POSTED UNDER LASIK REVIEWS
The Blurry Artist - Las Vegas, NV
ORIGINAL POST
Once I decided to go for it, I read every LASIK...
PhraeAugust 6, 2013
WORTH IT$3,000
Once I decided to go for it, I read every LASIK horror story I could find. Though 9 different acquaintances came back with nothing but rave reviews, I knew there would be risks. I knew the structural integrity of my eyes would never be the same. These risks could dramatically affect my quality of life. I'm a graphic designer and illustrator. My eyes are one of my greatest assets.
The day of the surgery, I initialed several pages explaining possible poor outcomes following LASIK. The last page even asked for hand-written consent. Ladies, I also had to confirm that, to my knowledge, I am not pregnant.
I sat in a dim room with 2 other patients while we received instructions for follow up care as well as a group session with the Doctor. At first I was annoyed that we were greeted as a group, but it was actually a great opportunity to share questions and concerns. My prescription was checked again for consistency, and I was given a small pill to help me relax. One by one, the other patients filtered out ahead of me with different verbalized thoughts.
"Oh man, that was so quick!"
"Wow, I'm wide awake now."
"That light was super bright!"
When I was finally escorted back to the surgery room, I was relaxed. In fact, I was too relaxed. My eyes were checked one more time, and I was to lie down. There was a cratered area to place my head, and I was instructed to tilt my chin up and look straight into the small green light. This is more difficult than it sounds. The light was extremely bright, and I was sooooo relaxed. Dr. Rothman kept asking me to stop moving and to tilt my chin back up...to stop rolling my eyes back. I was at risk of not even completing the surgery at this point.
Finally, someone held my head. I focused for all that I could muster and finally lined up right. They had attempted to place the initial flap-creating device on my eye a few times, so my eye was a lil irritated but not in pain. The Doctor apologized, stating that it had to perfect. Fine by me! The suction was applied and the green light disappeared. Everything went black. I smelled a slight scent of something burning. The flap was created, the machine pulled back, and the green light reappeared.
The green light blurred considerably as the flap was lifted back. What looked like the bright light of a scanner crossed over. I kept my eye on the prize and before I knew it, the flap was replaced and the green light came back into focus. The next eye went flawlessly swift. It was over. I had done it!
I slowly sat upright. the Doctor checked my eyes again, and an assistant moved me to a darker room. I could see across the room, but it was blurry. I subconsciously began to panic. I was instructed to have a boring weekend and to go home and sleep. There was to be no reading, no TV, no computer.
It was difficult to fall asleep with the safety goggles strapped to my head, but somehow I squeezed out 5 hours of rest. After that, I endured the rest of the day with my eyes closed. The few times I opened them were to apply eye drops. Many, many eye drops. My eyes were very light sensitive, and the only way I could manage the drops was to apply them in a blacked out bedroom.
The next morning, I was afraid to open my eyes. Was it going to be blurry? Was I an unlucky statistic? Thanks to the eye drops, my eyelashes were like Velcro. Somehow, I pried them open and applied my drops. My sight was much more clear, but still somewhat hazy. My boyfriend drove me back to the office for my follow up. I had gone from 20/400 to 20/20. The Doctor gave me tips and tricks for caring for my eyes, and I scheduled a week followup with the optometrist.
By the third day, I could clearly see things I could not even see with my glasses. The world still feels a little bright, but not nearly as bad as before. I'm still on strict eye drop regimen, but this is easily accommodated. I don't know what the future holds, but so far...so good!
Additional note: my price is including the prescription and lubricating eye drops that I had to purchase before the surgery. I also got some ZzzQuil.
The day of the surgery, I initialed several pages explaining possible poor outcomes following LASIK. The last page even asked for hand-written consent. Ladies, I also had to confirm that, to my knowledge, I am not pregnant.
I sat in a dim room with 2 other patients while we received instructions for follow up care as well as a group session with the Doctor. At first I was annoyed that we were greeted as a group, but it was actually a great opportunity to share questions and concerns. My prescription was checked again for consistency, and I was given a small pill to help me relax. One by one, the other patients filtered out ahead of me with different verbalized thoughts.
"Oh man, that was so quick!"
"Wow, I'm wide awake now."
"That light was super bright!"
When I was finally escorted back to the surgery room, I was relaxed. In fact, I was too relaxed. My eyes were checked one more time, and I was to lie down. There was a cratered area to place my head, and I was instructed to tilt my chin up and look straight into the small green light. This is more difficult than it sounds. The light was extremely bright, and I was sooooo relaxed. Dr. Rothman kept asking me to stop moving and to tilt my chin back up...to stop rolling my eyes back. I was at risk of not even completing the surgery at this point.
Finally, someone held my head. I focused for all that I could muster and finally lined up right. They had attempted to place the initial flap-creating device on my eye a few times, so my eye was a lil irritated but not in pain. The Doctor apologized, stating that it had to perfect. Fine by me! The suction was applied and the green light disappeared. Everything went black. I smelled a slight scent of something burning. The flap was created, the machine pulled back, and the green light reappeared.
The green light blurred considerably as the flap was lifted back. What looked like the bright light of a scanner crossed over. I kept my eye on the prize and before I knew it, the flap was replaced and the green light came back into focus. The next eye went flawlessly swift. It was over. I had done it!
I slowly sat upright. the Doctor checked my eyes again, and an assistant moved me to a darker room. I could see across the room, but it was blurry. I subconsciously began to panic. I was instructed to have a boring weekend and to go home and sleep. There was to be no reading, no TV, no computer.
It was difficult to fall asleep with the safety goggles strapped to my head, but somehow I squeezed out 5 hours of rest. After that, I endured the rest of the day with my eyes closed. The few times I opened them were to apply eye drops. Many, many eye drops. My eyes were very light sensitive, and the only way I could manage the drops was to apply them in a blacked out bedroom.
The next morning, I was afraid to open my eyes. Was it going to be blurry? Was I an unlucky statistic? Thanks to the eye drops, my eyelashes were like Velcro. Somehow, I pried them open and applied my drops. My sight was much more clear, but still somewhat hazy. My boyfriend drove me back to the office for my follow up. I had gone from 20/400 to 20/20. The Doctor gave me tips and tricks for caring for my eyes, and I scheduled a week followup with the optometrist.
By the third day, I could clearly see things I could not even see with my glasses. The world still feels a little bright, but not nearly as bad as before. I'm still on strict eye drop regimen, but this is easily accommodated. I don't know what the future holds, but so far...so good!
Additional note: my price is including the prescription and lubricating eye drops that I had to purchase before the surgery. I also got some ZzzQuil.
UPDATED FROM Phrae
5 days post
5 Days Later
PhraeAugust 9, 2013
I've become much less sensitive to light, which is making mornings a lot easier. I can't wait to finish the medicated eye drops. One has a milky texture to it and if there is any left on your lashes, they tend to glue together. My eyes are also a little bloodshot from the initial flap-creating machine. I've added a picture to show this, but it's getting lighter and lighter every day. Most of the red is under my lid. I've noticed things that I could not see even with my contacts, so it's been pretty exciting.
Replies (7)
August 16, 2013
Thanks for posting this detailed review!
August 21, 2013
How's your recovery going?
August 23, 2013
I've become substantially less dependent on the eye drops, but I still use them throughout the day. I'm still noticing things that aren't necessarily new, but are just things I couldn't see before.
September 6, 2013
Thanks so much for sharing your experience and progress. How are things going for you now?
September 6, 2013
Great! I just went on my first motorcycle trip since the surgery, and all was well. I've added an update with more details.
September 7, 2013
That's awesome! Since you came back in one piece, I assume your vision is just fine. ;) Thanks for the update as well.
UPDATED FROM Phrae
1 month post
1 Month Later
PhraeSeptember 6, 2013
My 1 month LASIK exam went off without any noticeable issues. My sight is still 20/20. I haven't noticed any glaring or halos at night. In the mornings, my eyes feel a little dry, so I keep some drops right by the bed. Otherwise, I just try to use drops once an hour out of precaution. I've been almost religious about cleansing my makeup before sleep (which I was admittedly bad at before). I've also invested in a nice pair of RayBans to cope with the outdoors.
Replies (8)
September 12, 2013
How old are you? I wanted Lasik but am not sure as I'm 35 and the eye doctor said that my prescription was strong so even if I get it done, I might still need glasses. :/ He also said that everyone usually needs glasses once they reach a certain age for reading. I think he mentioned in their 40s so I only have about 5 years left! Not sure it's worth it. I've been wearing glasses since Kindergarten so I'm used to them. It's an accessory like a necklace at this point but one I wear every day! What do you think about me getting it done?
September 13, 2013
I'm 28. I actually have 2 people in my office over 40 who got LASIK and do not wear glasses yet, but everyone is different. I never got used to glasses, and contacts were dry... So for me it was worth it. Also remember that the structural integrity if your eye will never be the same. In the end, only you can make the decision. Sorry so vague. Hope this kind of helps.
September 13, 2013
My eyes are usually dry too when I wear contacts. I have to constantly re-wet them. I only wear them now when I have somewhere special to go like a wedding. I usually do a lot of research before I go through with something. Looks like there are more positive than negative comments on this procedure. You are right though that the structural integrity of the eye will never be the same again. Hmmm much to think about.
September 14, 2013
The integrity part was the concession that I was willing to make (along with needing eyedrops, but I used eyedrops anyways for my contacts). I read almost every LASIK/PRK horror story I could find as well as watched procedure videos.
My findings showed that the flap is multi-layer, and not all layers heal fully. This is where the dryness stems from, as well as the acute awareness that trauma to the eye could cause more damage than it would if you did not have the surgery. (ex: A man accidentally jabbed his eye with a screwdriver, and it dislodged the flap. Regardless of LASIK/PRK, a screwdriver is still going to cause problems.)
If the flap is such a huge deal, I thought to go with PRK, but it looked like more people had dryness/healing issues with PRK.
September 21, 2013
Hello! Just wanted to drop a line. Hopefully this will be helpful. LASIK does make eyes more dry. It is important that the dryness of your eyes is measured before deciding to have LASIK using the schirmer's test (or similar tests). Usually people with up to moderate dryness do well after LASIK, but they may need some treatment such as artificial tears after LASIK. Also, PRK and other surface treatments actually (contrary to some of the other comments) cause LESS ocular dryness than LASIK. Although there is some discomfort in the first week after PRK, after the eye is healed, usually the increase in dryness is minimal. This relates to one of the earlier comments. Unlike LASIK, with PRK and other surface treatments, there is no stromal (multi-layered) surface flap made on the eye. The only layer that is removed is the surface epithelial cells of the eye which grow back as before. Because there is no "corneal flap" with PRK, it does not affect the surface corneal sensory nerves of the eyes as much, thus not contributing to ocular dryness afterwards as much as LASIK would. I hope this helps:)
December 30, 2013
I am contemplating having LASIK. I am 68 and I have astigmatism in my left eye. Would you recommend LASIK under these circumstances.
April 19, 2019
I had laser surgery about 20 years and went from 20/900 to 20/10 and 20/15. I got mono vision so that I would not need any glasses. Mono vision is when one eye sees distance clearer and the other eye sees close up clearer. At reading distance both eyes focus perfectly. When I had my cataract laser surgeries a few years ago I requested mono vision again because I was so happy with it. Acuity was paramount to me since I was a accountant before I retired.
April 19, 2019
Yes, there are new techniques that correct for astigmatism but if you have cataracts you can have vision correction at the same time. I would suggest mono vision so you won’t need any glasses.
Replies (2)