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ibntumart posted:It's not that big a deal making a tiny correction, is it? I was legally blind before the surgery, so the surgeon had some room to leave for adjustments (or so I'm telling myself). Imagine that getting 20/20 is like trying to get a golf ball into a hole. For high prescriptions it is much better to putt the ball in the hole gradually compared to just taking one shot and overshooting by a mile.
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Aug 6, 2013 19:18
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So I'm on day 3 of my recovery from PRK. This kind of sucks balls. I can't do gently caress-all but sit in my apartment and try not to look at bright lights. I know it will be worth it in a few days when my vision comes back, but goddamn am I bored right now.
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Aug 12, 2013 16:57
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That's why they loaded me up with painkillers. The first 48 hrs were all hurty, the following 72 hrs were all frustratey. It's been 10 years for me and I still have perfect vision. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
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Aug 13, 2013 17:32
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I've been reading lasikcomplications.com and lasikscandal.com and now I'm nervous about getting it 
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Aug 13, 2013 17:42
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It's been almost a year and a half since I had wavefront LASIK. I still have a tiny bit of astigmatism in my left eye, which is pretty annoying. My contact prescription was around 9.50 in both eyes (one slightly worse) before the procedure. My eyes are still pretty dry so I keep eye drops around and probably give myself a squirt 4-6 times a day. I love not having to mess around with glasses or contacts. For some reason I can't see jack poo poo at night or in low light situations. It's also slightly annoying when using a camera, it's very hard to tell if something is 'in focus' using the viewfinder. I'm considering getting reading/computer glasses to try and sharpen things up but the doctor almost refused to give me an eye exam.
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Aug 13, 2013 19:38
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ryan_woody posted:So I'm on day 3 of my recovery from PRK. This kind of sucks balls. I can't do gently caress-all but sit in my apartment and try not to look at bright lights. I was -5 in my left and -4.75 in my right so except for the fuzziness my vision is light years better than it ever was, so far so good 
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Aug 13, 2013 20:35
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I just had my touch-up PRK on Thursday, so I can relate to you guys. Though oddly enough, the weekend I didn't really have much pain---nothing that an Advil once or twice a day couldn't handle---but when the contact came out yesterday, oh God the hurting. At least it's just the one eye. The pain was too awful for me to do anything but lie around doped up on Vicodin yesterday, but today I've been able to manage brief sessions using my iPad or PC to surf the web. So bored of podcasts and listening to TV shows I'd really like to be able to actually watch.
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Aug 14, 2013 05:53
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89 posted:So, over one month after lasik and I have 20/15 in my left eye....and 20/50 in my right eye. Doctor I've been seeing is starting to run out of ideas why it's like this. Going back up to the surgery place this week to see what they think. Seems either I need to be more patient or I'll need touch up surgery. Thankfully, it'll be covered for free. Just annoying anyways. Don't know if this helps with anybody, but I went back to the surgeon and they discovered that I have some cataracts that need correcting in my eye that has been blurry (the numbers were around 0.9), so I'll go back in for a free touch up in the first week of October that should be a pretty simple procedure. Sucks I have to go in again, but it only takes about 45 seconds, so whateva.
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Aug 17, 2013 00:44
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Hi, I wore contact lenses for many years before finally mostly abandoning them in 2009. Since them most of the time I don't wear glasses at all and somehow can get by. I had about -2.5 degrees of myopia in both eyes with a bit of astigmatism (don't know how much). I had LASEK Wavefront done in July 12th, after going through all the required tests. My pupils expand to about 7.4-7.5 mm (so I was advised to get Wavefront) and my corneas are 550 micrometers thick. Despite an adequate corneal thickness, I chose LASEK over LASIK because I have a slight tendency towards dry eye because of wearing contact lenses for so long (also I have some neo-vascularization), and supposedly LASEK has a lesser incidence of induced dry eye because the cornea is not as traumatized as during LASIK, when they cut the flap. I knew the recovery period would be a bit longer but I thought it would be worth it. I was told after a month and a half, my vision would be at 100%. So after the surgery, when I was going home in a taxi, I blinked and felt something rough in my left eye. When I arrived home I discovered that the bandage lens had fell off! I called the doctor and she told me to put on an eye patch to be used continuously. So I did, but I'm afraid my bandage wasn't quite completely immobilizing my left eye. The third day after surgery I went for a checkup in which the doctor said the epithelium was healing really well in both eyes, despite of having keratitis and irritation which is expected after the surgery. A week after the surgery I had another appointment and the bandage in the left eye was removed, as the bandage lens in the right eye. Had another appointment last week, and she again said the eyes were healing quite well, and there were no dry eye issues or anything. Now, it's been over a month after surgery, almost 5 weeks as a matter of fact, and my vision fluctuates too much, is only acceptable during mornings and consistently worse than my best corrected vision with contact lenses. It really hasn't improved much after week 3. My issues are ghosting, double vision, and overall lack of crispness. Also, the vision captured by the left eye is markedly poorer than the one in the right eye. She did say that my left eye is a bit behind the right one in the epithelium recovery process. I'm worried because from what I've seen, people either improve a lot in the 3rd to 5th week and then have only minor improvements later and are generally satisfied, or remain with chronic problems. I can't get "touch ups" because I'm traveling overseas soon for study purposes (which is the main reason I had the surgery done). It's especially annoying having to magnify everything in computers so that reading is comfortable, like right now. Does anyone ave any insights? Is it possible that my left cornea somehow was damaged after the lens slipped down accidentally? MY left eye is my dominant one, btw. Oh and I'm 28, my prescription has been stable for many years. Thanks Tony_Montana fucked around with this message at 04:11 on Aug 18, 2013 |
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Aug 18, 2013 04:07
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PRK people: were there any points around 2-4 weeks after the surgery where one eye gets noticeably more blurry than it was before, for several days, and then improved? I'm 2 weeks and 3 days in, but my next checkup isn't for 3 weeks... need to know if I should be worried about that kind of regression.
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Sep 12, 2013 17:48
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Beefheart posted:PRK people: were there any points around 2-4 weeks after the surgery where one eye gets noticeably more blurry than it was before, for several days, and then improved? I'm 2 weeks and 3 days in, but my next checkup isn't for 3 weeks... need to know if I should be worried about that kind of regression. Yep, that happened to me, at about a week and a half. At exactly two weeks (to the hour) after my surgery, I took a short 30-minute nap. I woke up and had near-perfect vision. It got slightly worse a day later, but nothing like it had been the past few days. I'm at about a month now, and am probably pretty solidly at 20/20 or 20/25. I can still see minor improvements over the course of a few days, so I'm hoping to get down to 20/15.
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Sep 12, 2013 18:32
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Argh. I am so torn. I went for a LASIK consultation for a doc that I thought was decent but did a lot of radio advertising. A lot. And he said I did have thin corneas, but the shape was good, and I was a LASIK candidate. But, when I left the office I didn't have a good feeling -- it was just SO sales-y. So, I made an appointment with an ophthalmologist (because I have another eye issue that's thyroid related and not vision related and shouldn't interfere), and he said that my corneas were too thin, and while he is very conservative, he doesn't think I'm a candidate. But he sent me to a doc-friend of his who works at The Laser Center (TLC) and says I should go by what HE says. So, I see the doc who works at the laser center (who is NOT the surgeon) and he says he quickly ran numbers and that one eye is borderline too thin, and the other is too thin. So fine. I'll do PRK. I re-read this whole thread and started to get comfortable with that decision. Today, TLC calls me back. The surgeon reviewed my charts and he agreed that yes, my corneas are thin but they are in a good shape and my astigmatism is right for this and blahblah -- he thinks I AM a candidate for LASIK. And he would be the one I would do it with. And that my measurements were also taken with my wearing contacts the day before, so after 2-3 weeks without them, I'd be in even better shape. So at this point, I don't know. I am going to take out my contacts for 2-3 weeks and go in again for a pre-op and meet with the surgeon. At that point I'll either let him convince me to do LASIK or PRK, I guess? I am just ... I don't even know what to do or who to trust. I'd prefer LASIK because of the whole "I can be back to work within a few days" but ... PRK may be the safer option? Help goons. (I am in NYC/Long Island, if anyone has a great recommendation!)
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Sep 13, 2013 19:39
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They're your eyes, after all: you'll be off work for more than a couple of weeks from a botched LASIK job. If you can't afford to miss work, you could get PRK for one eye and wait several months to get the other one done.
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Sep 13, 2013 21:41
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Eris posted:So at this point, I don't know. I am going to take out my contacts for 2-3 weeks and go in again for a pre-op and meet with the surgeon. At that point I'll either let him convince me to do LASIK or PRK, I guess? The good thing is that you don't have to rush the decision. In my experience optometrists/ophthalmologists have always been more wary of elective surgeries.
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Sep 13, 2013 21:47
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Eris posted:Argh. I am so torn. It sounds like PRK is the safer option, by far. My surgeon explained it to me like this: Aside from the recovery time, there is no downside to getting PRK. Your vision will be just as good, you won't be limited in your activities (jumping out of planes, for example), and it's just as safe if not safer. Also, I wouldn't trust the place from the radio. Just my opinion, that if the office is trying to sell you that hard, you may not want to go there.
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Sep 13, 2013 22:07
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ryan_woody posted:..................Your vision will be just as good, you won't be limited in your activities (jumping out of planes, for example), and it's just as safe if not safer. There have been tens of thousands of skydives by people with LASIK and only a couple issues ever reported (Skydive Magazine, Parachutist Magazine) that might have been because of specifically skydiving and LASIK. Mostly, it's the 130-200mph wind slamming into eyes not covered with goggles. I've got maybe 60+ jumps without goggles and had no problem. Anything else that can damage a LASIK eye during a skydive will cause far more damage to other body parts in the process, the eye will be the least to worry about.
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Sep 13, 2013 22:51
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SinJin posted:There have been tens of thousands of skydives by people with LASIK and only a couple issues ever reported (Skydive Magazine, Parachutist Magazine) that might have been because of specifically skydiving and LASIK. Mostly, it's the 130-200mph wind slamming into eyes not covered with goggles. I've got maybe 60+ jumps without goggles and had no problem. Anything else that can damage a LASIK eye during a skydive will cause far more damage to other body parts in the process, the eye will be the least to worry about. Sorry, perhaps I should have specified. I'm in the military, and Lasik is a dis qualifier during both an airborne physical and flight physical. I can't comment on the dangers of civilian skydiving, but I know medically it's frowned upon in the military.
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Sep 13, 2013 23:02
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ibntumart posted:They're your eyes, after all: you'll be off work for more than a couple of weeks from a botched LASIK job. Yeah. I have the vacation time, that's not the issue. I mean, realistically it would be nice to just enjoy a week off - but no biggie. And I can't really do one at a time. My vision is so poor that ... it sounds like a nightmare. So, now I'm leaning back to PRK. Radio guy is out of the question, but should I trust this second surgeon who is also okay with LASIK? Maybe that's okay -- I'm just more conservative than he is, but he's still good ...
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Sep 13, 2013 23:21
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It's your eyes, and you've already been told you have thin corneas. Do you really want to take any risk with them just so you can have a 1-2 week faster recovery? I had PRK and do not regret it one bit.
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Sep 13, 2013 23:32
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Essentially the only downside of PRK is the increased recovery time compared to LASIK. Suffer that now and enjoy the peace of mind later. If even one professional thought your corneal tissue was too thin, then it's not worth the risk.
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Sep 14, 2013 14:48
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Anisocoria Feldman posted:Essentially the only downside of PRK is the increased recovery time compared to LASIK. Suffer that now and enjoy the peace of mind later. If even one professional thought your corneal tissue was too thin, then it's not worth the risk. Yeah. I'm convinced now to go PRK. Thanks everyone! How do people make medical decisions without collective goon wisdom?
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Sep 14, 2013 17:07
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I've met many ophthalmologists who tell me they would never ever get LASIK despite running that machine day in and day out. Their reasons mostly center on the fact that they don't know the long (15+ years) outcomes of patients who have had the procedure. I think there is some component of them seeing the 1/1000 chance of loving up and ruining a pair of eyes as well. What do you all think?
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Sep 24, 2013 08:24
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Totally Normal posted:I've met many ophthalmologists who tell me they would never ever get LASIK despite running that machine day in and day out. Their reasons mostly center on the fact that they don't know the long (15+ years) outcomes of patients who have had the procedure. I think there is some component of them seeing the 1/1000 chance of loving up and ruining a pair of eyes as well. What do you all think? Hasn't it been done longer than 15 years now? Some people are just extremely cautious and will refuse an elective surgery.
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Sep 25, 2013 04:43
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Zogo posted:Hasn't it been done longer than 15 years now? Some people are just extremely cautious and will refuse an elective surgery. Yeah, my surgeon alone has been performing the procedure for over 20 years now.
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Sep 25, 2013 05:17
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Just had my consultation this morning. The doctor said my corneas were thick enough and both my eyes were good enough where the choice was up to me. I went with PRK simply for the fact that I like staying active and outdoors, so a little flap dislodging while I'm up some mountain in a different continent really doesn't sound great. Especially when I don't really need a quick recovery time at this point. My doctor is one of the guys who was involved at the university level when they were first starting this stuff out. He said it took three days to set up everything and do the surgery. Now it's what, an hour to set up the machines and 18 seconds of lasering per eye, or something? Kind of funny. Surgery is October 7. I'm sure I'll be nervous as hell, but at the moment I'm glad I went with PRK. That flap sounds gross.
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Sep 26, 2013 22:20
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I don't know about the machine set-up time, but the surgery itself is indeed extremely quick. Prepping my eyes for the laser took longer than the actual laser.
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Sep 26, 2013 22:27
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stratdax posted:Now it's what, an hour to set up the machines and 18 seconds of lasering per eye, or something? Depends on how bad your eyes are. The laser takes longer with worse eyes as it's making bigger changes. Machine setup time between patients is very quick as well. 5-10 minutes at most I'd say.
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Sep 26, 2013 22:42
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So, I'm about a week post-PRK (trip report to follow but spoiler alert: this was pretty painless and awesome), but I'm having trouble deciding if this is a side effect or ... if I have a cold. My nose was a little runny post-surgery, which I chalked up to eye irritation and some weird system thing. But I'm still sneezing like a nut and it just occurred to me that I may actually be sick. Am I alone in this? (Nerd asks the Internet if she's sick ...)
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Oct 16, 2013 23:13
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I'm about 10 days post PRK, and I was a bit sick afterwards too. Sneezing, running nose, etc. However, I'm almost certain I was getting sick before the surgery so I think it's unrelated. My vision is just starting to get pretty good now. I may as well have carried around a white cane the first few days. The surgery was awesome. Seriously, just a crazy light show. I felt like I was Dave at the end of 2001. If I could have that every day without any actual surgery, I would.
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Oct 17, 2013 00:02
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I didn't have any cold-like symptoms after my PRK surgery, for what it's worth. Also, just wanted to say PRK was one of the best decisions I made. I used to be a legally blind level of myopia. A year out and I'm at 20/15 in one eye, 20/20 in the other. ibntumart fucked around with this message at 02:22 on Oct 17, 2013 |
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Oct 17, 2013 02:20
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I just maxed out my FSA dollars for next year to put towards LASIK  The earliest I can get it done is in March, but I'm already counting down the days till I throw away my last pair of contacts ever. My eye doctor recommends I get Wavefront LASIK because apparently it has fewer of the side effects (bad night vision, light halos, etc). How many of you did it without drugs? Part of me feels like I can handle it without any sedatives, but part of me thinks I may freak out. I managed to survive 45 minutes in an MRI tube unsedated for what it's worth, but I'm also one of those people who can't handle watching medical procedures and when it's happening to my eyeballs I can't really not watch.
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Oct 17, 2013 04:25
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They gave me a vicodin about 20 minutes before the procedure, but it didn't have any effect at all that I noticed. As far as what you see, it's really just a blinking light that you stare at while it's going. Takes a few minutes for each eye. Not really like watching someone give you an appendectomy or anything like that.
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Oct 17, 2013 05:31
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I did it without Valium after having a panic attack under the machine while taking Valium. It isn't freaky or terrible but the moment of mild panic when the cutting implement was placed on my eye and I couldn't see anything (and it sounded like a loving buzz saw). Then I stared into a strange flickering light for 75 seconds (far longer than the average) painlessly (while my eyes gave off delightful burning hair smell). The entire procedure was completely painless, it's just so bizarre to have a speculum on your eye and staring straight into a light. Then they painted my eye back into place which was rather unsettling. Seeing a brush going over my pupil but feeling nothing was so unsettling. Best 4k I've ever spent. Some text is still blurry from a distance but I feel like I can count the leaves on trees from at least 100 yards away. The discomfort and mild terror that comes from a feeling of helplessness because OH poo poo MY EYEBALLS is so minuscule compared to the fact that I can actually see when I wake up to a bump in the night. the escape goat fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Oct 17, 2013 |
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Oct 17, 2013 05:44
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I'd been contemplating it from years and finally took the plunge last July. I was -6.0 nearsighted in both eyes (meaning I couldn't see past my nose), with an astigmatism in my left eye. I got a minor sedative to take and had no problems with the procedure - and this is coming from someone with a diagnosed panic disorder. There was nothing painful about it, per se, but the pressure from the device going down on my eye was a little uncomfortable. Immediately after the surgery, my vision was 20/20 in my left eye (perfect), and 20/15 in my right (better than perfect). After another month, my left eye had improved to 20/15 as well. The biggest issue is that I experienced "light halos" while driving at night. They were annoying but didn't prevent nocturnal travel. After more than a year, my vision is still 20/15 and the light halos have completely disappeared. I spent about $ 3,600, and it was worth every penny.
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Oct 17, 2013 15:06
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I'm currently wearing -7 contacts in both eyes but my left eye is closer to a -9  Just the idea of being able to wake up in the middle of the night and see what time it is is exciting to me so it's worth being uncomfortable for a few minutes. I just don't want to panic and end up not getting the surgery because of it 
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Oct 17, 2013 18:20
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:I'm currently wearing -7 contacts in both eyes but my left eye is closer to a -9 I'd do it again, no question. It's definitely worth a few minutes of discomfort. If you're a good candidate and can muster the money, I'd go for it.
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Oct 17, 2013 18:36
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I've already squirreled away $2500 FSA dollars for it so I only have to scrounge up $1500 out of pocket. I'm for sure going for it I'm just a little nervous about how I'm going to react to having my eyelids pried open and my eyeballs sliced open while being 100% conscious and aware.
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Oct 17, 2013 18:41
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:I've already squirreled away $2500 FSA dollars for it so I only have to scrounge up $1500 out of pocket. I'm for sure going for it I'm just a little nervous about how I'm going to react to having my eyelids pried open and my eyeballs sliced open while being 100% conscious and aware. Worth it, yo. So worth it.
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Oct 17, 2013 19:14
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Just finally got my touch up surgery on my right eye this morning. Surprised how easy it was. I was in and out in what felt like a minute and a half.
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Oct 17, 2013 22:23
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Just had my eyes checked yesterday and was told I am a good candidate for LASIK. I have severe myopia and slight astigmatism. I'll do it on January next year. So excited to not have to wear glasses/contacts anymore! I went to Dr. Edward Manche at Stanford. It's a little bit pricey ($2950 per eye) but this is something I don't want to skimp on.
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Oct 30, 2013 18:44
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