I just wanted to share that I had LASIK surgery this weekend and am now the proud owner of eagle eyes!

For the first time since I was nine years old I was able to read my alarm clock as soon as I opened my eyes! I feel like I've been liberated!

Anyway, I just wanted to share my elation! I hope everyone is having a great start to their week!

Congratulations!!! My husband had Lasik 7 years ago and he considers it one of the most life changing things he's ever done. His sight was so bad, he had been considered legally blind since age 4. It still makes me smile when I think about our ride home from his lasik surgery. He was like a little kid seeing everything for the first time. He was amazed because for the first time he could see that trees had individual leaves on them. For the first month or so, no matter where we went, he would read every sign and billboard out loud to me....just because he could. He's definitely an advocate for Lasik, and tells everyone he knows how worthwhile it is. Congratulations....enjoy your new eyes!!!!!

congratulations to you! I wear glasses myself and know and understand the hassle of them .... sliding down your nose, fogging up on a cold winter day coming into a warm home ... smudges on the lenses .. ugh ... but I really really don't think I could go through with lasik ... was it bad?

I was incredibly nervous before the surgery, but all of the staff and doctors at the clinic I went to were extremely nice and informative. Before the surgery I was given a Valium to calm me down, and then every step of the procedure was explained in extreme detail, which was nice since my biggest fear was just not knowing what to expect.

The surgery itself was really quick and painless. I think I was in the surgery suite for about 20 minutes. They put so many numbing drops in my eyes that I couldn't feel the top half of my face! Then when it was time for the laser to make the incision, all I had to do was stare at some lights. I was afraid that I would be able to see a laser beam coming at my eye, but it's not like that at all. Just looking at lights. No big deal.

Then I was moved to the laser that actually makes the corrections, and again, all I had to do was stare at a light. When the light moved, I had to follow it, but again, it was no big deal. The doctor uses a device, not unlike the one in A Clockwork Orange, to hold each eye open during the procedure so there is no danger of blinking. But, because I was numb there was no discomfort.

Immediately after the surgery everything was really hazy, but I could see! They gave me some sleeping pills to take when I got home, and I slept from about 5:00pm that evening to 7:00am Saturday morning. The minute I opened my eyes I could see everything and the haze was gone! I went for a follow-up that morning and I already had 20/20 vision, but was told that my vision would fluctuate and most likely improve in the next 2 to 6 months.

The hardest part is remembering to administer all of the different eye drops they give you. I had to sleep with goggles on for three nights to keep my eyes from drying out, but it wasn't a big deal.

I HIGHLY recommend this procedure. It was super easy and worth every penny!

TheCakerator, hubby's surgery took no more than 30 seconds for each eye. They let me watch the whole thing on a big TV screen. I couldn't believe how fast the whole thing went, and within minutes, he could read a sign across the room. He had to keep putting drops in is eyes for a few days because they would dry out really fast, but other than that, he said he had no pain at all. He said the whole thing was easier and less painful than getting his teeth cleaned.

Congratulations!!! My DH had it 1 yr ago this month and like you guys he was really quite blind since he was little. He also agrees, best thing he's ever done,(besides marrying me, of course ) He wishes he had done it years ago, he's 45.

I'm thinking of doing it this year........if the stock market ever comes back our insurance only pays about $1500 if you do both eyes at once, which is what my DH did. I keep thinking to myself, do I want Lasik or a 20qt mixer? I know, I know go for the Lasik...........sigh

Glad to hear some more Lasik success stories, it gives me the courage to make the appt.

thanks for explaining the procedures .. sounds simple enough, but just reading it gave me the heeby jeebies .. I don't know if I could even handle the eye drops in the eyes!

I'm wondering how bad is "bad" eye sight? I haven't talked to a doctor about the surgery in about 10 years and I wasn't impressed at that time. My doctor said, "Your correction is a 6. We just did a 3, you should talk to him." I'm thinking...6 is twice as bad as 3...that's not very convincing.

Now my correction is over a 7, compounded with lovely age-related far sightedness (bifocals on the horizon). How successful are they these days with more than a 7 correction?

Wow...congratulations!! I really want to get lasik but I have astigmitisim. My doc said that people like me who have to have everything perfect(gave him a tough time when i got fitted for contacts) should avoid lasik because it isnt a perfect solution...is that true?
Maybe I should go for a consult....mmmm...now look what you got me thinking!!!!!lol

Ziggy, I'm not sure I can answer your question. I know that my eyesight had always been pretty bad. At it's worst I was -5.00 (nearsighted) with a slight astigmatism in both eyes. I believe that most LASIK surgeons offer free consultations so that you can find out whether or not you are a good candidate, and get all of your questions answered. My first appointment with my surgeon was absolutely free with no pressure (one of the reasons I decided to go with him).

Monkess, I would also suggest that you call around and see about getting a free consultation. I know when I had mine, the doctor did a complete workup of my eyes and showed me the different maps and diagrams that indicated I was a good candidate.

Of course this is just my opinion, but I would go to the best surgeon you can find in your area. There are a lot of clinics that offer coupons like "pay for one eye and the other one free", but I wouldn't take any chances. I'm sure that these clinics are just as safe and the surgeons are just as experienced, but I did A LOT of research and went to three different consultations before I made my decision. The surgeon I went to may not have been the cheapest, but it was the best choice for my peace of mind.

HTH!

My hubby is getting his done tomorrow. I'm hoping that I'll be able to do mine next year. What really matters is how thick your cornea is. So, if you have a thin cornea, they can't correct as much because they can't take as much off to shape the eye. If you have a thicker cornea, they can take more off. So how bad your eyes are is only part of the equation. My eyes are -9 and -9.5. I'm hoping I have enough cornea to work with!

I've seen the surgery on tv before. NOT a good thing to watch LOL. It freaked me out, but it's not like I'd have to watch my own surgery from that point of view. I'd be happy just to have bettr eye sight, not even perfect. I wear contacs most of the time, but when allergies kick in I have to wear glasses. But, my glasses are so heavy they get uncomfortable after a few hours.

If you do have lasik surgery done, is your eyesight perfect forever afterwards?

One of the requirements at the place my hubby is going is that your eyesight can't have changed in the last two years. Lasik isn't going to stop your eyes from aging, so you'll still be subject to those kinds of eye problems. I know that my eyes fluctuated when I was pregnant and nursing. After my son was born, my eyes actually got a half of a point better. Lasik is a permanent correction. What they've done shouldn't go bad, but if your eyes change it will affect your vision. Did that make sense?

Koolaidstains is right. You must have a stable prescription going into the procedure. This is why you have to be at least 21 years old to have it done since throughout adolescence your eyes can change year to year (I know mine did!).

If your corneas are not thick enough there is another procedure they can do called PRK where tissue is removed from the cornea itself instead of from beneath it as with LASIK. I don't know much about PRK other than it takes a few days longer for the eye to heal. You can read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratectomy

Also, I was told to wait at least 11 months before getting pregnant as the hormone fluctuations could alter the outcome of the LASIK so soon after the surgery. That's fine with me because we weren't planning to have a kid for another year or so.

But they do stress that most everyone needs reading glasses between the ages of 40 and 50 no matter what. Eyes, just like the rest of your organs, deteriorate. Now, my grandmother had some kind of procedure (not sure if it was LASIK or PRK) where one of her eyes is able to see distance and the other is for reading. I'm not sure how that works exactly, but she loves it.

I had Lasik in the early spring of '01 and I want to tell you... best move EVER! (Although having your eyes partially sucked out of your head is slightly disturbing, hehehe) It's like getting part of your life back. Congrats to you, and I hope you have years of clear vision!

My prescription has not changed since I was in 6th grade, now I'm almost 30 ... so I would be good on that account, but melvira, did you really feel anything on your eyes?

Well, it's really just a light pressure, it doesn't actually hurt. But I am one of those people that THINKS about things too much so it was kind of weird in my head. Afterward you CANNOT touch your eyes for at least a day. I accidentally touched one about three hours later and I'll tell you, that was a bad, bad mistake! But your vision is almost instantly improved (mine was perfect afterward) and it heals very quickly. And trust me, it is worth the momentary discomfort to be free of glasses, contacts, all that crap. If I had it to do again I would certainly do it. I'd jump at it! I've tried to convince my husband, alas, he's a chicken hearted wus! Hahahah!

Woah! Melvira, could you actually feel the sucking? <-- appropriate emoticon alert!

I couldn't feel anything, so I'm just curious. I only knew there was suction because I heard the nurse say "Beginning suction" and "Ending suction" during that part of the procedure.

Oh, I almost forgot. I learned a lot beforehand by reading this article:

http://health.howstuffworks.com/lasik.htm

I love howstuffworks.com!

I know a lot of people who have had it done didn't want to watch a video of the procedure beforehand, but I'm one who likes to know as much as I can so I watched. I would post a link, but I don't want to scare anyone.

I can not emphasize enough how worth it the procedure is!

Yes, I could. It's funny... I SMELL alcohol and I'm tipsy, but it takes elephant tranqs to take me down medically. No comments from the peanut gallery! I had to have an EEG in high school (unknown cause of seizures) and they wanted me to fall asleep for it... they gave me three doses of meds and I just sat there smiling at them. They got really irked and said that legally they couldn't give me any more, they were already pushing it. Sorry. Not my fault.

But yah, I could feel the pressure. Not pain, like I said before, but a slight pressure. I think the thing that is the weirdest is that you can see it coming at your eye and making contact, then it starts to go up and you go blind for a minute. It's just odd. Kind of cool, but creepy at the same time. I didn't like how much of the procedure I had to 'watch' but what are they gonna do?? It's your EYES! Hello? Heheheh.

And I agree... I will tout the benefits of this procedure until I go blind! Hehehe. Sorry, bad choice of words!

ETA: I don't like to/want to scare anyone off either, but I do believe that sometimes knowing about something is important. There are some things you don't really want taking you by surprise. So, be warned... when they are actually lasering your eyes... you can... well... you can smell it.

Thanks so much for your reply. Unfortunately, after 25 years of a stable prescription, in the past 3 years, my eyes have gotten worse each year. I do have astigmatism, and a correction of over -7, and...well, there's the whole paying for it thing. But I really like being educated on this. I dont' mind contacts. I've worn gas perms for 32 years now (wow!), but if I ever couldn't wear contacts, I would be interested in the surgery. If I could have it!

Monkees- I had lasik in my right eye and PRK in my left on Dec. 22, 2007. Going into it I should have noticed the red flags during my pre-op appt.s. The Dr. (quite well-known in my area) was wishy washy about the success of it as I was already 47 and unknown to me had astigmatism, my corneas were thin , the left being more thin hence the PRK. But after dealing with glasses and contacts since I was seven, I took a chance! After surgery, I was in bed for the rest of the day on pain meds. The PRK is much more painful. I'm glad that so many people have successful procedures (95% do!) but I was one of the 5% that do not. The Dr. over-corrected so here over a year later I am STILL wearing contacts and because of the surgery and the astigmatism, they cost twice as much as my previous lens. Oh, the Dr. was willing to do it again for $300 more (out $2,700 as it was!) but both eyes would have to be PRK now as my corneas were even thinner. I decided I didn't trust him enough to go through the pain again and risk my eyesight! What ever you decide, I wish you the best!

Oh my gosh christeena! That is awful! I'm so sorry to hear that happened to you. It's amazing how many things in life we do despite our intuition telling us otherwise.

ziggy, I probably wouldn't have been so gung-ho about getting the surgery had I not developed a protein allergy that made wearing my contacts painful in one eye. I never slept in my contacts or wore them longer than I was supposed to, but I developed it anyway. I guess it just happens to some people. But because I'm a pretty active person (I compete in triathlons), wearing glasses only was not an option for me. You just have to do what is right for you (and what is most comfortable!).

christeena-I am so sorry for what happened to you. THAT is exactly what I am afraid of, that they will not correct it properly and I being I will want perfect vision and it will be back to glasses. You did the right thing not correcting any further-this guy could cause you your eyesight...the gall of the man to ASK $300...HE should be paying you! Is what he did acceptable?

I don't know if it was acceptable. He claimed he would lose money on me by just asking for $300 to re-correct his mistakes! My DH is very upset by the whole thing and wanted to tell the Dr. what for, but being the non-confrontational person that I am , I told DH to just forget it. I've debated whether or not to leave a bad review with the BBB or angieslist.com but I don't know how to go about it without being accused of libel! The Dr. kept using my age as an excuse as to why the surgery wasn't successful but I've heard of 80 yr. olds getting lasik with no issues so I don't know! It sure has been very frustrating to say the least!

At the very least maybe you should contact an attorney just to see if you have a case. Nothing sets the wheels in motion like a letter from a lawyer.

Do you still have all of the paperwork you signed? I know I had to sign a bunch of forms stating that I understood all of the possible side effects, that my surgery may not go as planned and that it may not even work. I'm not sure how water-tight those disclaimers are, but I'm sure an attorney would be happy to let you know.

I had a butt load of pre-op appts. and signed a ton of paperwork but after a year, it's all a blur! I am chalking it up to I was desperate for lasik to work for me and he was desperate for a "sale"! I still have $500 to go to finish paying off the interest-free loan that I got originally to pay for the surgery. Insurance wouldn't pay for it. I know that I am basically screwed with this whole thing and doubt that even a lawyer would be able to help! Can an attorney even override the paperwork that I signed? I don't know! I could just cry when I think of the money I have spent and will continue to spend on the specialized contacts I now have to wear! Thanks, Mel, for making me laugh!!

I just wish I could do more Christeena. But I'll send you a cyber-hug! It may not fix anything, but it might make you feel good for a second!