Advice from post-LASIK people?
Ben and Elaine Southern
correct I get incredible headaches. I hate my glasses, but at least my
vision is corrected without the headaches. I have a prescription of -4.25 in
each eye. I have been myoptic most of my life. Should I consider having
LASIK? My doctor says I am an excellent candidate for the surgery. I really
would like to have it done, but it is a lot of money.
Another question: With contacts I noticed that everything looks bigger--does
that happen with LASIK? I've found that to be really disorienting.
Any help you could give me would be so appreciated. Thank you!
Elaine S.
Marilyn Dunckel
>There are a lot of risks and complications to Lasik. Be careful. Look
at
>the web site "eye know why refractive surgeons wear glasses"
>http://members.aol.com/eyeknowwhy/index.htm
>
>I wish I had learned more before I proceeded. I probably would not have
>had the lasik, or any refractive procedure, done. I am being honest.
>This is not for everyone. Please see my story below. I never believed
>those warnings on the disclosure form I signed could actually happen
to
>me.
>
>Personal Experience:
>I had lasik surgery in December 98, and so did my husband. We have not
>been happy. Our expectations were high. We both had great vision with
>contacts (soft, for my husband) and hard (for me, for 32 years).
>Both of our lasik surgeries went smoothly. However, I have had flap
>complications which have resulted in a loss in my best corrected vision
>with glasses. It has been horrible to try to get along . Even with
>glasses, I am not correctable to 20/20. I have been told ( by a
>respected academic corneal specialist) that my problem may not go
>away. I will only be able to see well with hard contacts. I have also
>been told (by my original surgeon) that it may improve with time.
>Right now, I am attempting to get a proper fit with soft lenses. This
is
>a very big deal. I have been miserable and depressed. I have been
living
>in an Impressionist painting for almost six months. I have always
loved
>the Impressionists, but don't want to live in an Impressionistic world.
>My vision is like a camera, slightly out of focus. This can not be
fixed
>with "enhancements". Learn as much as possible about what it is like
to
>see even if you get only to 20/40 (this is often the standard
>considered as success in research studies). I have 20/40, but the image
>is faint, and double. Poor quality vision.
>The American Academy of Ophthalmology is doing a video on lasik for
>doctors to buy for patient information. ( I participated in production
>of this video). But, remember, even in this informational video they
>can't be too blunt about the risks and complications or doctors will
not
>want to use it in their offices. Most doctors doing this surgery want
>you to proceed. They may promise great vision, My husband and I were
>both verbally promised 20/20 or 20/25, and told that it would be better
>than with our vision with contacts.
>Some advice: Check out how many lasik procedures your doctor has
>performed. Even if your doctor is an experienced surgeon and well
>regarded, he/she needs to have done at least 100 before you use that
>doctor. (Some would say 50 is enough.)
>Remember, you only have one pair of eyes, and this is irreversible.
>Comments are welcome.
>Marilyn
>
Glenn Hagele - Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance
>What I've been telling people who ask is this. LASIK is not about getting
>better vision (unless one has problems that aren't correctable with
>glasses/contacts). It's about getting rid of dependency on
>glasses/contacts.
>
Here, here.
All potential patients should understand that refractive surgery
actual puts their current Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA) at risk
of becoming worse, however refractive surgery will in nearly all cases
make their Best Uncorrected Visual Acuity (BUVA) better.
It's not about clarity, it's about losing glasses and contacts.
Glenn Hagele
Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance
http://www.usaeyes.org
Leslie Perreaux
switching, not the contacts that is disorienting. I suspect if you (and I) get
lasik, the shrinkage factor will no longer exist because no more (we hope)
glasses.
Les
nos...@san.rr.com wrote:
> What I've been telling people who ask is this. LASIK is not about getting
> better vision (unless one has problems that aren't correctable with
> glasses/contacts). It's about getting rid of dependency on
> glasses/contacts.
>
> I suspect that if you find the size difference to be disorienting (I've
> noticed it, too, when switching between glasses and contacts) then you
> probably are more "demanding" of your vision than some people. You
> possibly will be dissatisfied with your vision after LASIK.
>
> ande at san dot rr dot com
Steve Davis
glasses that are placed far from the eye (because of a big schnoz?) make
images smaller. I would say that my pre-lasik lenses made things appear
about 20% smaller - this is a WAG (Wild Assed Guess). I was just
flabbergasted at the size of some things. It has taken me a while to get
used to this. Small things appeared much larger while things that I
assumed were very large - like my brother's back yard - appear smaller -
that is the boundaries (fences) now appear much larger or closer. My
entire depth perception has improved and I can now do things that
fustrated me no end before. I consider my lasik results to be fair -
not good and not bad. I needed glasses after 3 weeks due to some
residual astimatism. They are very thin and are now positive lenses
(convex). Things appear the same size without them to me.
Good luck if you decide to go ahead with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leslie Perreaux <les.pe...@sask1.com> wrote:
> I believe glasses shrink what you see by about 10 per cent. For me,
it's the
> switching, not the contacts that is disorienting. I suspect if you
(and I) get
> lasik, the shrinkage factor will no longer exist because no more (we
hope)
> glasses.
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---Share what you know. Learn what you don't.---
Darren Baker
Thursday. Vision has been excellent (20/20 in both eyes). I do see halos
around lights at night, but this will go away. Even if it didn't, I wouldn't
care because it's not that bothersome to me.
I'm 35 and have worn glasses and contacts for 20 years so I consider LASIK
nothing short of a miracle.
With a prescription of -4.25 in each eye, you really do sound like a perfect
candidate for a 20/20-ish outcome. Good luck!
Darren
Ben and Elaine Southern <benne...@jps.net> wrote in message
news:374b...@news1.jps.net...
> I have a real problem with wearing contacts. Even though the prescription
is
> correct I get incredible headaches. I hate my glasses, but at least my
> vision is corrected without the headaches. I have a prescription of -4.25
in
> each eye. I have been myoptic most of my life. Should I consider having
> LASIK? My doctor says I am an excellent candidate for the surgery. I
really
> would like to have it done, but it is a lot of money.
>
> Another question: With contacts I noticed that everything looks
bigger--does
> that happen with LASIK? I've found that to be really disorienting.
>
> Any help you could give me would be so appreciated. Thank you!
>
> Elaine S.
>
>
Dave Campbell
You don't say where you live but if you're close to the Canadian border, or
are in Canada, you can get LASIK or PRK at various places for about $1500 CDN,
or about 1000-1100 in real money(that's become a joke up here in Canada :) I had
PRK about three weeks ago and only paid $1000CDN. Except for a reaction to my
drops(and some resulting difficulties), things have gone very well, from -6
diopters, with a lot of astigmatism, to 20/20 left eye and 20/40 right eye. My
right eye still has a lot of healing to make up due to the drops. My topography
scan shows perfect, so the surgeon is quite confident all will turn out well in
a few weeks.
Dave
Paul Cuni
eye done I can tell you that the vision you see with contacts is
exactly what you see with lasik minus the night glare and dirty
contacts! My perscription was almost the same as yours. I never got
headaches from contacts though just tired eyes after a long day.
On Tue, 25 May 1999 13:51:56 -0700, "Ben and Elaine Southern"
<benne...@jps.net> wrote:
>I have a real problem with wearing contacts. Even though the prescription is
>correct I get incredible headaches. I hate my glasses, but at least my
>vision is corrected without the headaches. I have a prescription of -4.25 in
>each eye. I have been myoptic most of my life. Should I consider having
>LASIK? My doctor says I am an excellent candidate for the surgery. I really
>would like to have it done, but it is a lot of money.
>
>Another question: With contacts I noticed that everything looks bigger--does
>that happen with LASIK? I've found that to be really disorienting.
>
>Any help you could give me would be so appreciated. Thank you!
>
>Elaine S.
>
Try my web page at http://www.paulcuni.com
B. Trattler, MD
Please feel free to ask more questions at AskPhysicians.com. This
web site has almost 30 LASIK surgeons who will help answer your
questions. LASIK results in general are good, but just like driving a
car down the highway, there are risks. You need to carefully go over the
risks of LASIK before you make your decision. You should discuss the
pros and cons of LASIK with your surgeon.
I hope this is helpful. I can tell you I feel LASIK is a great
procedure, and my close friends and family members have had the
procedure. I am fortunate to not need glasses, but my partner who used
to have a prescription of -8.00 now is doing well without glasses
following LASIK.
Even though LASIK has wonderful results, I again urge you to discuss
your options carefully with your surgeon, as the risks of LASIK (although
small) will sometimes outweigh the benefits.
I hope this has been helpful
Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Sue
Darren Baker wrote in message ...
>My prescription was about the same as yours (20/400) and had LASIK done
last
>Thursday. Vision has been excellent (20/20 in both eyes). I do see halos
>around lights at night, but this will go away. Even if it didn't, I
wouldn't
>care because it's not that bothersome to me.
You cannot state with absolute certainty that your halos "will" go away.
I'm glad that you wouldn't care, because you might have to live with it.
People considering LASIK need to know that such side effects CAN be
permanent.
Sue
Gary Jung
diopters that LASIK would be the preferred surgical technique, versus PRK.
Or perhaps they were trying to push the higher priced (?) LASIK vs PRK...for
me, the surgery was $1500, but I think the PRK would have been about $1000
(not certain).
Which clinic? Which doctor? Curious....
------
Gary remove z's before emailing
Dave Campbell wrote in message <37530D64...@navnet.net>...
>
> You don't say where you live but if you're close to the Canadian
border, or
>are in Canada, you can get LASIK or PRK at various places for about $1500
CDN,
>or about 1000-1100 in real money(that's become a joke up here in Canada :)
I had
>PRK about three weeks ago and only paid $1000CDN. Except for a reaction to
my
>drops(and some resulting difficulties), things have gone very well, from -6
>diopters, with a lot of astigmatism, to 20/20 left eye and 20/40 right eye.
My
>right eye still has a lot of healing to make up due to the drops. My
topography
>scan shows perfect, so the surgeon is quite confident all will turn out
well in
>a few weeks.
>
>Dave
>
>
>> Ben and Elaine Southern <benne...@jps.net> wrote in message
>> news:374b...@news1.jps.net...
Dave Campbell
thickness, but I think I would have had it anyway due to the surgeon having far
more PRK experience than LASIK(at the time he had over 1000 PRK, only a few
dozen LASIK). As for price, I have heard from a few people, including my
surgeon, that PRK is a more expensive procedure, taking many more visits than
LASIK(I've been in 7 times already; a friend of mine with LASIK has been in 3),
but that most clinics charge the same for both.
This was at the Halifax LASIK Vision Canada clinic, with Dr Bruce Pretty,
who has been part of the Sight Enhancement Clinic for a number of years. I did
have some of my follow-ups with his partner, Dr. Jim McNeil, who is also very
good.
Dave
Steve Herman
>
>Darren Baker wrote in message ...
>> I do see halos around lights at night, but this will go away. Even if it didn't, I
>>wouldn't care because it's not that bothersome to me.
>
>You cannot state with absolute certainty that your halos "will" go away.
>I'm glad that you wouldn't care, because you might have to live with it.
>
>People considering LASIK need to know that such side effects CAN be
>permanent.
>
>Sue
Yes, there are risks, and a small percentage of people may experience
permanent side-effects. There is however, a 100% probability that not
having the procedure will result in continued mechanical vision
correction. Until this procedure has become available, eyeglasses &
contacts have been permanent side-effects of my myopia & astigmatism.
The decision to be made is what is more annoying - a mechanical
contraption wrapped around your face all of your waking hours and/or
the ritual procedures & risks involved with contacts - or small visual
artifacts such as night halos (which also occur with glasses or
contacts).
Steve Herman (convinced - Lasik both eyes on Friday, June 4)
Steve Herman
RAFA (Rhythm Ace Full Auto) Productions
Darren Baker
done about 10 years ago and the halos went away after about 6 months. Since
the ablation zone for LASIK is actually outside the AK incisions, and since
I have some experience with how my eye heals, yes, there is a decent chance
that the halos will go away.
My best friend sees halos/starbursts every night. He describes them
nighttime traffic lights as "lines that shoot to the hood of the car." He
has never had eye surgery. Fact is, lots of people see them but they learn
to deal with them.
Of course there are cases of debilitating halos and starbursts, but these
are rare (according to my doctor and reading between the lines on the
boards). IMHO these boards give a somewhat lopsided view of problems
associated with LASIK. This is because lots of people are here because
they've had a problem they want help with or they're here because they just
want to learn more about refractive surgery. If you're in the latter group,
you'll certainly leave knowing the risks of LASIK, thanks to the former
group.
I believe this is a good thing as long as you understand that BY NATURE
these groups tend to highlight the negatives. It is assumed you already know
the positives (e.g., improved vision. decreased reliance on contacts, etc.).
Sue <su...@bellsouth.netx> wrote in message
news:_SQ43.2341$Oj4...@news1.atl...
>
> Darren Baker wrote in message ...
> >My prescription was about the same as yours (20/400) and had LASIK done
> last
> >Thursday. Vision has been excellent (20/20 in both eyes). I do see halos
TERESA isom
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