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Had Lasik performed about 6 hours ago. Was incredibly easy, though my heart was jumping through my throat during the experience. It went by so quickly, and my vision is already so much better. Pending healing issues, I'm already 100% pleased. Price was roughly 5k before insurance discounts of roughly 20%, and includes lifetime enhancements and collotype through the first year.
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Feb 28, 2015 04:44
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Found out I am not a candidate for Lasik because I have thin corneas. My doctor said PRK was an option but that I would have increased risk of ectasia. He said that my residual stromal bed would be around 330 microns. I did a little research and found that most surgeons prefer to have 350 to 400 left microns left doing PRK. I was feeling pretty confidant about PRK until I found this out. Anyone else have thin corneas?
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Mar 4, 2015 12:08
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Thin corneas and large pupils meant LASIK wasn't an option. But PRK has worked out fine for me.
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Mar 4, 2015 13:58
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I had Lasik done yesterday and my eyes are already at 20/15. This is after I had a prescription of -2.75 in one eye, and -3.00 in the other. I read up a lot on the procedure (And they gave me a detailed list of every step that happens during it), and the only thing I wasn't prepared for was how absolutely terrifying it is watching the surgeon lift the flap in my corneas, and sort of being able to see the flap get lifted through the immediate changes in my vision, right before the Lasik. Fortunately, the numbing drops did what they're supposed to do, and I couldn't feel a thing. I ended up paying $7100, and that was after a 20% insurance discount and a $300 discount from getting a referral through my optometrist. This was at a place with a top-notch surgeon in San Francisco (Pacific Vision Institute).
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Mar 12, 2015 19:58
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$7,100 for regular Lasik? With the flap and everything??? I have a similar prescription to Masa above me, and I'm going in for "Custom" (mapped topography or whatever) LASEK tomorrow. $2,800 with no insurance, +80$ (with coupons given by the clinic) for the prescription eye drops I have to use for 5 days after. I'll post about it later. One week recovery time, and they said something about putting clear contact lenses over my pupils for that week. When I was looking around, comparing prices, this place looked the best for the money and doctor's level of experience. The yelp reviews were numerous and positive too. They claim that 80% of people who get the "custom" LASEK end up with 20/15 or better vision. Solvent fucked around with this message at 20:08 on Mar 26, 2015 |
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Mar 26, 2015 20:04
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I just found this while describing the procedure to my friend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzzgN7W-puU Wish me luck!
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Mar 27, 2015 16:42
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Are we talking USD? I paid $3600 over ten years ago - $7100 seems steep.
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Mar 27, 2015 18:02
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That does seem a bit high, though I did pay $5900 for PRK several years back.
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Mar 27, 2015 18:18
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San Fransisco is expensive.
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Mar 28, 2015 00:03
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After consulting with two eye doctors, I've decided against having lasers shot into my eyes. Main reason: apparently my pupils are super large, so if I do LASIK/PRK or whatever I'm almost guaranteed to have problems in low light conditions.
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Mar 28, 2015 23:47
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Can you travel somewhere else for it? I got mine done in Dallas for $3600. Paying twice that is insane.
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Mar 29, 2015 00:16
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Zogo posted:San Fransisco is expensive. Meh, you want a Stanford surgeon, you pay for the privilege.
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Mar 29, 2015 05:50
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Ugh. I just went in for my follow up and to get those clear contacts taken out, and my center vision is still too blurry to play a first person shooter. Saturday and Sunday I spent rolling around clutching an ice pack to my forehead. Tried driving today. Not fun. I'll do a writeup later. Like in a week. God drat I have a headache.
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Apr 1, 2015 11:04
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Well I've got my pre-op appointment this week and actual procedure next week. Not completely freaked out about it, yet. $4600 for PRK in San Diego. Doctor wasn't comfortable doing LASIK due to some unexplained near-invisible lines on the edge of my right cornea.
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Apr 13, 2015 20:02
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Still totally worth it. I had my PRK done at the start of 2011, and sometimes I still catch myself looking at something in the distance and thinking "gently caress, this is awesome."
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Apr 13, 2015 20:26
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I have LASIK on May 1 and I'm super terrified. I had my pre-op today and my vision prescription has changed slightly again but the doctor still cleared me for surgery.
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Apr 15, 2015 00:43
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Just remember that no one in this thread has died from PRK or LASIK and virtually all of us have been happy about our new vision. You won't be fine, you'll be better than fine.
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Apr 15, 2015 03:01
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legsarerequired posted:I have LASIK on May 1 and I'm super terrified. I had my pre-op today and my vision prescription has changed slightly again but the doctor still cleared me for surgery. They'll give you a valium and you'll cease to give a poo poo. It'll be fine.
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Apr 15, 2015 03:20
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I started googling around again (possibly a mistake) and found lasikcomplications.com. Some of these statistics are terrifying.
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Apr 15, 2015 04:06
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Any minute chance of your eyes getting hosed up is terrifying but I trust a thread full of goon praise over some site that is clearly set up to discredit it. The internet can make anything look like a disaster.
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Apr 15, 2015 04:25
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It's a 5 minute procedure for a lifetime of being able to see. You can keep your poo poo together and not panic for 5 minutes. The 5 minutes isn't a figure of speech for a short 20-30 minute procedure, it really is that short. They lay you on the table, zap one eye, switch to the other, zap, done. Your eyes will be irritated for exactly 2 hours then you're done forever. Some level of freaking out is totally normal (which is why they offer you a Valium first) because it's your eyeballs but it truly isn't bad at all. They'll also give you a stress ball to squeeze or a teddy bear to strangle during the procedure. You can look up literally any medical procedure and find horror stories. I'm not sure why you'd do that to yourself if you're already nervous.
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Apr 15, 2015 11:33
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legsarerequired posted:I have LASIK on May 1 and I'm super terrified. I had my pre-op today and my vision prescription has changed slightly again but the doctor still cleared me for surgery. Go to Dr. Yaldo, in mission valley. I just got "Custom" LASEK for 3200 there with a 5 year enhancement plan. Same thing as PRK basically. It's more than just 5 minutes, I spent a week in pain with blurry vision, but now that it's halfway healed it's pretty drat good. Still sensitive to light though. I was going to wait till my follow up on the 28th to write up my results. Message me if you want a $400 off referral card.
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Apr 15, 2015 11:56
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I guess I'm just thinking some more about the risks now that the procedure is coming up so close, haha. I'm not concerned about a laser shooting into my eye, it's more the possibility of having a flap on my face that can apparently dislodge if I do something horrendously clutzy and stupid like falling on my face off my bike. I actually had someone drop me on my face, then fall on top of me, when I was younger, and I'm still dealing with dental/sinus problems that came up as a result, so I guess I worry about things like that. Basically he was a mega-goon who insisted on picking me up even after I told him I didn't want him to, then he began running while he was holding me, he tripped on something, he dropped me, I remember landing and then lifting up my head, and then he fell on top of me and his weight smashed my face back into the concrete. I live in Texas, so Dr. Yaldo is a bit of a hike! But maybe PRK or LASEK would be a safer option--more painful, longer recovery time, but no flap. I'll have to see if it's feasible with my level of astigmatism since apparently my astigmatism is so severe that there's a 10-15% chance I'll need a touch-up even with custom wave-front LASIK. Thank you again for listening to my panicking goons, haha.
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Apr 15, 2015 16:56
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legsarerequired posted:I guess I'm just thinking some more about the risks now that the procedure is coming up so close, haha. I'm not concerned about a laser shooting into my eye, it's more the possibility of having a flap on my face that can apparently dislodge if I do something horrendously clutzy and stupid like falling on my face off my bike. I actually had someone drop me on my face, then fall on top of me, when I was younger, and I'm still dealing with dental/sinus problems that came up as a result, so I guess I worry about things like that. Basically he was a mega-goon who insisted on picking me up even after I told him I didn't want him to, then he began running while he was holding me, he tripped on something, he dropped me, I remember landing and then lifting up my head, and then he fell on top of me and his weight smashed my face back into the concrete. Where in Texas? I got custom wavefront LASIK done in Dallas. I woke up about a month post-procedure rubbing the poo poo out of my eye but did not dislodge a flap. If any klutzy move would instantly dislodge flaps you'd hear a lot of people in real life talking about it and not just on some website on the internet. Usually it's just extreme sports and/or contact sports you have to worry about. If you don't engage in either of those you should be fine.
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Apr 15, 2015 17:02
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:Where in Texas? I got custom wavefront LASIK done in Dallas. I live just north of Houston. My family eye doctor (who was initially very skeptical of LASIK) recommended Berkeley Eye Center.
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Apr 15, 2015 17:22
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PRK does take time to recover from, but no flaps to worry about. Also, my myopia and astigmatism were so bad that I was legally blind pre-PRK. I have 20/20 vision now.
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Apr 15, 2015 17:25
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Solvent posted:Go to Dr. Yaldo, in mission valley. I just got "Custom" LASEK for 3200 there with a 5 year enhancement plan. Same thing as PRK basically. Think this was directed at me (San Diego), same garbage-dick avatar. I'm going to Dr. Nahl in La Jolla. She seems like a cool-rear end doc, totally comfortable. Already made the deposit, but thank you. Actually looking forward to it. Just need to come up with poo poo to do while recovering that isn't computer games.
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Apr 15, 2015 18:07
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legsarerequired posted:I guess I'm just thinking some more about the risks now that the procedure is coming up so close, haha. I'm not concerned about a laser shooting into my eye, it's more the possibility of having a flap on my face that can apparently dislodge if I do something horrendously clutzy and stupid like falling on my face off my bike. Don't worry too much about the flap. The biggest risk is in the first few days and if you follow their instructions you will be fine. It takes a lot to dislodge the flap (like getting clawed in the eye  ) and as the surgeon told me before he fixed mine, "there's nothing you can do to your lasik we can't fix". And nobody offered me valium before my surgery, the jerks.
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Apr 15, 2015 18:39
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If dislodging the flap was easy I would have done it already. It seemed a bit dodgy for the first few months but I've bonked my eyes pretty good and no issues. Just had to re-train myself how to rub my eyes, which I found out I do a lot post-surgery. I took lorazepam before the surgery and just instantly fell asleep on a couch in a room full of sleeping people afterwards. It was bizarre. I'm usually an insomniac that takes an hour to go to sleep in the best situations.
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Apr 15, 2015 20:54
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Yeah, the Yaldo comment got to who it was intended. I had a severe astigmatism in my right eye. There was a portion during the first pass on it where I could see it melting. Three dots in a triangle expanded to cover my vision. Really cool. I got a piece of sawdust in my eye today at work, it hurt for hours. Still hurts. This is 3 weeks out. Not so cool. Not really as light sensitive anymore though. edit: I listened to documentaries on TV a lot. The more you keep your eyes closed the first week after PRK the better. Someone said audiobooks earlier in the thread, that would've been great if I had actually prepared for how much it sucks. Ice packs work better than pills, and they said it was totally cool to smoke weed right away after. Just don't get any smoke in your eyes, because scar tissue. Also Yaldo recommended 2g's of vitamin C every day to help prevent that scar tissue from forming. Solvent fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Apr 16, 2015 |
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Apr 16, 2015 01:27
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I guess the main thing scaring me is that I want to know exactly what it takes to dislocate a flap. I get that you need to be careful for the first 3-6 months or so after surgery, but I'm thinking moreso about years down the line. Like, I'm thinking about how last weekend, I was snuggling with my boyfriend, and when he got up he accidentally bumped his forehead against my eyebrow. Is that the type of thing I would have to be careful about? Or is it more like direct jabs into the eye? I'm mostly reading about people having trouble if an airbag goes off and they're sitting in the front seat.
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Apr 16, 2015 23:04
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I think with modern techniques, LASIK flaps are much smaller and less likely to dislocate. But if you're really worried, PRK is zero risk. You could do one eye and wait a few weeks for the next if you absolutely can't be a couple of weeks with impaired vision while healing from PRK.
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Apr 17, 2015 00:19
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legsarerequired posted:Is that the type of thing I would have to be careful about? Not after a few months. legsarerequired posted:Or is it more like direct jabs into the eye? Yea, I do remember LASIK was not recommended for boxers or other contact sports where getting hit directly in the face was common.
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Apr 17, 2015 05:07
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Anyone have issues with dry eyes after LASIK? I get dry eyes occasionally and don't want the problem exasperated too much by the surgery.
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Apr 20, 2015 18:35
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ProSlayer posted:Anyone have issues with dry eyes after LASIK? I have chronic dry eye now, my vision is totally fuzzy after a day of staring at a computer screen. My eye doctor told me to use Systane eye drops and they help if I remember to use them. I've been considering going back and getting a more hardcore eye drop like restasis.
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Apr 20, 2015 18:40
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I used drops three times a day for about three months then didn't have to ever again after that.
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Apr 21, 2015 03:53
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:I have chronic dry eye now, my vision is totally fuzzy after a day of staring at a computer screen. My eye doctor told me to use Systane eye drops and they help if I remember to use them. I've been considering going back and getting a more hardcore eye drop like restasis. Maybe ask your doctor about punctal plugs as well - I've had many patients become less dependent upon artificial tears after plug insertion.
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Apr 21, 2015 18:37
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legsarerequired posted:I guess the main thing scaring me is that I want to know exactly what it takes to dislocate a flap. I get that you need to be careful for the first 3-6 months or so after surgery, but I'm thinking moreso about years down the line. Eyeballs from dead humans and animals have been fired at great velocity towards walls to test how sturdy flaps are. I read a study about intralase flaps that said it takes 8 g-force to dislodge a sealed flap. The impact from 5 g-force is fatal. Flaps seal within a couple of days. Flap complications do happen but if your flap is wrinkled/hosed up that would be noticed the next day at a check up and it can get lifted and repositioned easily. Most important thing is DO NOT RUB YOUR GODDAMN EYES FOR A WEEK AFTER SURGERY! Beep Street fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Apr 21, 2015 |
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Apr 21, 2015 23:24
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ibntumart posted:But if you're really worried, PRK is zero risk.
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Apr 21, 2015 23:29
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Beep Street posted:No surgery is zero risk. That was in reference to eye flaps , the dislocation of which are indeed zero risk with PRK (since there aren't any created to begin with). Obviously any surgical procedure has some risk.
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Apr 22, 2015 04:34
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