Where are all the LASIK peeps?

Congrats, James81! I had it done in 2001. Yeah, I was scared to death the day before the surgery. Even thought about cancelling it I was so scared. Fear of the unknown is always the worst.

Glad I didn't cancel! The only scary part was when the first eye was undergoing "the procedure" simply because I didn't know how it was going to feel, etc. The second eye was much easier because I knew. For me, the worst part was seeing the tiny slicer slice off my cornea? before the lazer did its thing. DISCLAIMER: you may not have that part done. I'm hearing of different techniques for LASIK that don't use that. Don't fear.

Just focus on what the doc tells you to do. It'll keep your mind busy (like I had to stare at a red light to steady my eye while the lazer did its thing. I never focused on anything harder in my life!). The procedures seemed to be over in minutes. The staff offered me a Valium before the procedure, but I'd had one tablet once in my life and swore I'd never do it again. I'll face the fear with a clear head.

I had a gel-like substance in my eyes (antibiotics, I think), so I had a bit of blurriness in my eyes. Perhaps because I didn't have a Valium, I was exhausted afterwards. My husband took me home and just put me to bed. ETA: That evening though, I felt much better. A slight blurriness that evening, but by the next day my vision was clear as a bell! Take it easy on yourself, follow the doc's orders, and you should be just fine.

Let me tell ya, you'll spend HOURS finding some speck to seek out and stare at, then amaze yourself how well you can see it! Also ETA: Oh yeah, be very careful the first several weeks. Once you get rid of your glasses, you'll be amazed how many times you smack yourself in the eyes! LOL

Fear is normal, James. Just take deep breathes. Best wishes! Let us know how it went!

James81 - I had this done nine years ago.
It is good.
I went from 20/800 to 20/20. Today I wear reading glasses but I can still read without them in a pinch. They're 20/20 together but my right eye is weaker than the left. It is nearsighted while the left one has astigmatism.
Dunno if this is still the case, but it (used to) take a while for vision to settle down. I went through some cheap drugstore readers of assorted strengths.
I had to put some medicinal drops in my eyes for a few weeks afterward and continued to use over the counter drops until a little while ago. I was a notorious eye-rubber. Had to give up that vice.
Night flares, etc.- they happened. Still have them a bit, but they calmed down too.

Meanwhile, the lasers are noisy as hell outside the room. I don't recall hearing them once I was in surgery. I was given a muscle relaxer. I did not care what was done to me.
The surgery takes less than five minutes. The rest of the time is prep and calculations. Cut made, drops poured into eyes, looks like you are at the bottom of a pool looking up.
Smell of burnt flesh.
Speculum or similar device used to hold eye open.
Keep your eyes closed until the next day. I snuck the occasional peek. It was like I was looking through a thick, smudgy plastic curtain. That clears up right away.
I am glad I had this done. My chief eye problem now is age, nothing else.
I have the video of my surgery. Showed it to someone contemplating same. She hasn't had it yet.
This may be more info than you were banking on, but if the question is asked I think the answer should be thorough.
Best of luck with procedure. Let us know how it turns out.

I had it done in '99. Before LASIK my contact/glasses prescription was -11.0. After LASIK, I had 20/20 vision in one eye and 20/15 in the other. Ten years later my vision is still perfect.

The actual procedure was nerve-wracking for me, but it only lasted maybe 5 minutes. The valium they gave me beforehand helped.

Good luck. It will be worth it.

Yeah, James, Suirattigas reminded me of a lot of things I'd forgotten. I had the drops for a few weeks, and have a bit of dry-eye (often normal) afterwards. But I rarely have problems with it.

The speculum to keep my eye open was not comfortable, but once they numbed my eye and actually got to work I forgot about it.

I laughed at Suirattigas' comment about "snuck the occasional peek"! Oh yeah, I did that. (How can you NOT?!)

They gave me a video of the surgery too, and I actually got up the nerve to watch it once. (I can handle watching surgical procedures of any kind except that which involves the eye--creeps me out).

Good luck again!

I'm seriously looking into this for myself. My current prescription is at -7.50 and I've worn corrective lenses since I was 6. My eye doc has given me lots of good information and leads to find the right doctor for the procedure itself. Now the only issue is cost. How did you go about saving up for it?

My dad's a retired ophthalmologist. Before lasers were invented, he used to do this vision correction surgery with a diamond-tipped scalpel (known as radial keratotomy). After lasers were invented, but before they were widely available, my dad used to do this surgery in a travelling truck parked in the clinic parking lot.

In all the thousands of surgeries he's done, in all the decades, there have been very few complications. (Blindness is NOT a risk, by the way.) I don't even wear glasses, but find myself recommending that people who consider the surgery should go and find out if they're a candidate. Those who are, and can afford it, have very little to lose and a lot to gain.

Good luck!

I did it. It wasn't that bad. I had it done just a few months after my daughter was born, so maybe I was used to being poked and prodded. Plus, I'd always had problems with contacts, so the thought of something in my eye wasn't so nuts. The only intimidating part for me was laying under a big, noisy machine pointed at my head.

My husband did it and he had to take something for his nerves. It kind of freaked him out, but he doesn't regret it in the slightest.

You'll be okay!

Best of luck with it James! I'm a squeamish wimp myself and am not sure I'd be a candidate as I have both nearsighted and farsighted vision now. But my brother-in-law just had it done, and has been very happy with the results.

Bubastes said:

I'm seriously looking into this for myself. My current prescription is at -7.50 and I've worn corrective lenses since I was 6.

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Me too, me too!

I'd love to have it done but I had some vision problems six months or so which have settled down now, and wouldn't be affected by the LAKIK, but it made me realise how difficult things are with a serious vision problem.

Nevertheless, I am SO tempted.

Best of luck with the surgery, James.

Had it done two years ago. Aside from the strange voices in my head now, it's been a great experience. That's the price we pay for this alien technology...

I'm so wanting to do this. Really. When I've got moola to spare, I'll be under that laser.

I'm a good candidate for this procedure since I'm near-sighted.

But I'm afraid of something going wrong and ending up blind.

I had mine done almost two years ago, and am very happy with the results. The dr's assistant kept adding saline drops to my eyes, so all I saw during the whole procedure was a pretty, colorful blur. (Or maybe that was because of the valium.)

I had it done almost two weeks ago so I'm still in the healing stages. I was a complete nutjob with anxiety so they gave me an extra valium. I should have popped for a third - just sayin'.

The surgery itself went quickly (no pain at all and the eyeball spreader wasn't as bad as I had imagined for years), the staff/doctor was excellent (he did Tiger Woods eyes) and while one eye was 20/15 the next day, the other took a bit longer and I experienced fuzziness for about a week. I'm navigating through the dry eyes now but definitely can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My vision isn't perfect (yet) but it's improving everyday. They did both eyes for distance and my near vision is horrible but that is also getting better - soon I'll be able to read again.

Good luck!

Congrats, James! I'm tickled it's over for you and it looks to be a success. Just follow the doc's orders and be good to yourself for the next week. It'll only get better.

Wow, great!!!

I'd suggest it for my husband, but he looks so cute in glasses.

I know, I'm bad.

James81, glad it went well and you're happy. I wore the eye shield every night for amost three months simply because I was terrified I'd forget and rub my eyes. Vision takes a while to sort itself out. Have fun with it.

Congratulations - glad it is working out for you!

Do get your driver's license updated. If you get pulled over and your driver's license says that you must wear corrective lenses, you could be cited for not having them.

I had LASEK (Not LASIK, but laser surgery where they pull back the epithelial layer, do the correction, then place the epithelial layer back over the cornea) 3 years ago. I do still have problems with dry eyes; they were dry before the surgery, but moreso now. Otherwise, I'm completely happy and loving not having to deal with contacts or glasses. 20/20 in one eye, 20/15 in the other - though they do fluctuate a bit with the dryness.