About to get Lasik, would love some re-assurance...

I hope this is the right area for this topic...

I just had my consultation for Lasik surgery yesterday and they said I'm a prime candidate for it, very thick corneas, healthy eyes, vision hasn't changed in 3 years, I'm 25 and my prescription isn't that bad to begin with, just significant enough astigmatism to keep me in glasses 100% of the time.

I had no doubts this was the right thing for me going into my evaluation, my mother and one of my sisters have both had it done as well as various friends, all talk nothing but positive for it.

Then my other sister, who works at a clinic started getting me nervous telling me about the numerous patients she sees who had complications from their surgery... so I started researching it more and it seems that the vast majority of people have no complications in the long term, but some people still do.

I really can't stand my glasses or contacts... my contacts dry up my eyes within hours, I've tried various brands, none seem to work for me, the only ones I haven't tried yet are GP "hard" lenses.

Obviously I think Lasik would greatly help my photography and just daily life in general, but now I'm getting nervous about it. I'm scheduled to go in on Monday to have it done, but I'm very nearly calling them to cancel.

Talk me into having it, please!

If I were going to do this, I'd do my non-dominant eye first and see how it went. This procedure has been around awhile, and while they should know how to do it if it goes wrong you're screwed. I'd also get it done at the best place possible, I'd do a lot of research and questioning before I made a commitment. I see a lot of TV ads for "two eyes for the price of one" and "free consultation" that frankly, scare the crap out of me. I hope people are not making medical choices of what I believe to be critical bodily systems based on lowest bidder. That said, I would not do this unless it were a last ditch effort to save my vision.

I'm with Rick. I'm pretty cautious with critical things like my vision.

However, with that being said, I know tons of people that have had it done and they are nothing but happy with the results.

Bryan

EverydayGetaway wrote in post #16860468
I just had my consultation for Lasik surgery yesterday and they said I'm a prime candidate for it, very thick corneas, healthy eyes, vision hasn't changed in 3 years, I'm 26 and my prescription isn't that bad to begin with, just significant enough astigmatism to keep me in glasses 100% of the time.

I had this done more than 10 years ago and I still have perfect vision. I have never regretted having it done.

I would say the risk of losing your vision with this surgery these days is about the same as losing your vision because your camera battery shorted out & exploded.
You aren't going to avoid every activity that has some element of risk to it are you? You probably took a greater risk to your vision & your life by simply driving to the appointment.

I'm not worried about going blind, that pretty much never happens anymore, but I am worried about decreased night vision, increased flaring, loss of detailed vision compared with how I see with glasses now and dryness.

I too have only had people tell me their positive stories, but the negatives are still out there... I know it's mostly because when someone has a bad experience they're much more compelled to share their story, but it still makes me a little nervous.

The plan I'm getting basically insures my eyes for life, any adjustments that need to be done post surgery will be done for free. I know they also do one eye at a time regardless, but I don't know if it's necessary or recommended to do one, let it heal, then go back and do the other.

Anyone else want to chime in? All my friends and family (aside from one of my sisters) are saying go for it.

I thought about doing this.... but then I really don't want to know just how bad my pictures are......

Point-n-shoot-n wrote in post #16863092
I thought about doing this.... but then I really don't want to know just how bad my pictures are......

No. You just leave it to the rest of us to suffer.

To the OP: modern lasik surgery is quite safe, and everyone I know who had it done loves it.

As for me, I'm in the process of getting cataract surgery done (one eye down and one to go). It was either get the surgery or paint my cane white. I chose the surgery.

I had lasic surgery about 8 years ago, and it's the best thing I've ever done for myself. No problems with night vision at all, and my eyesight is still perfect. Go to a reputable and experienced doctor and don't worry at all.

I know two people that had this done, one just last week. The other was years ago and I seem to recall that it didn't go smoothly.

I saw this article when researching which turned me off from LASIK:

http://www.doctoroz.co​m …s/hard-look-lasik-surgery

I believe that most optical defects are psychosomatic, so even if you cut away part of the cornea, the problem will eventually return because you didn't address the cause of the problem.

I have two optometrists in my family....(sister in law and her husband) and both if them still wear glasses. I was told if I had the surgery I would probably need to use eye drops on a very repeatable basis. I have great night vision and don't want to lose it, either.

I've got friends who had he surgery and swear by it....I also have friends who have uber dry eyes, one who sees halos at night (still after three years), one whose vision is much better, but kind of hazy, as she describes it.

I've not got it done because, as it's been said before, I like my vision. I could win a lawsuit if something happened, but I'd still be blind....for now, I don't mind having to it something on or in front of my eyes.

frugivore wrote in post #16864402
I know two people that had this done, one just last week. The other was years ago and I seem to recall that it didn't go smoothly.

I saw this article when researching which turned me off from LASIK:

http://www.doctoroz.co​m …s/hard-look-lasik-surgery

I believe that most optical defects are psychosomatic, so even if you cut away part of the cornea, the problem will eventually return because you didn't address the cause of the problem.

I've seen this page, it''s what started my doubts, but honestly it's been really the only strong piece of evidence against it. I've actually found far more about how damaging contacts can be to your eyes than lasik (I considered doing ortho-K also).

I had worn contacts for years up until last year, the constant redness, eye infections and dry eyes were too much for me to handle, the last straw was when I rubbed my eye gently one day and one of my lenses rotated underneath my eyelid and I couldn't get it back out for several hours... my eye hurt for days.

Then with glasses I'm constantly aware that their on, I know some people get so used to them that they don't even think about them... I simply can't. No matter what I do I can never seem to keep them clean, constantly have smudges in front of my eyes. I coach gymnastics in the evenings and glasses are a huge hassle here since every time I need to demonstrate something they fly off, then there are those rare ocasions where a kid will smack the side of my head when I'm spotting them... I've already broken two pairs of glasses this way.

The biggest thing is that I have several hobbies that my vision just completely gets in the way of, airsoft, mountain biking, tumbling and perhaps biggest of all is photography.

I do think the pros outweigh the cons, but it still makes me nervous. So far the only stories against it I've heard anywhere have been third person, while I've heard lots of positive things from first person people like in this thread already... has anyone on this forum had a negative experience?

The doctor I'm scheduled with is one of the top surgeons in MD, Dr. Sonny Goel... so far I haven't found any negative press for him either.

frugivore wrote in post #16864402
...I believe that most optical defects are psychosomatic, ...

I don't think this word means what you think it means.

Had mine done 12 years ago when the drivers license staff still were not sure about what to do about corrective lenses required for driving.

I had very poor vision without glasses or contacts, so I was one who grabbed my glasses first thing upon getting out of bed and took them off last thing. I had issues with wearing contacts riding my bike, motorcycle and anything that may get a dust peck in my eye.

Today I still have glasses for reading, computer work and at times for driving, but overall I have no other issues and I am so happy to have had this done since it gave me a bit more freedom with some of my hobbies and activities.

If your vision is only moderately bad then I'd maybe pass on the surgery, but if you depend upon corrective lenses for everything you do, I'd definitely recommend it. I had more issues with dry eyes before the surgery due to contact lenses, and my night vision is fine.

I did it 10 years ago and my vision is still perfect. If my vision started to go again, I would get the surgery done all over again. There's nothing like being able to see when you wake up. No glasses, contacts or squinting. Just incredible

RandyMN wrote in post #16864595
Had mine done 12 years ago when the drivers license staff still were not sure about what to do about corrective lenses required for driving.

I had very poor vision without glasses or contacts, so I was one who grabbed my glasses first thing upon getting out of bed and took them off last thing. I had issues with wearing contacts riding my bike, motorcycle and anything that may get a dust peck in my eye.

Today I still have glasses for reading, computer work and at times for driving, but overall I have no other issues and I am so happy to have had this done since it gave me a bit more freedom with some of my hobbies and activities.

If your vision is only moderately bad then I'd maybe pass on the surgery, but if you depend upon corrective lenses for everything you do, I'd definitely recommend it. I had more issues with dry eyes before the surgery due to contact lenses, and my night vision is fine.

My vision isn't horrible, but it's enough that I have to wear glasses for everything, can't legally drive without them (even though I think I could). I could probably function fine without them, but not being able to tell who someone is when they're 20 feet from me is bad enough for me to want the surgery. My prescription is only negative 1.25 or something if I remember right, but I also have a pretty bad astigmatism in both eyes which causes the night halos and flares that everyone talks about being side effects from lasik anyway... so basically theoretically the worst case scenario would leave me with the same issues I have no only sharper day vision, the problem is that apparently if you have issues there's no way to correct it after lasik, even with glasses if I've read right... which makes me a little nervous since I do for sure see better at night with my glasses now (though still not great).

I share the same hobbies as you it seems, and that's exactly my problem. I've had numerous eye infections from small particles getting into my eyes, I've tried at least 5 different brands and none really work for me. One of my sisters is urging me to try GP or ortho-K lenses, but I feel like those would be worse since my eyes get bothered by blinking even with regular soft lenses... my other sister had lasik done 10 years ago and loves the results, so has my mother even longer ago than that.

Dsully wrote in post #16864598
I did it 10 years ago and my vision is still perfect. If my vision started to go again, I would get the surgery done all over again. There's nothing like being able to see when you wake up. No glasses, contacts or squinting. Just incredible

That's the other thing, the plan my doctor is giving me basically insures my eyes for life. If my vision gets worse and is at all correctable they will do it again for me for free, he did say though that eventually I will become far-sighted and that there's nothing they can do for that, it'd happen with or without the lasik surgery, but being that I'm 25 I won't have to worry about that for several decades.