# LASIK surgery



## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

Some of you may have noticed that I have once again been absent from here... 

This time it was for a very good thing: I got LASIK surgery last week.

I have wanted to do this for a very long time, largely because I hate being dependent upon glasses or contacts. The reason I put this on here is because I see people worrying about having supplies of medications and such, but I wonder if people have been considering their eyesight. What happens if your glasses break? What happens if you run out of contacts or solution? 

It takes a week for your eyes to heal enough to go back to normal activities, two to three weeks for the halo effect to disappear completely at night, and up to six weeks for the prescription to optimize. A week after the surgery, my eyesight is almost 20/15. It should stabilize around there. I am supposed to use eyedrops twice a day for the next three months to prevent dry eyes, but then I can stop using them, or sooner if I don't have a problem.

It wasn't cheap. I could have bought myself quite an armory for the price. But I am less dependent upon manufactured goods, and that is always a good thing.


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

Good for you. Glad you are back.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

Turtle said:


> It wasn't cheap. I could have bought myself quite an armory for the price. But I am less dependent upon manufactured goods, and that is always a good thing.


Obviously not old enough to need reading glasses


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

Turtle;

I hope you enjoy your new sight.

I need to let people know this so here goes;

I was very serious about LASIK, till I talked with the eye surgeon that was going to do the surgery. He recommended that I don't get the surgery. He said that most people have to have it redone every 5-10 years, because eyes continuely change as you get older. And if you need bi or tri focals you will still need to wear glasses. At $4000 for the surgery I can buy all the eye glasses I need. 

Don't get me wrong, I think LASIK is very good if your young (20-30). I know several people my age (50-60) that are complaining about it now.

As a side note, I'm near sighted and found that through my 50's my eyes are getting better. My eye surgeon said that some near sighted people see better as they get older because aging normally causes far sightedness, which slowly brings them back to 20/20 vision. This is about the only good thing about getting older.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

I had it done about 10 years ago and haven't regretted it ... ever! No more fogging glasses or dirty glasses or scratched glasses. I can wear sunglasses as needed. I can see the clock when I wake up in the morning instead of waking up then putting on my glasses to see what time it was.

True, I need reading glasses but I had bifocals before and nearly killed myself falling down stairs because of them. I never did get used to going up/down with them on. Now I can at least see in the distance clearly. Before I needed glasses to see in the distance and up close.

The prescription change over time hasn't been a problem. After about 30 my eyes were stable and have remained so since. The ony thing I'd do differently is check into the operations where they insert corrective lenses in your eye instead of cutting the lense as in LASIK surgery. That way they can change it later if need be.

I had mine done in Canada one January. It was their slow time and they ran specials. It cost about a third of what it would have cost in the U.S. I'll be 58 this year.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Turtle, what was your prescription before your surgery? Mine is pretty strong, around 20/400 or something just about as bad. Needless to say I'm pretty handicapped without my glasses! I pay extra for the thin-ground lenses so they're lighter and look nicer.

As MosquitoMountainMan's wife I can attest to how well the Lasik has worked out for him. I have such a strong 'blink' reflex that I've been afraid to go through it myself.

Thanks for sharing this, Turtle. It's a good investment in preparedness! Good luck!


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

I know folks who swear by LASIK but there's no way in the world I'll have it done. I can't see 2 feet in front of my face without classes or contacts. I get the extended wear 6 months at a time and use them in about a year. I'm slowly stocking up. My eyes really haven't changed much in the last few years at all so I'm comfortable doing this.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

mosquitomountainman said:


> I had it done about 10 years ago and haven't regretted it ... ever! No more fogging glasses or dirty glasses or scratched glasses. I can wear sunglasses as needed. I can see the clock when I wake up in the morning instead of waking up then putting on my glasses to see what time it was.
> 
> True, I need reading glasses but I had bifocals before and nearly killed myself falling down stairs because of them. I never did get used to going up/down with them on. Now I can at least see in the distance clearly. Before I needed glasses to see in the distance and up close.
> 
> ...


MMM;

I'm very glad that the LASIK has worked out for. My eyes were stable for about 30 years and then 5 years ago my eyes started changing again, luckily my eyes have gotten better. I have had 3 changes in my subscription since then.


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## AlabamaGal (Dec 27, 2011)

I had LASEK some years back, which is a variation of the same thing with no flap (but takes longer to heal). The doc did all 3 kinds but said he recommended LASEK as the better long term option *if* the patient was willing to deal with the significantly longer healing period. They made me sign all kinds of papers saying I understood that the surgery does *not* cure or prevent presbyopia, and you *are* going to have to wear reading glasses when you get older, but the doc said they still got people who didn't get it and came back in unhappy when they were 45. He also didn't like to do people under 25 because often they did have to have adjustments in the future.

GypsySue, you can't blink during the surgery, and you don't even want to since you feel absolutely nothing. And in LASEK, you can't see diddly either after they detach the epithelium. I was very nervous but it was only 15-20 minutes and I had an _awesome_ team including a nurse/surgical assistant who kept me calm and informed through the whole thing. The only unpleasant part was them rinsing my eyes with ice cold water, which did not feel fun on my sinuses. I believe the folks in the viewing room had a much more traumatic experience than I. 

My prescription was MUCH worse than yours, but ultimately the real determiner of whether or not you are a candidate is the thickness of your cornea compared to how much they'd have to remove.

$4000 Tweeto? Good heavens. Mine was $850/eye.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Turtle said:


> Some of you may have noticed that I have once again been absent from here...
> 
> This time it was for a very good thing: I got LASIK surgery last week.


:2thumb: Yay for you! :2thumb:

I have most definitely thought of preparedness in terms of eyecare, and for that very reason would love to do Lasik and not be dependent on eyewear (or at least, not as dependent as I am now). My mother and my ex have both had it done, and are very, very happy with it. But the finances just aren't there.

Three of us have eye correction, and this past month we've updated all prescriptions. In a couple months I'm going to get updated prescriptions put in older glasses that I've held on to, so that we all have back-ups.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Welcome back Turtle!


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## Salekdarling (Aug 15, 2010)

That is great news Turtle! I'd love to get Lasik done as I am completely dependant on my glasses or contacts. I can't see a foot in front of me, everything's a blur. Right now the whole lack of money thing just won't let that happen. I was even offered $300 off of the surgery for being LEO but that's just not enough! Saving's the game, I guess.


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## Immolatus (Feb 20, 2011)

Congrats! Heres to hopin everything goes perfectly!

The girl could use it, but shes deathly afraid. I totally understand her position, but I think I would have to consider it if I needed it.


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

I'm in that 50-60 year age range ... had LASIK done years and years ago .... had bad vision including bi-fogels .... 20/20 correction ..... small print/map reading .... no side effects .... read the evening newspaper 3 hours after surgery ..... never had any kind of previous surgery before LASIK ..... it was a breeze .....


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

I hate to sound like a broken record, but... 

I'm back!  (I'll address that issue elsewhere)

After three months, everything has worked out really well and my eyesight has stabilized at slightly better than 20/20.

Regarding those who have had to use reading glasses, I was advised of the same issue. I am currently 32 years old, and they told me that odds were good that I would need reading glasses eventually, anyhow. My father is 63; he had LASIK at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins (the best in the country) twenty years ago, and he has just begun to use reading glasses, and only sometimes. If I get thirty years of perfect vision out of this, it works for me.


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