LASIK eye surgery

I have recently tested and set up an appointment to correct my
nearsightedness with the latest in laser eye surgery. Was wondering
if anyone on the list has had this same surgery and results, good or
bad. I understand there is a week or so where the eyes are very
sensitive to light and in my concern reflections from bright objects
for example off polished jewelery or working on or around high
polished stones. Any experiences would be appreciated, I remember a
string on this last year or so but I believe it was on RK surgery.
Thanks to all. Chuck

I am very near sighted and inquired about the same procedure you’re
talking about (I think). I was told that I was a good candidate for it
but there was a very good chance I would lose my extreme close vision
after the operation. Best of luck.

Leda

Chuck: A good place to go to request from patients who’ve
had LASIK is the News group alt.lasik-eyes (If you don’t know how to
access News groups through the Internet, let me know off line and I’ll
share with you how to do this.)

You may also want to go to http://www.goodeyedoc.com and click on the
“Ask Dr. Conger” button. Dr. Conger has a lot of useful information
about LASIK on his site and he answers questions free of charge
through e-mail at the “Ask Dr. Conger” page. You can also see his
actual LASIK surgery results on his site. Many LASIK surgeons don’t
do this because they don’t all have such good results to report.

In any case you should ask for a report of LASIK results from the
ophthalmologist you are considering. This will tell you how many
LASIK procedures s/he has done and whether they were successful or
not. These reports don’t give out identifying the
patient, but tell you what the patient’s vision was before and after
the procedure and whether there were any complications.

As an individual who spent 8 years managing the team that checks the
credentials of health care providers at the oldest and largest
cooperative health care organization in the US, I am very careful to
check the credentials and quality assurance records of any health care
provider that will be treating me and I will not go to a provider who
won’t give me access to her/his results.

Best regards,
Elizabeth Paulsen

Chuck, I just had high tech LASIK surgery done 6 weeks ago to correct
my nearsightedness(spell check informs me I’ve just made up a new
word). I’ve been very near sighted for 39 years and my close vision
had started going bad about 3 years ago yet I didn’t want to be a full
time bifocal glasses wearer. I could only have the nearsightedness
corrected and I still need to carry around reading glasses. I knew
this ahead of time and chose to get the distance vision corrected so
I’d never need to deal with contacts again. Also I had tried the
various kinds of contacts to try to correct both near and far but this
didn’t work for me. The procedure went very well. I feel i can see
much better than my contacts corrected because it also corrected most
of my astigmatism. There was only discomfort (pain?, not exactly pain)
for the first 5 hours. Your vision is blurry the first day, clears
pretty well the second day and then improves a little every day for a
week or so. I could see to drive and pass a drivers vision test the
morning after the procedure. My vision now is 20/25 in one eye and
20/15 in the other. So together they work as 20/20 and I personally
cannot tell which eye is which. It would be possible to go right back
to work the day after, but I’d advise taking the day off to get used
to the vision. Also you’ll want to keep dust and debri away from your
eyes for a few weeks. It would be better to wear goggles if you’re
buffing or grinding. You should anyway, right? There was only slight
sensitivity to light in my case and only in the very bright sunlight.
I’d say I’m now not having any sensitiviy to sunlight. I am not
bothered by reflections or glare. When driving at night the lights on
other cars and street lights do have a sort of halo look to them but
I can look right at the lights and they do not appear too bright. I
see the halo only when looking directly at a white light. Colored
lights look normal to me. As a car approaches and gets closer and I
see it more peripherally instead of straight on, the halo disappears.
I only notice this outside when it’s dark. Inside the house lights and
reflections and glare are no different than before. About a week ago I
went into a department store and spent $20 for a pair of sunglasses
that had a reading lens at the bottom. It was the neatest thing to be
able to wear sunglasses, read a map and still see to drive. Now I can
go into Walmart and spend about $12 for reading glasses and I won’t
need to buy contacts, or cleaners and solutions, or spend money on
checkups. (I’m rationalizing spending money on the LASIK procedure :slight_smile:
It’s still a big consideration because some people can have problems.
I’m pleased with my results. Write me if you have any other
questions.

Annette
readwow@stringfields.com

Regarding this surgery; my husband is a physician and won’t let me
have it done, stating that it hasn’t yet become an exacting enough
process to insure a positive outcome. One of his partners had the
procedure, and several weeks later lost the sight in one eye and it
was a few weeks before he could return to work. Subsequently, he has
had ongoing problems with infections and is not a happy camper. It
might be wiser not to take any chances with your vision
until the art becomes more of a science! Just my 2 cents. Susan

You are right, but any corrective laser surgery for nearsightedness
will have that same effect. Laser surgery of any kind changes the
curvature of the cornea and therefore changes the refractive power of
the eye. I am over 40 years old and now need reading glasses to see
up close. I am quite jealous of my nearsighted friends who remove
their eyeglasses to read menus. While maybe not so good in your off
the job hours, your nearsightedness can be a plus for you in your
professional life as a jeweler. Good luck. Bette Lee

I had LASIK two years ago and I still love it! I initially had a bit
of a halo effect surrounding lights at night, but it faded after a
couple weeks. The only aspect of my surgery that could be considered a
problem is focusing on objects that are close to my face. This has
occasionally been a concern at the bench, but nothing that the
Optivisor can’t fix. I had an excellent doctor that I had complete
confidence in and I would never want to go back to contact lenses and
glasses again.

Best of luck. Let me know if you have any other questions that I may
be able to answer for you.

Ann

My sister and some friends who had already undergone the surgery
highly recommends it. So I’m all convinced to have my Lasik surgery
done in a few weeks time too. One thing good about having it done
here in my country, Philippines, is that the operation will only cost
you Php 25,000.00 per eye (conversion rate of US$ 1.00 = Php 48.00).
That’s why a lot of foreigners come over here not only to take
advantage of paying a low price but they get to travel, enjoy their
vacation and relax at the same time. Philippines is known to be the
haven for beautiful, pristine white beaches like Boracay, El Nido,
Amanpulo, and lots more. Anyway, I just thought of sharing this with
all of you.

Have a nice day!
@Lissa_Barretto

Hello all! My wife and I are in our late forties. As you know I am a
jeweler who needs to see well! I have had 20/20 at least, all my
life. I have been using an optivisor for the last fifteen years, only
to assist in seeing better what I am doing. For the past 2 or three
years the magnification has become necessary. I have 20/20 by the DMV
chart (when I last got my license) but do now need magnification for
close work.

My wife had LASIK surgery a few months ago. It was miraculous for
her! Neither of us has ever needed reading glasses. She lost just
enough of her close vision to cause her occasional use of readers.
Being able to see the world around her was a big improvement. She
gladly picks up a pair of glasses when she needs them. Proceed
cautiously when evaluating who to operate on your eyes. The doctor
she worked with met with her twice before doing the surgery on her
third visit. She had a prior consultation with another doctor. Be
fussy! Get the most knowledgeable, caring, and recommended, doctor
you can.

Tim

Hello Chuck –

I have not had this surgery, but my sister and brother-in-law both
have and both are thrilled with the results. My sister is a dental
hygienist and wood carver for fun and it has made her life
considerably easier. Her biggest concern was / is not getting foreign
’stuff’ in her eyes, but she wears good eye protection in her work and
that keeps her safe. The bright lights were a concern early on, but
that went away over a fairly short timeperiod. If I remember
correctly, bright lights on the road while driving at night were the
key problem.

Laura @LWiesler

I’m near-sighted.

I started to think about lazik but decided against it since it’s so
useful being able to focus close up without my glasses and lenses. If
I wear contacts I find I need reading glasses and a magnifier for
small work. This really isn’t as good as being able to put a piece
three inches from my nose and being able to see all the small marks
and scratches. It’s a great benefit when I’m setting small stones as
well.

Nevertheless it would be great to be able to do without glasses and
lenses for most of the time.

Since alt.lasik-eyes isn’t available on either of my newservers I’m
wondering if others could post here with their experiences.

Would that be OK Oh Great Keeper of Ganoksin - or is it too off
topic?

Tony Konrath

Gold and Stone
tony@goldandstone.com
www.goldandstone.com

** Hanuman’s Response **

Health and Safety issues are welcome on Orchid :slight_smile:
Hanuman

Maggie, Iam thinking of the procedure for myself and wondered if
wearing your visor all day effects the correction that lasik did?I
wear contacts a visor and glasses to read. Thanks J Morley

    Maggie, Iam thinking of the procedure for myself and wondered
if wearing your visor all day effects the correction that lasik
did?I wear contacts a visor and glasses to read. 

The visor is only adding magnification, not visual “correction”.

I wear contacts and used to use the visor exclusively for jewelry
work. I found the Optivisor to have two drawbacks in all day use:

  1. Headaches

  2. The “Hairstyle-by-Optivisor” effect. :slight_smile:

Since going to reading glasses for (most) jewelry work, I’m a
headache-free, happy camper.

Pam Chott
www.songofthephoenix.com

Chuck, I had lasik surgery in December 1999. I am very happy I had the
surgery done. I had very very poor eyesight and had to wear very
thick glasses, all the time and to even think of getting out of bed.
What prompted me to get this done was I was a passenger in a car, and
one lens dropped out. I really freaked out, could not get oriented,
could not see and made my husband go home immediately, so I could get
other glasses. The surgery was easy as far as surgical procedures go.
Really no pain, just uncomfortable. It took a total of 42 minutes
from the time I walked into the office, did paper work, sat in the
chair, had procedure done, rested for a few minutes and then had a
post op exam. One of the things that I had the doctor do for me in a
pre op exam was to show me how the vision would be without glasses, I
also tried the scenario of one “nearsighted” eye and one "farsighted"
eye, to see if the would be a solutions for me. It was not for me,
but by trying this, I knew which way to go. I went home and rested
after surgery (actually fell asleep in a lounge chair) and felt fine
after awakening… I had to wear shields (clear) over my eyes, but
could still see through them, at night to keep me from rubbing
without knowing it. The next day I DROVE TO THE DOCTORS OFFICE
WITHOUT GLASSES. I had been wearing them since I was 7. It was a
whole new feeling. My vision kept improving with each day. I now have
20/20, but do have to wear reading glasses. It is a small price to
pay to see “like everyone else” . I can go to the pharmacy and get
glasses there or to the local optometrist for 2.5 magnifiers. BUT the
BEST is being able to go out in the rain and not having spots before
my eyes. There are lots of other benefits, too numerous to go into
here. I do wear optivisors for jewelry work. The one thing that you
will have to get adjusted to at the beginning, but it goes away with
time, is that the bright lights at night seem to have a halo around
them. I did not drive at night for the first month, but after that
it was better each and every day. Take a look out of your glasses
when driving, I think that you never thought about the "starbursts"
that are created in the nights at night. I was only observing this
when I was thinking about the surgery and weighing my options. I think
this is a wonderful surgery and very liberating.

Beth Katz