I didn’t want to over hijack What Exit?'s thread, so I’m starting my own.
I’ve put the process into motion. Next Wed (the 21st), I’m going in to determine if I am a good candidate for LASIK. I am getting pretty nervous about the whole thing, but after reading all the success stories in the previous thread I’m feeling a little more confident.
To everyone that’s already had it done, can you tell me where you did it? I’m going to Optivision in Appleton. Anyone been there? Heard anything about it?
This is something that I am NOT going to try and get a bargain on. I don’t mind spending the extra money when it comes to my eyes. The way I look at it, I’ve been putting money into glasses/contacts/solution/eye exams for 22 yrs. This will easily pay for itself in a few years.
Very cool and good luck. My current vision is 20/20 right eye and 20/15 left. My reading vision has had some loss and this is to be expected. I had better than normal vision for reading and I was extremely nearsighted. I now have slightly better than norm for distance and pretty good for a 40 year old for reading. (I have no need for glasses or extending my arms out yet.)
Do you have any friends or family that are Doctors or Nurses. My sister is a senior RN in a large practice and I asked her where the Doctors and Nurses were going. I combined this with an internet search looking for top Doctors in the State and which doctors sports figures were using. This led me to use the Doctor my sister recommended.
Just updating my situation. I went in for a pre-exam last week. Everything looked good. My corneas are thick enough and my eyes don’t dialate too far to affect my night vision.
I go in on Apr 3rd for another appt where they will map my eye and get prepare my treatment. Then, on Apr 6th, I’m gettin zapped.
I’m pretty excited and only a little nervous.
I probably won’t have much to add to this thread for about a month unless there’s any questions…
I’m freakin out a bit. I’m about 90% excited and 10% terrified.
I got my appt pushed up a week since I didn’t want to be recovering over Easter weekend. So, in about 7 hrs I’m going under the laser. I got my final pre exam on Monday and everything still looks good. They dialated the crap out of my eyes - it lasted for over 24 hrs. They checked my cornea thickness again and my pupil size.
I’ve been on antibiotic drops since yesterday morning as a preventative measure. I also found out that I can bring in a VHS tape and get the whole thing recorded - so that will be cool. It’s kind of comforting that they are confident enough in their work that they not mind the evidence.
I guess I’m freaking out because I’ve heard a few horror stories about things going wrong. But, those seem to be due to getting the surgery and not being a good canidate or due to poor post-op care.
I guess I just want to hear some reassurance that I’m doing the right thing and that everything will be alright.
Take it easy, there is almost never a problem at this point.
They will probably give you valium before the procedure. The valium hit me so quick, that I fell asleep before the procedure. They woke me up and the entire surgery was painless, quick and no problems. I was typing on the SDMB briefly the next day.
My eyes are doing great. My vision is 20/20 overall and I did lose reading vision. Hopefully they explained this to you already. I find I need more light to read and I do not focus as well. I still have no need for reading glasses and I am 40 already.
Yeah, they’ve been very informative. The reading glasses thing is caused by presbyopia (no idea if that’s spelled correctly) which is in no way related to my cornea. I’m 28, so I shouldn’t have to worry about it for 10-20 yrs anyway.
I’m glad to hear your surgery went well. I’ve read your and Sam Stone’s threads and that does give me a bit more confidence.
I have a follow up appt tomorrow morning and my doctor told me I could drive to that, so he seems pretty confident.
I was told that I could watch TV use a computer or read at all tomorrow, so I won’t post my results until Sat or Sun.
And I’m jealous of you - I’ve been doing the glasses or contacts thing since I was eight, and am in love with the idea of not needing to deal with the whole hassle. As soon as I A) can save up enough money and B) find a doctor who’s not a jerk and will discuss it with me…
That is great news, congratulations! I work for one of the big Lasik companies, and it always fun to see people who have had the surgery’s amazement once they get up from the table. Good luck!
Or, maybe I’ll post Fri morning. I went in yesterday at 3:40. They gave me some drugs and another quick check of my eyes. Once the drugs kicked in, I was led into the ‘Laser Suite’ and sat down in a chair. They gave me a teddy bear to hold on to for comfort ( I don’t know why I’m admitting that), and put some numbing drops in my eyes.
I was then rotated under the laser. The doctor started to clamp my right eye open when the nurse said that there was a problem and that they had to reboot the laser. That made me more than a little uncomfortable. They assured me that this was normal and was nothing to worry about.
Finally the laser was ready and I was rotated under it again. They taped my eyelashes to my forhead and put a medevial looking clamp on my eyes. Then the first step was to use a laser to cut the flap in my eye. That went without a hitch and they pulled the flap back and everthing went blurry for me. Then it was on to the cornea shaping. I heard a series of zaps and saw whisps of blue. There definetly was a smell, but it was more like what you smell as the dentist is grinding your teeth than like burning flesh or hair. The flap went back on and a patch went over that eye. Pretty much the same thing for the other eye.
I could see as soon as I sat up, but everything was a bit hazy. I went home laid down in bed. My eyes really hurt - more than minor discomfort. They were watering like mad and I’d have to open my eyes and blink every 10-20 mins for the first hour or so to let all the tears out of my eyes. Finally they stopped watering so much and I slept for about three hours.
When I woke up, my eyes felt much better. More like wearing dirty contacts than actual pain. I could see pretty well, but there was a bit of double vision and haziness. I got a bite to eat, put in my drops, and went back to bed.
When I woke up this morning, things were still a bit hazy. I put in some lubricating drops and suddenly everything came into sharp focus. I just wandered around and looked at stuff for awhile. I was seeing better than I ever had with glasses or contacts.
I just got back from my follow up appt and the Doc says that I’m seeing 20-20 out of both eyes. I asked why things seem so much better and he explained to me that I had an astigmatism that wasn’t corrected by my glasses or contacts. The laser had taken care of that. That’s the good news. The great news is that there is still a bit of swelling and my doctor expects that I will see even more improvement over the next couple of weeks.