LASIK Surgery - anyone had it?

[ajkerkhoff]

Okay . . . I'm beginning to consider LASIK surgery, and there are a few questions that I have. I have a consultation scheduled with an eye doctor next week, but I'm curious if any of you have experiences to share.

Does anyone who has had this surgery have dry eyes (or know someone else who does)? Do you know if you're planning on becoming pregnant someday if there are implications with this surgery? I know, these are definitely questions I'll ask the dr. when I meet with her; I just have all these questions running around in my brain.

I would LOVE to be a candidate for this type of thing . . . I hate working out in my glasses, and have never been able to stand contacts for more than a few hours at a time.

TIA!
Amy

[caregiver50]

My husband had the surgery about 18 months ago and has been very happy with the results. His astigmatism was very bad and his results were slower than most. We have friends who had it done in the morning and were at work after lunch. He did experience dry eyes and still uses liquid tears often, but he would certainly do it again. Hope this helps.

[JanetB]

I haven't had the surgery - I am not a candidate - my pupils are too large - and my eyes are quite light - and already extremely light sensitive - so they do not encourage it. I could have major "halo" effect in bright light -so I will wait.

My DF had the surgery with great success last year. It didn't take long - and he said that it was much more weird than painful. They offer you valium prior to the surgery to relax you. I think I was more stressed than he - as I was outside of the room listening. He took the surgery so well that he is now 20/15. The only long term side effect is that he has to "water' his left eye two times a day. But, he loves it!

I will suggest that you actually research your doctor. My DF's doctor was pricey - but he is often called upon to fix the errors of others. He also is quite honest. I was evaluated by him - and he told me that he wouldn't do lasik on me until the equiptment improved. He said the risks outweigh the benefits. Meanwhile - I have had other doctors tell me I am an excellent candidate.

I wish you luck!

[wallycat]

a friend of mine just came over who had it done and just loves it. She went to a guy that uses the newest laser machine s3K or some such laser that can pace the eye a lot faster.
She had the temporary plugs put into her tear ducts initially till the eyes healed...she went to a guy that was conservative.
Her correction was a -7.5 with bad astigmatism and he told her right off the bat that it would require 2 surgeries as he didn't want to be too aggressive initially so healing would be better (he only charged one fee so it didn't matter, she could have re-do's for up to 2 years).
she loves it and would do it in a heart beat
I'm also on the verge of contemplation....even if I had to wear glasses if they weren't so thick and heavy, I'd be content.

Good luck. Keep us posted on what happens

[BeckyM]

Yes, I had LASIK surgery, and I LOVE IT!!!!

My surgery was over a year ago, at the beginning of November. My vision was not too terrible to start with, but I always had to wear contacts or glasses, and I was always getting things in my eyes and having to pop out my lenses to clean them. I researched several doctors and went with one who had performed MANY LASIK surgeries and who also had a background with other types of eye surgeries. He certainly wasn't the cheapest doctor around, but he was the one with whom I felt the most comfortable and who talked with me most clearly about the potential benefits and risks.

My surgery went very smoothly, and I'd agree with whoever said it mostly felt weird. It didn't hurt at all, and they did give me some sort of narcotic to relax me. (They wouldn't let me sign the credit card receipt after that though -- DH had to do it -- because they knew I was under the influence of narcotics.) After the surgery was over (and it was QUICK!), my eyes stung a bit, but they told me to just keep them closed and go home to sleep. I slept for several hours and then woke up and baked banana bread! My vision was already great!

For the first several months, I did have to use eye drops. I had prescription ones for a while that I was supposed to use, and then I had over-the-counter preservative-free ones that I used when necessary. At one of my follow-up check-ups I told the doctor my eyes were getting tired by the end of the day (after staring at a computer screen), and he suggested I use more eye drops during the day. I followed his advice, and it got much better. I'm not exactly sure when I stopped really needing the eye drops, but now I hardly ever use them -- maybe once every couple months!

I did ask my doctor about pregnancy when I first consulted about the surgery, and he told me a person should not be pregnant and should not plan to get pregnant for at least several months after the surgery (I now can't remember the exact length of time he said.) He said it was because pregnancy causes all sorts of changes in the body, and the eyes may not heal correctly if someone who just had the surgery gets pregnant. But at my six-month post-surgery check-up, the doctor told me my eyes were healed just fine, and there would be no problem with me getting pregnant.

I ended up with 20/20 vision, and I am SO HAPPY! I would certainly recommend this surgery to others -- at least to look into it and find out what your prospects are. It was expensive, but I found it to be well worth it! It is so nice to go swimming and not have to worry about taking out my contacts, snow ski without something getting in my contacts causing my eyes to water and not be able to see where I'm going, etc. Having LASIK surgery was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Good luck with your decision!

Becky

[ajkerkhoff]

Becky,
It's enthusiastic reports just like your that make me want to do this!!! However, I've always had sensitive eyes and don't know if that will be an issue. I saw something on one of the LASIK information web sites that said people with naturally dry eyes might be more likely to have problems with that kind of thing. I think it's dry eyes that have kept me from wearing contacts all these years (I shudder to think how much $ I've spent on unworn contact lenses. Ugh) And, I'd much rather keep wearing glasses than have my eyes be uncomfortable for the rest of my life, you know?

But the idea of 20/20 without corrective lenses sounds soooo good! Thanks for all your information - I'll let you know what I learn from the doctor next week!

Amy

[karen w]

I had Lasik in September, and I have been very pleased. I agree with all the comments above. I too had dry eyes and used drops, but I only needed them for about 2 months. I have not used any in a long time. My vision is now 20/20 and YES I was a nervous Nelly at the time(I almost backed out at the last minute!), but now I would have to say I'd do it again. I love not wearing glasses. Now my only problem is that I have to have my prescription taken out of my scuba diving mask! Or buy another one!!

Good luck in your decision!
Karen W.

[wallycat]

ajkerkhoff,
the friend that had hers done (that I posted earlier) had VERY dry eyes; One of the reasons that she never wore contacts. After the initial few months, she's not had a problem with dry eye.
It's hard to extrapolate what will happen, which is why i've held off for so long, but she would do it again in a heart-beat.

[d_ferrero]

I had LASIK surgery done in January, and I'd do it again in a heart-beat. I started out with drier-than-normal eyes (as a consequence of wearing contact lens) and I'm still putting drops in several times a day... but it is SO worth it to be able to get up in the middle of the night for the bathroom/a glass of water/whatever and not have to fumble for several minutes looking for glasses.

I started out practically blind; -13 in one eye and -11 in the other, so I may a follow-up surgery in a few months. They typically "under-correct" for those of us with the coke-bottle glasses and then fine-tune later, as necessary. I'm not seeing 20-20 yet, but just to be able to function without glasses (I currently use them only to drive and for LONG stints at the computer, when eye fatigue is likely to result) is amazing to me.

My surgeon and eye doctor both warned me that with my perscription, it might take 6-8 weeks for my eyes to "stabilize," and so far they've been dead-on right. At my two week followup appointment, I was 20-50 in one eye, 20-40 in the other, -1 in both eyes. As of Friday (my one month follow up) I'm no longer myopic (near-sighted), only slightly astigmatic, and 20-25 in one eye, 20-30 in the other. The temporary glasses they made for me two weeks ago are already out of date (although I can still use them to drive). So we wait another month; I may not even NEED the touch-up surgery after all.

I concur with those who recommend researching your surgeon ahead of time... find someone who's skills you're comfortable with. My surgeon was NOT cheap, but he's the one teaching OTHERS to do this surgery, and correcting the mistakes of the "$500 per eye" guys. He has the bedside manner of a cold damp sponge, but I wasn't looking for touchy-feelie... I wanted someone with skill. Do your homework; you'll be happier in the end.

[Alaskan]

I had it several years ago - only one eye needed correction. That turned out to be a lucky thing because I had "healing problems" that left that eye pretty much useless for over a month, patched at times, and required daily, then semi-weekly eye appts. But even with all of that, I am thrilled with the results. I can see fine without glasses, and it was worth any temporary inconvenience. I still have some problems with the eye and use more eye drops than most people, but it is a million times better than glasses.

My advice on the surgery itself - take the valium! But I'm a real wimp. Other friends who've had it said they didn't need anything.

Good luck.

[Gail]

I had LASIK about three-and-a-half years ago, starting with extreme myopia (I still don't know how bad my vision was, but my glasses were very, very thick and still sadly outdated.) I was another one of those dry-eye people-- not that I was ever aware of any such problem pre-LASIK, but it became an issue afterward. Unlike many, I did not have the wonderful post-surgical revelation of being able to see well. Things were blurred for a couple of weeks and my vision kept changing. Also, because I have astigmatisms in both eyes, it was necessary to go back for additional correction. Normally, they do this somewhere in the neighborhood of three months post-surgically. My vision didn't stabililize enough to do it till around nine months later.

Also, because I've apparently got very thin corneas, the doctor didn't feel it prudent to do an additional procedure on my right eye, thus I am left with a unilateral astigmatism. It isn't bad, but it was disappointing.

The up side is that I am able to function without corrective lenses. True, I actually saw better with hard contacts, but the freedom of not having to be dependent on lenses is well worth it. I was left with a dry issue-- not terrible like some you hear about on TV-- but I do find I need to use drops now, whereas I didn't have to before. Also, I didn't come out of this with perfect vision-- it's somewhere around 20/30 and not as sharp in dim or artificial light as it was with corrective lenses.

...but all negatives aside, I still consider the LASIK a good move. It's wonderful not to have to worry in the wind, or to be able to swim and see where I'm going, or to be able to follow my kid into the ocean and not concern myself about the waves knocking a lens out (NO WAY could I have even SEEN the ocean without the lenses in before.) And not fumbling my way around the house in the dark in the middle of the night is a godsend!

Psst! Did you try to run a search on this subject? I know the subject has been mentioned on the "Other Stuff" board as well as this one...

Good luck!

[ajkerkhoff]

My consultation with the doctor is this Friday afternoon . . . and from all of your replies, I'm pretty encouraged. It would be so nice . . .

Part of me would like to talk with people who aren't as satisfied, too, just so that I can get the whole picture. I might look into that after I see if I'm even a viable candidate. My mom just mentioned that she thought my pupils might be too large (I never knew I had large pupils!), so we'll see.

Gail, what did you do for those 9 months before they could do the second surgery? I think I recall that you don't work outside the home, but were you able to drive or be on the computer? Did you have to have new lenses put in your glasses on a frequent basis? And thanks for the tip . . . I will do a search.

Amy

[d_ferrero]

Originally posted by ajkerkhoff

Gail, what did you do for those 9 months before they could do the second surgery? I think I recall that you don't work outside the home, but were you able to drive or be on the computer? Did you have to have new lenses put in your glasses on a frequent basis? And thanks for the tip . . . I will do a search.

Amy

I don't know what Gail did, but I suspect I'm in the same boat she is. I had my surgery a month ago and my eyes are still in the constantly changing stage. My eye doctor took my old frames and had a pair of "temporary" glasses made... I use those to drive and when eye fatigue gets REALLY bad at the computer. Other than that, I'm correction-free. Things are blurry, but not unbearably so.

During my last follow-up, my eye doctor determined that the glasses we made two weeks ago are no longer accurate to my perscription, but they're still good enough to get me by. She suspects we won't have to change them again, and that I won't need them after the follow-up surgery.

Hope that helps.

[Gail]

Amy,

In answer to your question, yes, I was able to drive and read. My vision was good enough to function in day-to-day life, just not what I'd call optimal. And it would be slightly different from day to day, particularly after using eye drops. (I went through TONS of eyedrops the first 4 to 6 months.) Because it was hard for me to read traffic signs at night (and I live in a suburb of LA where we'd drive to the bathroom if we could work it) it was imperative for me to get eyeglasses for driving. We waited till my vision had more or less stabilized, so I only had to get the one prescription. And because I'm in the Old Goat age group when arms start getting too short, it was suggested I get a pair of reading glasses (they're very mild) as well. One of the doctors actually tried to talk me out of having the second LASIK to correct my astigmatism, because the astigmatism was actually making my close-up vision better (this is MY particular case, you understand, not what happens with every patient). But, I opted to try to correct the astigmatism, because I was seeing double in certain lighting situations and it was driving me nuts.

Now, all these months later, my vision is probably stabilized, and frankly I don't see as well as I did when I wore hard contacts. My vision is great in bright sun, but I sometimes have trouble reading in artificial lighting situations, such as trying to read the spines of books in the library, or the names of tapes in video stores. And this may be more a result of presbyopia (Old Goat Vision, than the results of the LASIK.) Even so, I don't regret having the procedure done for a moment. After thirty years of contact lenses, it is WONDERFUL having virtually normal vision. And if your vision were as horrid as mine was pre-surgery, virtually normal is good enough.

[lisas3575]

It's been about 9 months since I had my LASIK, and I still am not completely sure how I feel about it.

I'd originally booked my surgery with a Vancouver BC company that advertised in our local paper. About a month before my surgery date, I found out through the grapevine that they had gone bankrupt and closed the doors!! :mad: No letter or phone call from them to even let me know. Talk about mad.

Another company stepped in and bought their patient base. Their price was $500 higher, but they had an office within a 3 hour drive so we saved the airfare (well, we'd already purchased it, but just cancelled the tickets and got a credit). Drove up to Portland for the initial examination and I felt like a cow. Herded from this room to the next, different people, different tests, hurry, hurry, hurry. No time for questions, time to move on. Moo. Scheduled my surgery, which they consequently postponed for almost a month.

Went back up for the surgery, only to find out that the clinic had been sold that day to another firm. I'm now on my third clinic in month. I'm assured that my deposit still stands, and that the guarantee is valid. They take me back and give me the final exam-- where the Dr. is feeding me the right answers. "A is better than B, right?" "This is better."

They give me my Valium, which I've never had before. I had a horrible reaction to it-- it kicked in in the middle of my surgery and I started shaking uncontrollably and feeling horribly overwhelmed like I wanted to bolt right out of the chair and run to the next county. I had been perfectly calm up until that point, and the Valium had the exact opposite effect than it was supposed to. Tears are leaking out of my eyes as I'm trying not to sob. "Hold real still now..."

Ugh. They let me get my act together in someone's office for a while, then DH took me to our hotel to sleep. Vision was better by the next morning's followup.

About a month after surgery, I got a letter from them saying that they were closing that location, and if I needed any follow-up care I'd need to go to Clinic XYZ in the next town over. About a month after that, I got another letter from the surgeon saying he was leaving that franchise which made my "lifetime guarantee" null and void. :mad:

My vision is good, not perfect, but I'm happy with the results. If I had to do it over again, I'm not sure that I would-- the experience was dreadful for me, and I'm not sure it was worth the expense. I don't have any hobbies that glasses or contacts really impeded, but it is nice not to have to deal with the mess and inconvenience. And to be embarassingly honest, I'd just gotten a really cute pair of glasses last year and I kind of miss the way I look in them!!!

My advice for anyone considering it is to 1) try to go to a seminar where you can view the surgery being done. I did this in the beginning and it was a huge help to know exactly what to expect, like the fact that your eyeball smokes and there's a smell that goes with that. The seminar I went to was at a clinic that had a closed-curcuit TV that was right on the equipment, so we could all watch the surgery from beginning to end (live) and then the pateint came out and discribed his experience. It was by far the most helpful research I did. 2) Don't go to a "chain" place, even if it is cheap. I for sure learned that you get what you pay for.

[ajkerkhoff]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to answer my questions about LASIK - as it turns out, I'm probably not a very good candidate. I do have large pupils (more problems with night vision is a common after effect) and my corneas are moderately thin.

All of your responses allowed me to ask much more informed questions - the doctor didn't seem to have much time for me, so I was glad I had already done some research. She also indicated that waiting a few years might bring the necessary advancements to the surgery that would make me a more likely candidate . . . so I'll definitely keep it in the back of my head.

Amy