Congrats on your successful outcome. I had mine done seven years ago next month. Cost $3000 and $2000 of that I paid out of my FSA or whatever it was called in 2000, and my parents actually endedup paying the full tab as a birthday present so not only do I have 20/15 vision but I laundered two grand through my FSA tax-free. The only problem I’ve ever experienced is some dryness and the occasional bottle of eyedrops is cheap in comparison to uncounted bottles of saline solution.
Burning eyeball smell? Black eyes? What procedures did you people have done?!?
Seriously, my Lasik was quick, simple, painless, odorless and mark-less! I had 20/15 eyesight the next morning! And I still do!
My doc was not the cheapest in any universe, but I decided he was the best in LA. Mine ran $6400 for both eyes, all laser, with 24-hour, 7 day, 1 month, 3 month and other follow ups, plus any adjustments I might need.
Worth every penny.
Thank you tashabot, Otto and Hal. When it comes time, save up a lot of money; do not bargain shop when it comes to eyes.
It was very weird, but the only pain was the taping my eyelids open and them removing the tape when they were done. There seemed to be two lasers at work in two stages. I think the first made the cut to make the flap and the second did the actual lens adjustment.
During the four laser burns, the nurse counted down with 50 seconds to go, 40 seconds to go and etc. There was no burning smell and the valium had me loopy anyway.
When finished the Doctor placed clear band aids over my eyes. I was fitted for tight comfortable goggles and then a pair of sunglasses that would fit over them.
I was given a small bag with instructions and four different eye drops to take. Three were to be taken every four hours until I ran out. The last is just refresh tears and they gave me six bottles to use about every 2 hours. I am already done with two of the three bottles, and the last one should run out tomorrow. I have to pick up an additional eye drop prescription for Lotemax tonight to take when the other runs out.
I hope my final vision is as good as Otto’s and EJsGirl’s.
Jim
Good to hear that everthing went well for you. I’m really looking forward to getting mine done. I think I’m gonna use my tax money as a down payment. I can’t imagine waking up in the morning and just seeing - not looking for my glasses or worrying about contacts.
After hearing all these success stories, I don’t know how much longer I can wait.
Congratulations, Jim! Hope your recovery continues smoothly, and that your “new eyes” are just what you’d hoped for. I may do Lasik myself someday, but for now, my vision is pretty good and I don’t really mind wearing contacts or glasses.
Thanks, did you get my Emails? I tried to reply three times and AOL rejected two of the replies. I am just curious at this point.
brewha: It is such a great thing to wake up and see, to the see the clock across the room, it has been so long for me. 24 years. I am so glad I finally had the lack of important expenses on the house to do this for myself.
Jim
Sometimes, and it’s been a couple years for me, I forget what it used to be like before lasik. And it’s so amazing to be able to see! Although my vision is 20/25 now, I sometimes use glasses to crisp up details. It’s funny how I don’t mind doing that now, when before, the whole glasses/contacts thing was terrible. Besides, the lenses on the glasses are so thin now compared to before. And they make me look smart!
Congrats, Jim, I’m glad it went well and continues to go well. Use a heavy hand with the eye drops; it will help in the long run.
Well, I had mine done about 15 months ago. I had the microkeratome (blade) type of LASIK. No problems here.
One large Valium, to start. They never really have that much effect on me. Long wait after that (probably only 15 minutes), which was by far the worst part. Doctor comes in and walks me into the OR.
Lay down on the table. Tape over the eye not being “death-rayed”. Operative eye taped open and held open with one of those optical speculum clamps from A Clockwork Orange. Anaesthetic drops applied, 30 seconds-1 minute for them to take effect. Doctor tells me that they are starting. Suction ring applied to eye, room slowly goes black, or more accurately, the sort of dark red you see when you rub your eyes. I hear what basically sounds like a servo motor as the microkeratome cuts the flap and goes back. Doctor pulls back the flap and releases the suction partially, so that I can see, but the suction ring is still held on.
This is the really cool part. Just before the laser fires, I see what look like blurry LED lights at the business end of the laser. I hear a series of loud clicks and smell flesh burning. Much like a BBQ smell, or taking a lighter to a clipped fingernail or cuticle. (Don’t tell me you never tried it). As the clicks progress, I see the LEDs come into focus as my eye is reshaped. Really cool. Doctor irrigates the area with saline and checks everything, closes flap, more drops, sponges off a couple of spots, then tapes over the eye and repeats on the other eye. Checks my eyes with a scope when it is all finished and tells me that it all went perfectly. I go home with 2 large percoset and funny-looking glasses and eye shields to wear at night. By the time my friend drops me off at home 30 mins later, I need one of the percoset, the eyes are fairly sore. I take one and sleep for ~6 hours as directed. No pain whatsover after that.
Several follow-up visits, drops, etc. Halos for the first day or so, none whatsoever after a couple of weeks. My vision is 20/25 in each eye and 20/20 with both. I was at a -6.25 prescription before the LASIK. Cost was $2600 total.
Interesting. I have thought of it, as I have these thick annoying glasses on my face…
My problem is, my mental picture of myself is of someone with glasses. I’ve had them since 4th grade. I’m 32.
Have any of you had problems adjusting to that part?
I am only a few days in, but many others could chime in on this one. I like the way I look without glasses better. I have had two people that did not even know I just got rid of glasses compared me to David Arquette. This surprised me. I am not even sure I see it. By coincidence, he was on the TV in the Doctor’s office today.
My wife thinks I look a little weird and my co-workers are not use to it yet.
BTW: Is looking like David Arquette a good thing?
I had to have the Barber tell me who he is, I only know him as being in Scream and as Rosanna’s younger brother.
I have worn glasses for 24 years, since I was 16. It has been who I am for my entire adult life. I do not miss it at all.
Campion, thank you and I will make heavy use of the eye drops.
Jim
I was 39 when I had my Lasik, and I had worn glasses or contacts since I was 10. I love not having to wear them.
As far as drops go, the best ones post-surgery are preservative-free. Check the box.
I used FSA money as well, but I would have done it with “real” cash in a heartbeat. My brother’s was actually cheaper than mine, because our doc give a discount to active-duty military! Very nice guy, and a GREAT surgeon.
Depends on whether you look like David Arquette with a decent haircut or David Arquette who needs a shave and haircut. I like the first version better.
I started needing glasses when I was 10; got them when I was 12; worked for many years in labs, so they were part of my safety gear as well as something I needed in order to recognize guys walking a hundred yards away. Several times someone saw me with my glasses off and said “oh, wow, you have pretty eyes!” I always thanked them, but always wondered why were they so surprised. Apparently my eyes weren’t “sunk in” and those of many other glass-wearers are.
Now I only wear glasses when I’m in a lab or the sun is really bright. And nobody remarks on my eyes! pout
Is your eyesight still improving? Reading this thread, I imagined your eyesight getting better and better until, eventually, you had Superman-like powers of vision. Please tell me this is the case.
Well it was a female Barber (Hairstylist?) that first mentioned David Arquette, so at that point I had freshly cut and layered hair with a neatly trimmed beard. I shaved the beard off on Sunday, as New Jersey does not appear to be having winter this year. 
I did a little checking; he is 5 years younger, a few inches taller and at least 15 pounds lighter. The only pictures where I looked like him at all were the ones where he looked scruffy.
Alas, no, my vision seems to be stabilizing at 20/20. There is still a chance it improves to the 20/15 range or levels off at 20/25. No X-ray vision in my near future.
Jim
When I had mine done, my nearsightedness had been so bad that, to me, reading a book was “distance”.
For a while after the procedure I had a hard time focusing for reading and actually bought a couple pairs of reading glasses, but was able to give them up after a week or so.
Jim,
I had it done last Thursday, the monovision version. I used to wear trifocals, or reading glasses and contacts. Different reading glasses for my computer screen and reading books. Now I don’t need glasses or contacts. It’s amazing. Good luck.
Tim
Congrats, I agree it is amazing. I find one blink lets me adjust from TV viewing to laptop or book reading.
Could you go into any details on the monovision? I did not have to look into that one.
Jim
Jim,
I’m very jealous! If the lottery hit my number, that and a few cosmetic tucks here & there would be on my list. As it is, i’m wearing glasses today instead of contacts because i wore the contacts too long last night. (Note to self: round trips to Tyson’s Corners should be be done only with spare glasses in the car) My eyes may almost be as red as yours are today. Still, I have to ask: how’s the view?
(You really need to add a couple trips to scenic spots to your calendar now; I bet the leaves changing in the poconos next fall or the view from the Statue of Liberty, or any number of day-trip spots must be spetacular for you now. (PS- You might want to dust off the old camera & take some pics of the world as you see it now.)
Congratuations Again!
About monovision. I’ve been near-sighted since age nine. I wore contacts starting at age twenty; first the hard kind, then soft ones. Almost exactly at my fortieth birthday, I discovered I needed reading glasses when I wore my contacts. I stopped wearing contacts shortly after. Then I needed bifocals. By the time I was forty-five, I was wearing trifocals. When I went in for my Lasik exam, they suggested that I consider monovision instead of simply having my nearsightedness corrected. What they were suggesting was that they correct my right eye to 20/20, and the left to 20/70. This would mean that my left eye would do most of the work when I looked at things up close, and the right would do most of the work for things far away. The alternative was to fix my distance vision only, that is, correct both eyes to 20/20, which would have left me dependent on reading glasses for the rest of my life.
I was skeptical, so they gave me a prescription for contact lenses which would simulate this effect. I liked what the contacts did, so I had the operation done that way. The day after the surgery, my right eye tested 20/20, my left 20/70, and both eyes together were 20/20. Out in the real world, as opposed to on the eye test machine, I find that the clarity of really distant things is slightly worse than it was with my glasses, but everything from 100 feet right up to the tip of my nose is perfectly clear.
I can drive with no difficulty, even at night, and I have no eye strain or vision problems when I spend eight hours a day at my computer. I can read books for hours with no problems. I don’t need glasses for anything. I am very glad I had the operation.
Thank you for the explanation, I just had a co-worker ask about it and I will pass along the information.
Count Blucher, the view is great, I think I had a mild reaction to one of the prescription eye drops, caused some stomach problems, but it could be a coincidence. I might head to the Twin Lights this weekend. The view from up there is spectacular.
Jim