him be johhny on the spot. I'll send his wife flowers and promise not to deflower his daughter.

YOUR EYES. IRREVERSIBLE.