Tomorrow (Friday) I go in for Lasik surgery. I’m a little nervous, but I’ve heard this guy is the best. He better be, I’m paying a lot for it. My perscription hasn’t changed in 3 years, the pre-op tests showed everything was fine, now all I have to worry about is them loosing the flap, screwing up the perscription, my cornea reacting strangely to the laser, a raging infection in my eyes, the corneal flap getting dislodged over the weekend …
Is it possible I’ve researched this too much? :eek:
Anyway, just wanted to share. I’d love to hear other people’s experiences, or if anybody has questions, I’d be happy to answer. Wish me luck!
Congrats and I hope your nerves don’t get to you too much this evening! I have been thinking about getting LASIK myself, only I’m still hoping (I haven’t done too much research on it) that my -2 will cure itself once I get over forty and become more farsighted.
There have been a few Lasik threads on the boards, if you’d like to hear from the other Dopers who had the surgery.
Not to mention a meteorite falling on the building while you’re having it done, a 10 car pile up on the way to your surgery,or the possibility that your doctor may be taken away in chains for being a terrorist halfway through your procedure.
Relax, I know that all those things* can * happen but the probability is really pretty low.
I had mine done almost three years ago and it’s been wonderful.
Only problem that I had was that my eyes were rather dry for the first three weeks but it’s been smooth sailing ever since.
Fear not. The risks are minimal. My doctor told me that if one person has an adverse reaction then they have to report that as a “possible” for any surgery after that. Just follow your doctor’s post operative instructions. That’s very, very, important.
I had mine done last January. I’d do it again in a heart beat. I’m seeing 20/20 for the first time in 24 years. I loved opening my eyes after it was done and actually being able to see the pictures on their wall. My eyes were horrible before.
Hope all goes well!
Good luck! Mine was a snap. Eyes were initially much drier than before, now it’s a little drier, maybe more due to lack of sleep. Not noticeably worse than with contact lenses, and without the attendant hassles. Sat up from the table and could read the clock across the room with no assistance, something I hadn’t been able to do for the previous 33 years or so.
But given your apparent ability to stress yourself out, I’d definitely recommend you go with the (usually optional) valium before the surgery. The procedure itself is painless, although a bit freaky, but it’s generally over in a snap.
Oh, and sleeping is a bit of a drag for the first week, unless you sleep well on your back.
Maastricht, this other thread inspired me to start the current thread.
Thanks for all the good wishes! ShibbOleth, I’m actually a very, very calm person, but I like to be dramatic when I write. I watched a surgery while I was in the office on Tuesday for the full pre-op checkup, and it didn’t look too bad. Plus, the actual procedure on both eyes should be over in about 5 minutes, I would guess.
There’s a lot of stuff I’m looking forward to - waking up being able to see, not losing my glasses (now I can start using and losing sunglasses!), being able to see in the rain, being able to see when I’m swimming … I could keep going. But you all know what I’m talking about.
I’ll be sure to give a detailed description of the procedure, probably on Saturday after I’ve slept some.
After the procedure, go home and sleep. Let your eyes re-assemble themselves without having to be busy looking at everything and exposed.
Follow the eyedrops schedules to the letter. Bonus points if you’re able to put drops in your eyes without touching the dropper to your eye. It’s not essential, but cuts the risk of infection slightly.
Unless they give you a whole box of them, or tell you to use a different brand, pick up a box of Tears Naturale Forte. Don’t go substituting a store brand or something else like Visine for this stuff. You just paid a couple thou for the surgery - don’t try to save twenty bucks here. Keep vials of the Tears with you - at work, at home, in your jacket pocket, wherever. Even if you need just two drops, consider the whole vial disposable after those two drops during the first month post-op. Again, this is to cut the risk of infection.
Oh, and don’t worry about them losing the corneal flap. They don’t actually take part of your cornea off - it’s just flipped to the side. And yes, making the flap is going to be one of the absolute strangest things you’ve experienced. No pain at all, but some fairly strong pressure and you can’t look away.
gotpasswords, they can apparently cut through the “hinge” of the flap, at which point I guess it’s not really a flap anymore. And some doctor, somewhere, has lost that flap, because it’s one of the dangers I had to initial off on the paperwork. Not that I really believe there’s much chance of that happening to me.
Thanks for the tips, though. I’ll come home tomorrow morning and just try to sleep, or at least lie quietly with my eyes closed. I’ve already bought good preservative-free disposable eye drops, and filled the perscription for pain killers and antibiotic drops, so I think I’m all set.
Alright it’s over! Some observations (some grossness ahead).
The device they use to keep your eyes open is a little uncomfortable, and the microkerotome (sp?) is definitely a strange experience. First, a lot of pressure on your eyeball, and then everything goes black. The actual laser correction is no big deal after that, although it was a little stressful trying to keep my eyes on the blinking red - I kept worrying that my eye was moving too much, but they’re probably used to that. My left eye (which was -3.75 before the operation) saw the “blinking red dot” as a red stoplight 6 inches in front of my face, so it was hard to figure out where to point my eye.
The few hours after the procedure was a LOT more painful than I was expecting. I was on Valium (from before the surgery) and some prescription pain-killer called Tramadol, and all I could do was lie on the couch with my eyes closed. All the drugs must have kicked in at some point, because I passed out for a few hours and woke up around 6 suddenly feeling MUCH better. I went outside for awhile and just looked at stuff.
Had the post-op checkup this morning, and he says everything looks great. I can read the 20/20 line with my right eye, and I’m reading the line above that (20/30? 20/40?) with my left, which used to be absolutely useless. And this is the day after my surgery, so it’s possible that it’ll get even better. I definitely have the halo effect around bright lights at night, but that really isn’t as annoying as I thought it would be. I’m car less in Chicago, so I don’t really have to worry about night driving, and most people loose the halo effect after a few weeks anyway.
All in all, I’m amazed at the whole process. In a day, I’ve lost the need for glasses. I’m having no trouble looking between my laptop screen and out my window - everything works.
Off to take more eye drops. Thanks for all of the advice and support! Dopers are some of the best people around.
Hey, congrats on a good result! I work in ophthalmology in a Chicago hospital (but not in the Lasik procedure part), mind if I ask where you had yours done? Just curious.
No, I don’t mind saying where I got it done - I would definitely recommend them to my friends, including you guys.
I went to the Kraff Eye Institute, specifically the office at 25 E Washington St, right downtown.
Dr. Kraff himself did my procedure. If you go to the site, they’ll give you all of his credentials (he’s one of a handful of doctors federally certified to train other doctors in the procedure, for one) but the main selling point for me was that every time I asked for a referral, his name came up. My friend’s personal care physician, another friend’s optometrist, etc. etc. all recommended him. He does the pre-op check, the actual operation, and all the follow-up checks himself.
He’s not the most personable doctor, but he definitely knows his stuff. You’ll also pay for his expertise - the base Lasic procedure is $2400/eye, but that includes all follow-up visits and any “touch ups” if needed, along with really cool goggles to sleep in.
I had that pretty bad for the a while after the surgery, maybe more than a few weeks. You might want to avoid going in movie theaters or at least white on black background credits! But it does go away or at least get a lot less. I don’t really remember any pain but generally have a very high tolerance for pain, so maybe that was it (I usually get dental work done with no anesthetics).
I really did mean to say that it is possible for the flap-making to go badly and wind up with a fully detached piece of cornea.
This would be the point duting the procedure where the doctor would say “Uh-oh.” My understanding is that it’s not an all-out disaster - they may or may not make the correction, then place the detached flap in place and bandage your eye shut. Corneas seem to be amazingly self-sticky and the flap will adhere in a few moments - taping the eye closed is just so you don’t blink the thing out.
But - what do you care about inopportume surgical outcomes? Yours was successful.
Oh, and your worries about watching the red dot were pretty much unfounded - the laser system watches your eye throughout the firing of the laser and adjusts its aim accordingly.
Chiming in a bit late here but since I just had this procedure done yesterday, I thought I’d tell my little tale.
First, a confession: I almost backed out. In fact, as late as yesterday morning, I was close to dialing up the clinic and saying, “thanks, but no thanks.” Yes, I’m a wuss. But in the end, I went through with it.
The whole process went surprisingly quick but I can’t say it wasn’t without some serious discomfort. I don’t know what the technical term is for it but at the beginning of the procedure, the doctor put a device on my eye then said, “suction”. It’s at this point in process when the flap is cut. You feel pressure and then your vision goes black. He did the right eye first. Hmmm, a little bit of pressure. That wasn’t so bad. Then he did the left eye. Holy crap! I don’t know if they hadn’t put enough of the numbing solution or what but it felt like someone was shoving their thumb into my eye. I didn’t cry out in agony or anything but I’ll freely admit to whimpering…just a bit. Thankfully, it only lasted a few seconds.
And oh, the smell. Ugh.
I, too, was concerned about keeping my eye on the red dot (which ended up looking more like a round, red blob of light) but thanks to what I had read here, I knew that the laser had tracking and could make adjustments (the doctor confirmed this when I asked, as well).
I didn’t have a lot of post-op discomfort. I took about a two hour nap when I got home and felt much better upon waking.
I had my follow-up exam earlier today. Prior to the surgery, my vision was 20/400 with astigmatism. Today, my right eye is 20/25 and my left is 20/15. Aside from the dryness and occasional blurriness, I’m very pleased with the results. My understanding is it will take several weeks for my eyes to stabilize but even at this point, I’m happy.
Best of luck, mate!)
I watched a surgery while I was in the office on Tuesday for the full pre-op checkup, and it didn’t look too bad. Plus, the actual procedure on both eyes should be over in about 5 minutes, I would guess.