Booked Lasik for Friday March 13th

Paul Boz

Just to get it out of the way, I am not superstitious so the Friday the 13th thing does not matter to me

I'm just curious as to whether or not anyone else here has had the procedure done. The doctor I'm visiting (Dr. Singer in Metairie, right outside of New Orleans) does about 400 procedures a month, including NOPD and NOFD officers and firemen. He offers two types of procedure: $800/eye based on prescription or $1150/eye based off of a composite map of 200+ images of the patient's eye. I don't see how anyone could opt for the el-cheapo procedure. It's not like opting out of the leather package when you buy a new car. It's your eyes!

I'm having it done at 2pm. Following the procedure I'm staying in a hotel in down town New Orleans because I live in Baton Rouge and have to go back to the doctor on Saturday morning for the post-procedure assessment. Supposedly when I wake up on Saturday morning I'll be able to see with clarity that I have never had before. I have been wearing glasses since pre-school so I'm quite excited.

meadIT

Good luck! I may have to fly to New Orleans to get mine done. Here it is around $1800 per eye. That's the only reason I haven't had it done yet.

arwes

Had mine done close to 4 years ago, actually I think it was called VisX. Best decision I've ever made! Mine was done by Haik-Humble at their office in West Monroe. Total cost was $2500, but insurance paid an astounding $250 of that. Too bad I'm not a sheriff deputy as I hear they only get charged $500 per eye.

The procedure feels extremely weird, but they give you a sedative before hand so you don't freak out. Didn't feel any pain at all, but when you get home make sure you take the sleeping pill that they'll give you. My brother didn't do it and felt an uncontrollable urge to rub his eyes for a few hours (hence the sleeping pill so you doze right through that). They'll also give you some stylish sleeping goggles to make sure you don't accidentally rub your eyes during your sleep.

Some people have problems with halos and starbursts after surgery, but I just have the starbursts (note, I did have a slight astigmatism). It only gets annoying if I'm driving in heavy traffic at night. You may also have dry eyes the first few days, and they'll probably give you some samples of Refresh eye drops to help combat that (I used them for about a month).

You'll probably have the same first impression that I and several others have had, at how awesome it is to wake up and be able to read the alarm clock without having to put on your glasses. I'm a restless sleeper and I tended to swat my glasses off the nightstand, only to have to find them on the floor the next morning to see what time it was.

Paul Boz

man I hear that! The biggest benefit of not having to wear glasses any more will be being able to go swimming with clarity and to see the alarm clock at night.

I got a scrip for six sleeping pills so I'm going to eat two of them after the procedure and just wake up the next morning. Sleeping for 12+ hours will do my body and my eyes good

Glad to hear it went well for you.

meadIT wrote: »

Good luck! I may have to fly to New Orleans to get mine done. Here it is around $1800 per eye. That's the only reason I haven't had it done yet.

If you actually want to do that, drop me a PM. You can fly into the baton rouge air port, I can pick you up, drive you to new orleans, and you can couch surf. BTR airport is 10 minutes from my house and I love to entertain people in nola Dr. Singer is a nationally renowned optical surgeon, there isn't anyone in the region better than he is.

dynamik

Did you not keep up with this thread: http://www.techexams.net/forums/off-topic/32690-eye-surgery-tomorrow.html

Good luck Paul; I hope everything goes well and you recovery quickly!

Paul Boz

Nope, sure didn't. *click*

skrpune

good luck, hope it goes well!! I have a slight astigmatism and fairly bad vision (-6.25 in contacts, so -6.5 to -6.75 or so in glasses...so I can see maybe 2-3" from the tip of my nose) and I've thought about doing it, but I'm just too chicken. I know this is going to sound silly, but I always think of that Simpsons episode set in the future: Ned Flanders' eyes fall out 10 years after he got lasik!

Paul Boz

I also have an astigmatism and the doctor said that given how cutting edge technology is now, you can practically be blind and get Lasik

bikeandski

I had mine done about 6 months ago, I'm so glad I did. My right eye has a pretty severe astigmatism. My vision is now 20-15 left eye and almost 20-20 right. My vision was bad before the surgery. The procedure was a trip, I didn't like it at all, not painful but just very strange. But the results are well worth it. I had cloudy vision for two full days after the surgery but the doctor told me that was normal for my procedure. I paid $1000 and eye.

Anyway good luck, I'm sure you'll be very pleased with the results.

rossonieri#1

how bad is it paul?
i think i should check mine too (i never use eye-glasses before),
and this sinusitic - i never thought of it.

well, good luck on the surgeon.

Silentsoul

I have been thinking about getting Lasik, or some form of laser corrective surgery. I wear focus night and day contacts 24/7. I don't even own a pair of glasses. i keep hearing I will have to wear glasses for a minimum of 30 days before i can have the surgery. Do you all find this to be true? Or am I just getting hear say?

skrpune

Silentsoul wrote: »

I have been thinking about getting Lasik, or some form of laser corrective surgery. I wear focus night and day contacts 24/7. I don't even own a pair of glasses. i keep hearing I will have to wear glasses for a minimum of 30 days before i can have the surgery. Do you all find this to be true? Or am I just getting hear say?

You sound like me when I used to wear contacts...I HATED wearing glasses!! But my eyes are SO much better now that I don't wear contacts regularly. And the ol' bank account is appreciating not having to buy solutions & new contacts every few months too...

I hadn't heard about not wearing contacts before Lasik, but in googling it, apparently it can warp the shape of your cornea & thus mess up the measurements. The best article I found was this one, that said 2-3 weeks before the measurements are taken if you wear soft contacts, longer if you wear hard/gas-permeable lenses.

Paul Boz

So I woke up this morning and could definitely see like a freaking eagle. I drove myself to the doctor for the post assessment and I'm already at 20 on my right eye. The left eye will catch up and I should have better than 20 in my right eye. I should wind up with 20/10.

I'm stoked, this was a wise decision.

/usr

I really hope to be able to get this done someday...

I have worn contacts for going on 12 years now. I can't see anything without them in...to the point where I would not be able to function (walk, drive, read, etc.) without them.

Those who have no, or limited, vision problems are lucky. The helpless feeling that comes along with them is annoying. It's something you have to constantly be aware of, going as far as packing extra contacts everywhere you go just in case...

skrpune

Paul Boz wrote: »

So I woke up this morning and could definitely see like a freaking eagle. I drove myself to the doctor for the post assessment and I'm already at 20 on my right eye. The left eye will catch up and I should have better than 20 in my right eye. I should wind up with 20/10.

I'm stoked, this was a wise decision.

AWESOME!!

VERY happy to hear that it went well and you're already seeing clearly. Actually, I'm a little jealous! Keep us posted on your recovery, hope it continues to go well for ya.

@/usr - I hear you. Whenever I traveled, I had to bring extra contacts, solutions, etc. and I hated it. Even when I got daily disposables, it was a lot of crap to carry. And on a daily basis, I would carry around eye drops & spare lenses JUST in case. (You never know, you might lose one or rip one and if you're blind as hell and you have to drive home, that's hard to do with one good eye!) I got glasses when I was in elementary school - got them in third grade but I needed them before that - and got contacts right before high school...and I wore contacts for about 17 years. It took its toll on my eyes and on my patience. I'm kinda chicken about the whole lasik thing right now, but I too hope to one day get the gumption (and the funds!) to get this procedure done. It sounds like something so little, but I can't even express how much I would love to be able to wake up and be able to see (without having accidentally fallen asleep with contacts on! )

sprkymrk

Paul Boz wrote: »

So I woke up this morning and could definitely see like a freaking eagle. I drove myself to the doctor for the post assessment and I'm already at 20 on my right eye. The left eye will catch up and I should have better than 20 in my right eye. I should wind up with 20/10.

I'm stoked, this was a wise decision.

Glad to hear it went well Paul.

arwes

One of the things that made me look for any alternative to contacts was an incident that happened in high school. I got a new set of contacts (not disposable) and when I put them on the next day I knew it felt weird when I put my right one in. My biology teacher pulled me aside and said I needed to go get my eye checked because the whole right side of my face was red.

Called my mom and finally convinced her that I wasn't faking, so she came home and put Visine in my eye. That was like lemon juice on a paper cut. Drove myself (surprised I didn't have a wreck) to an eye doctor who determined that my contacts were contaminated and I had acute corneal abrasions. I took the contacts back to the place I got them from and asked them to look at them to see what happened. They destroyed them & gave me a new set. That took care of my lawsuit against Bausch & Lomb!

leefdaddy

Congrats man. Glad it went well.

Paul Boz

arwes wrote: »

Awful contacts story

I started wearing contacts when I started playing football. I think most kids start wearing contacts due to one sport or another. Anyway, I played offensive line so I spent a good bit of the time in the dirt and mud, so I constantly had eye infections from getting dirt under my contacts. I got used to having eye infections and wearing one contact a day so my eye wouldn't swell up. It was miserable. As soon as I graduated high school I got glasses again because I was ultra tired of the hassle that contacts are. I could never get "leave in over night" contacts so it sucked especially bad.

Recently I've just been tired of the annual process of going to the eye doctor to find out for a $15 co-pay that my eyes have in fact not changed in years and that yes, I will have to buy a new $300 pair of glasses. I've probably spent over $2000 on glasses and eye doctors since I turned 18. At that pace Lasik would pay for itself within six to eight years of having it done. I can tell you right now that from the quality of life it has given me, it has paid for itself already.

I had a book propped up by the window in the bathroom and was reading from the fine-print back cover from half way across the bathroom, just to test how good my vision is now. My wife walked in and could not read what was on the book, and she's a 1,000 yard marksman competition sharp shooter with life-long 20-20 vision. That felt pretty nice

Knives Out

Question, does your prescription have to be stable for a couple years prior to getting the procedure done?

I haven't gone to the eye doctor in a couple years - I gotta book soon, I'd like to get this done eventually.

skrpune

I don't have a reference handy but yes, you do have to have a stable prescription, otherwise you can end up getting over or under corrected. If I come across a link, I'll post it up

meadIT

skrpune wrote: »

I don't have a reference handy but yes, you do have to have a stable prescription, otherwise you can end up getting over or under corrected. If I come across a link, I'll post it up

It's not so much that you'll be under or over corrected. They take a map of your eye, so they fix it to what it should be based on that. But if you're prescription is changing, it means your eyes are still changing. They set you back to "normal" with the surgery, but then your eyes can change after that. That's why they want your prescription to be stable.

Paul Boz

The surgeon who did my procedure won't do it on people younger than 21 unless the patient can prove a stabilized prescription. My prescription stabilized when I was 21 (three years ago) and my vision has actually very slightly improved over the last three years. Your vision is allowed to get better after Lasik, you just don't want it to get worse.

Just to update - I had a full recovery within two days. Every day I realize how much better I can see.