I had it done last week, and I’m having a ‘down’ day. I was quite nearsighted and astigmatic before, and I can see at a distance without glasses now, but I’m paying the price of having lost all my near vision (I was wearing trifocals before and could see pretty well very close up by removing my glasses). The haziness I still have also is making it tough to see, and I guess I’m just mad at myself right now for having it done.
I don’t have a problem with wearing reading glasses; that was explained to me beforehand and I was expecting it. I guess I just expected that I would still be able to remove them and see up close as well as I did before.
I’m afraid I’ve made a big mistake by having the surgery. I know it’s very early and my eye doctor says my vision is normal at this stage, and I’m trying to be optimistic and think that in 6 months I’ll be very glad I did this. I just had a tough day at work trying to see things and I’m discouraged.
The way it was explained to us was that the doctor was putting our eyeglass prescription into our eyeballs. I knew that I had to take my glasses off to see up close, and therefore if my glasses were actually in my eyes now, there wouldn’t be any glasses to take off and therefore I wouldn’t be able to see. I think his explanation helped us to better understand what we were getting ourselves into.
It took about four months for my vision to sort itself out properly. I think my brain was still accommodating itself to the change all that time. It may be that seeing up close will not be a problem by that time.
When I had my Lasik done, I was astounded by how well I could see distant objects. After 27 some years wearing glasses, to be able to clearly see leaves in neighbors’ yards without any glasses was unbelievable.
But when I went to work that week, I was annoyed by the changing focus of close-up and arm’s length distances like my computer monitor. It wasn’t just that it was out of focus, but also that the focus was changing. Fortunately, it would get better by the afternoon. And over a period of months, the changing focus disappeared altogether. There was some initial disappointment, and concern over just how long I’d be grappling with the phenomenon. But my doctor’s explanation and prediction all panned out.
Maybe you had your expectations too high, and your doctor didn’t clarify (no pun intended) just what to expect. But I think in a couple months you’ll appreciate not needing glasses for seeing distances. Especially if you’re active. Not having to deal with steam and/or sweat on your glasses from doing physical activities (be they work or working out) is huge for me. There’s also the non-prescription sunglass aspect (I immediately had to go out and buy non-prescription sunglasses as it hadn’t occurred to me that I didn’t own any !). Not just being able to buy any off the street, but more importantly, not having to “swap” indoor glasses with sunglasses anymore.
On the flipside, wait until you’re caught in the rain. It may seem like a minor thing, but not having to deal with rain on glasses is pretty nice.
Whether you made the right call or not, time will tell. But give it some more time. For me, the benefits were immediately obvious, and I’ve had no regrets whatsoever (and I do have halos to contend with). I’m sorry you’re having doubts, but I think you will begin to appreciate it. For me, it is a lot of little things - being able to read the clock on the nightstand, being able to clearly see the opposite side of the shower, easily finding my locker after a shower at the gym.
Thanks, all of you. I thought I had realistic expectations but obviously I didn’t really understand what to expect. I’m sure I’ll get used to this. For now, I find it really distracting to have my focus changing so often, and that makes me feel like my head’s not in my work and I hate it when I’m not on my best game.
It will get better. It truly will. Maybe not perfect, but you won’t be stuck the way you are now forever. And you’ll get used to your new vision until it seems completely normal, and you don’t even notice it any more. Give it at least a year to settle down.
you have to give your brain time to wrap around it.
for most of your seeing life you moved things close to you to see them. it will take quite some time to undo it. it is very different when the prescription is on your eyeballs, either by surgery or by contacts, than when the prescription is millimeters from your eyes.
you would be going through the same thing with contacts, except you would be able to take them out and go back to glasses. it seems you are dealing with 2 things. a prescription on your eyes and the fact that there isn’t an undo button.
i think this is why many very nearsighted people don’t deal with bifocals. it is just easier to look at something very close up without glasses.
I actually had contacts for many years and I loved them. But at that time, I wasn’t even close to needing bifocals (and then trifocals). That is what has made the difference for me in deciding to have the surgery in the first place - having all those different prescriptions in one pair of glasses. I just have to get used to being exactly the opposite of the way I was before, I guess. I’m sure it takes time.
And I knew from the beginning there was no undo button. I read posts by and talked to lots of people who had the surgery done. I really thought I was prepared mentally; I guess I wasn’t, but I will have to learn to be, won’t I?
(And by the way I think the doctor is great. This has nothing to do with the practice and everything to do with how I’m accustomed to going about my days.)
It’s now 8 months since I had mine done. I was the worst case my doctor had done–astigmatism, presbyopia, -12 myopia. It took a good 4-6 months for everything to stabilize. Now, I’m great! The only complaint I can have is that my eyes seem to “tire” if I spend too much time on the computer or reading (several hours). I initially was using the eye drops (refresh is my favorite–after trying them all) at least every half hour all day long. I now only use them maybe 3-4 times a day!! So hang in there. I wore either glasses or contacts for FORTY years. To me, it truly is a miracle. I know how you feel. I took to calling my ophthamologist (a friend, btw), Sweeney -----, the butcher ophthamologist of ------ street. Be patient–and healing thoughts your way!
Thank you so much! Another lonnngggg day and I get a bit nervous when I’ve been reading/doing computer stuff too long at work and things are off focus as I’m driving home, so I really needed to hear that today, Hellpaso!
I had some early side effects- halos at night, etc- they all resolved. Also, my surgeon assured me that he could “fine tune” with additional surgery after some time had passed.