lasik, prk, intralase, zyoptix, ultra-lasik, etc...

custom-lasik... my gf just had it on friday. here's everything i can tell you about it.

she appears to be immune to valium.

she had a minor panic attack during the surgery.

afterward, when you're supposed to go home and take the second valium and take a nap... again, appears to be immune to valium. lots of pain, lots of crying. it SUCKED. a call to the doctor's help line and they recommended Tylenol PM. ran out, got some, she took it, hours of sleeping ensued.

yesterday morning was her first follow-up. she tested at 20-20 vision.

no more pain, and no more glasses.

personally, i don't think i'd ever do it. too weird for me. uber-scientific and unnatural, and zapping part of my head with a laser, i dunno about all that.

but my gf's experience was murderous for several hours, and awesome ever since. so i'd say it's probably great for some people.

not crap.

My uncle had it done almost 15 years ago, when it cost waaay more than it does now. Back then, each eye had to be done separately, and each operation left him with a patch over that eye for 2 weeks.

So 4 weeks and 2 patches later, he's got 20/20, no regrets and an empty wallet. He also had balls as big as coconuts for going with a very little-known procedure at the time. He's been fine since.

Since I'm a programming nerd, I wear glasses. I'm thinking of getting it done too, but since I know what kind of bugs software typically has, I'm wary as hell. If it fucks up and blows a laser blast through my skull, I'll be pissed.

I had Lasik done in June of 00 and it turned out great.
The operation itself is super nutzoid though. You hear these wierd noises that sound like they belong in an Aphex Twin song plus they use those clamp things to keep your eyes open and when they put the drops in you can see the drops on your eyes. It was kind of odd.

Let's face it pal, you don't need that eye surgery

Some cousins and friends have had lasik surgery and it has gone swimmingly.

My cornea are too thin and I can't have it, though. So CRAP (just for me, no official vote). My knees will be beating up furniture while I fumble Velma-style for my glasses for the rest of eternity. Thank you very god damn much, lasik.

Since I've never so much as broken a finger, I also had a minor panic attack during the procedure beacuse I refused the valium. I am a big strong man, I need no such thing. I felt the blade cut my second eye, I felt it in my fuckin left pinky toe. Then I went into fight or flight mode, and since neither fighting nor flighting was possible, or I'd have my eyeball fried by a laser, I just FREAKED (inside my head of course). They had to take me out in a wheel chair. I am tough.

Wait, this isn't embarrasing moments thread, is it?

All that being said, I'd do it again in a second. I forget years of glasses and contacts. One of the best things I've ever done for myself.

I'm going to commit a huge message board faux pas: Every time I think of corrective eye surgery, I think of that Simpsons episode where Homer has it done. He refuses to put in the eyedrops they give him, and his eyes get covered in this crusty stuff when the air hits them. Every time I see this, it makes me want to vomit.

I have no opinion of corrective eye surgery, though.

bumble wrote:Some cousins and friends have had lasik surgery and it has gone swimmingly.

My cornea are too thin and I can't have it, though. So CRAP (just for me, no official vote). My knees will be beating up furniture while I fumble Velma-style for my glasses for the rest of eternity. Thank you very god damn much, lasik.

You may want to look into implantible contact lenses, which were recently approved in the US.

My wife has the same problem as you; her corneas being too thin. She is also legally blind without correction. She will be getting implantible lenses in 2-3 years. Duher-Davis-Dean in Madison, WI is THE place to get this kind of work done.

Definately look into it though....

geiginni wrote:You may want to look into implantible contact lenses, which were recently approved in the US.

<snip>Duher-Davis-Dean in Madison, WI is THE place to get this kind of work done.

Thanks for the recommendation! Back when Lasik shot me down, my eye doctor told me that implanting contact lenses has been approved in Canada for years; he had sent one guy across the border for a combination of Lasik and contact-implantation (he was legally blind even with glasses).

(Also, a few months ago, I was prescribed bifocals. This means my eyeball and my lens are misshapen. Maybe they just need to take my eyes out, mold them like silly putty back into decent circle-shapes and pop them back in.)

I don't mind glasses most of the time, but when I do mind - wow.

Kayaking and doing eskimo rolls? "Here, hold thes-blrblgnfffsprfff"