Lasik

[gtl]

Now you've got me thinking about LASIK again. Too risk averse though.

nerd!!!



Haha. I just hate wearing glasses and I ONLY wear them at work or to drive at night. My eyes aren't terrible, but I definitely need them in front of a computer, and sometimes I wish I was wearing them when I'm not. But I hate wearing them. And I hate when people from work see me without them and tell me I look different. Fuck you, you look different!

But, think about it.. how much a year do you spend on eye exams, glasses, and/or contacts? Over 10 years? Will it pay for itself over time?

Everyone I talk to says its the best decision they've ever made.

[manveer]

I'll do it if you do it

Heh. Been over 5 years since I really thought hard about it.

But, think about it.. how much a year do you spend on eye exams, glasses, and/or contacts? Over 10 years? Will it pay for itself over time?

Everyone I talk to says its the best decision they've ever made.

I'm not bothered by the cost. If it works with no side effects, totally worth it.

I've talked to people who had to go back and get corrections. Halos at night, shit like that. I dunno. I'll have to look at it again now and see what the probability is that something goes wrong.

Also, my Rx changed the year after I was strongly consdering it. What if I had done LASIK then and my vision got worse the year after? 😕

[MattBraunstein]

Holy shit, dude, that's a serious prescription.

Good to know. I ask because the military denied my request for corrective surgery. My eyes were beyond max diopter error I guess.
And that sorta spooked me from getting it done.

Definitely want to get it done. We're (well formerly you) are basically totally useless with uncorrected vision.

That's my wife, almost exactly. She might be a little worse. She can't even make out colors without her contacts! It's dangerous. It scares the shit out of me. . . . I'm hoping that she can get her eyes corrected this fall.

Another consideration is the thickness of your cornea. The greater the correction, the more they need to remove. I've heard of multiple people who could not have it done, because their corneas were not thick enough for the needed correction.

[BBB]

The reason you should be taking lenses out is no matter how permeable they are, those pores clog up and starve your corneas of oxygen (corneal hypoxia). In turn new blood vessels are grown which can cause corneal neovascularization (in more extreme cases) among other problems. Hopefully people get yearly exams and it wouldn't get to any advanced stage.

Anyway, point is, don't wear contacts beyond recommended intervals. I'm not a doctor/expect, ask your doctor, yada yada... I'm just so glad I don't have to deal with any of that crap anymore.

[marcf]

I'll do it if you do it

You guys should do it side by side like a couple's massage.

[John Hanley]

You guys should do it side by side like a couple's massage.

I feel like this wants to be a musical.

It could be really good.

[Erok]

The reason you should be taking lenses out is no matter how permeable they are, those pores clog up and starve your corneas of oxygen (corneal hypoxia). In turn new blood vessels are grown which can cause corneal neovascularization (in more extreme cases) among other problems. Hopefully people get yearly exams and it wouldn't get to any advanced stage.

Anyway, point is, don't wear contacts beyond recommended intervals. I'm not a doctor/expect, ask your doctor, yada yada... I'm just so glad I don't have to deal with any of that crap anymore.

It is known. Contacts, as great as they were, sucked.

[gtl]

Today is the day!

[gtl]

Figured I would post an update to this thread...

So, my appointment was at 2:30pm on Friday. They gave me (2) 5mg Valium to relax me -- which probably wasn't enough, and putting some numbing eye drops in.

The actual procedure itself took about 10 mins. It wasn't painful, just very uncomfortable. Lots of pressure on and around my eye as they take a digital mapping for a few seconds before making the cuts. Someone in the room is counting down from 10 for you to let you know how much longer it'll last for each eye.

I ended up going with the WaveLight LASIK. The procedure itself was $3700 after a 15% discount from my insurance as a partnership. They sneak in some artificial tears into the cost at $60, and a bullshit supplement called HydroEye for $65, which is basically a few vitamins, fish oil, and GLA. I was a little pissed I paid $65 for the supplement, which I won't end up taking as I already take a multi and fish oil that has all of these (and at higher doses anyways). Then, there are 2 other prescription eye drops which are a steroid and an antibiotics, which were about $70 with some rx coupons.

I couldn't see very well as we were leaving and wore sunglasses home. I was told that the best thing to do is sleep for the next 2-4 hours, and you'll wake up and start to see better. This was bullshit. I couldn't sleep because my eyes hurt like a bitch and my eyes would not stop tearing up, and were basically pouring for the next 2 hours. After taking 800mg ibuprofen (why didn't I do this before??), I ended up falling asleep. They should have given me ambien or something.

You have to sleep wearing these silly goggles, which are super uncomfortable. The idea is they stop you from rubbing your eyes. The actuality is that I'm a side sleeper and they were just digging into my temple. I woke up a few hours later and ate some pizza, although I wasn't very hungry. I had barely eaten all day, so was trying to make up for it.

I put my rotation of eye drops in (tears, steroid, antibiotic) with 5 mins apart, and went back to bed. These have to be down 4x a day. When I woke up the next day, I could see, but my eyes were super puffy and still very watery. My follow up appointment was at 9:20. My initial results were showing that my vision went from 20/50 to 20/15.

We went to breakfast after that, and I got a 6oz NY strip + poached eggs and toast and scarfed that down. Still hungry, I went home and ate a Quest bar. We took the dogs for a walk, and then went out for the day. I had a big 20oz beer, and we split a 60oz pitcher of margaritas while scarfing down chips & queso, then I ordered some tacos.

We capped off the night with a 40th bday celebration for my future step mother in law, which included another beverage, plus pizza and cupcakes. I slept from 10pm last night til 9am this morning, which is more than I've slept in the longest time.

I'm still undecided as to when I should resume lifting... I have no plans today other than grocery shopping and "food prep" for the week, so I really want to go out to the garage and take advantage of some of this bloat from yesterday. My eyes feel fine, other than just some dryness. My understanding is that the biggest concern the Dr has is getting something in your eye (water, sweat, debris, etc.), rubbing your eyes, or not using the artificial tears and your eyes drying out.

Anyways, I just thought I'd follow up with my experience in case anyone was interested in LASIK themselves.

[idlehands]

ROFL, just do it. It's such a basic procedure now...

Those of you asking whether it can be done for your vision, just make an appointment and go find out. They'll give you a free vision test and tell you everything about your eyes you've never wanted to know. Then they tell you if you qualify, which procedure and how much. I have 20/15 vision now... would do it again in a heartbeat.

Little tip for those of you who have an FSA account: go get a quote now, when doing your benefits, max out your FSA ($2,600) and give yourself a New Year gift That's what I'll be doing with my wife, she's getting hers done in January

Only the really good doctors will tell you to do lasik in the winter. Humidity affects the healing process. Drier is better