LASIK - Is it the miracle it’s cracked up to be?
I’d been contemplating the Lasik eye procedure for several years. For those living under a rock that past few decades, this is a surgical procedure that reshapes the cornea in order to “fix” near or far-sightedness.
For those that have battled glasses or contacts for a lifetime, the thought of not having to deal with that nightmare is enticing. Now that I’ve taken the plunge, I’ve found that the experience is not really what I expected.
Before the surgery my eyesight was extremely poor. Heavy astigmatism compounded with extreme nearsightedness made me one of the millions of people that had to have corrective eyewear to function at any level 100% of my waking hours.
Those that wear glasses know the routine. After years, you just get used to dealing with the issues. Your brain compensates to tolerate the fact that unless you clean your glasses at regular intervals all day you just kind of live in a world where you can see sharply, but have to do it through a little bit of fog, or that damned eyelash, or that scratch that mysteriously appeared a week after dropping $300.00 (after insurance) for your new specs.
As an astigmatism sufferer, contacts have always been tough. My vision with contacts (soft or hard) has never been as good as with glasses. The astigmatism causes you to have to wear the toric type of lense which means it has to stay in the same position at all times or your vision starts to soften or get blurry. Even though there have been advances in toric lenses in the past decade or so, it’s still not a great science. I had to go through 2 or 3 sets of trial toric contacts to get a pair that was somewhat acceptable ending up with two lenses of different brands. This was a process with my optometrist that went on for about 8 weeks before getting something halfway workable. Even then, they always move a little and you rarely have the “perfect” balance of good vision.
Probably the last piece of motivation I had to actually get evaluated for Lasik was my optometrist recommending it. I was shocked. I asked him straight out how much he got paid for the referral. I mean, if Lasik is the vision miracle, doesn’t that put him out of business eventually?
He told me that if I wanted to live a glasses free life, it was going to have to be with Lasik because with my vision that I was never going to get the level of correction I wanted with contacts, even with toric lenses.
It was two years later before I finally decided to actually go ahead with it. I think the final nails in the coffin were the cost of the procedure dropping dramatically along with testimonials from personal friends that had touted the procedure to be as close to a “miracle” as they had experienced – and literally overnight.
What the hell, what did I have to lose besides my vision and a couple thousand dollars?
There are several types of Lasik as well as the old fashioned PRK procedure where they literally get to slice and dice your eyes up. I opted for the latest “advancement” Wavefront Lasik.
It’s easier than you may think. You are awake through the entire procedure. It takes about 10 minutes for both eyes and there is no pain. There is a fairly high discomfort factor with it, though.
This mainly comes from the metal clamps they slide underneath your eyelids to force them open followed by the actually slicing of the top layer of the eye off, which is literally like watching and feeling the pressure of someone using a pair of tweezers to cut and suck part of your eye off. In some cases, having a part of your body sucked off is a fairly pleasant experience. This does not apply to your eye.
Before the procedure I had to watch a video about what to expect, post op instructions and so forth. I’ve actually seen the video several times now (more on that later) but I believe my favorite part is the warning that “during the procedure you may smell a burning odor. This is normal and caused by the laser reshaping your cornea.” I love it. That smell is us burning your eyes! Who could resist that offer for a fun afternoon?
From the deal, I got a kick ass new cheap canvas bag, some free pens, new eyes and I was home in time for dinner. The difference in your vision is immediate. In fact, as the laser is clicking away at your eyes you can actually notice the light above you coming more into focus. Afterwords you’re fuzzy but you can see a lot better. The fogginess, halos and “twinkling” effect of bright lights, a common side effect, almost completely go away after a few weeks. Though 7 months later there is still slight halo effect in some conditions. Hardly noticeable most of the time, though.
The problems really started as my eyes began to heal. I was seeing well enough to function and drive, but I was really still struggling to read street signs. My vision at specific distances seemed fine, but ultimately, I was not completely comfortable with my new vision. My right eye was still poor compared to my left and if I closed either, reading anything at a distance was impossible.
On subsequent followups, my vision never got to 20/20. I was told that this was normal, and the cost of the procedure included free “enhancements.” I thought this meant in the original contract that if my eyes changed over the years, I could have the surgery redone. What it really means is that if they can’t nail your vision down the first time, they get do overs. They got their first do over on my right eye 3 months after the initial surgery.
The enhancement, while the same procedure, was not nearly as bad. It was a lot quicker. The side effects were minimal compared to the initial procedure and the improvement by the next morning was striking. The vision in my right eye while driving was darned near perfect. I was pleased.
It was a few weeks before I really started noticing that I was having trouble reading. I’ve NEVER had trouble reading. I was near-sighted.
Meanwhile, my left eye was still pretty much in a state where I could read fine close up, but the distance vision was rough. When I renewed my drivers license, I had to retake the eye exam and only got through it by squinting like hell. Without the squinting, I couldn’t even make out distinct letters on the eye chart with my left eye.
At this point, it was like my eyes belonged to two different people. There was no “sweet spot” for my vision anymore. At any distance where I had sharp vision with my right eye, my left eye was blurry as hell and vice versa. Up close, my left eye was perfect, by my right eye made reading and using a computer difficult. In many cases, it was noticeably disorienting.
Turns out that my right eye was suffering from some over-correction. In other words, they fixed the near-sightedness in it, but made me far-sighted. A risk that admittedly was disclosed before the initial procedures.
After several followups I had a choice to make. I could go forward and have the left eye enhanced as well fixing my nearsightedness completely, but at least not endangering my ability to drive, especially at night, but risk over-correction and send me directly into reading glasses years before I would probably need them, or I could do nothing and live with what I had.
Ultimately, I decided that reading glasses were going to be easier to live with than having to start using glasses to drive at night, so I decided to have them take one more shot with the laser and hope that their accuracy with the blaster was slightly better than an Imperial Stormtrooper’s.
My left eye enhancement was about 10 hours ago. The 10 mg of valium they give you before the procedures kicked in hard this time so I crashed for 6 hours afterwords at home. When I woke up my vision was good. Immediate improvement in my left eye. It appears that my distance vision and driving issues may be solved. So far, I’m still good close up with the left. I may be able to avoid reading glasses.
Unfortunately, the healing process of the eye is going to change my vision for several weeks, so it remains possible that there is some over-correction that is going to crop up with the left eye.
So why even tell this long dull story? For those considering Lasik, don’t expect miracles. The man behind the laser isn’t Board Certified Opthamologist Dr. Jesus H. Christ and you aren’t a poor leper. There are risks and potential drawbacks that I didn’t consider.
However, I have been asking myself the question for months now. Would I do it over knowing what I know now?
The answer is absolutely, I would do this again. You can’t underestimate how incredibly good the freedom from glasses and contacts is until you experience it. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to watch TV or read in bed and not have to worry about waking up on top of a pair of broken frames.
It’s very nice to not get to work and suddenly realize there’s an eyelash or dust particle stuck underneath your contact lense and have to dick around with it in a public restroom. It’s a new experience to be able to go into a swimming pool and still be able to see.
Some disappointements, but no regrets. If you are considering Lasik, don’t expect the miracle cure, but it is a safe and effective procedure. Count me in the 95% of people that have it that are pleased with the results…even if I could be just a little bit more pleased than I had hoped.
Technorati 
Del.icio.us 
StumbleUpon 
Digg 
Facebook 
Mixx 
Reddit
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
3 Responses to “LASIK - Is it the miracle it’s cracked up to be?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
December 11th, 2008 at 10:27 am
I’d say, I’m happy you seem to have come out on top — any follow up — but this might have scared me off for awhile. I really hate just having anyone else work on my car(s) so having someone cut me open or do anything to me scares me half to death. I think if I wait another 5 years it could be even more advanced.
December 11th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
ive had 2 friends get it done, there also happy.
but also scared as hell about going blind.
it takes balls to have some body zapp the very thing you need to aim your punch at the DR. that fuked up
December 12th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
One week out from the enhancement and my vision is 20/20 and the best it’s been since the original surgery. My left eye will still change as it heals, so hopefully it will stay that way. Right now, I’m as close to “thrilled” with the results of the surgery since I had it. Still worth it, even if we didn’t get it right on the first shot.