[Reactor]

Lord Opie, pay attention.


Went to my lasik consult today, I'm farsighted and had a astigmatism, so without glasses I'm screwed. I've really tired of having bad eyesight, and spending a small fortune on glasses. Basically 2-3 years of glasses are about the same as a Lasik procedure.

Well after they mapped my cornea, and tested the thickness the doctor says I'm borderline. The procedure will require taking off a lot of material, and my corneas are are not thick enough to allow a second procedure if the first isn't perfect.

The surgeon is probably going to do a PRK procedure instead since it doesn't require a flap of cornea. The bad news is it's more painful, and the recovery time is longer. But I'll be able to get a second procedure if it's needed, and there are some new eyedrops that mask most of the pain.

After the procedure I'll be able to see well, but will still need reading glasses.

 

[LordOpie]

How thick are your corneas?

Both of mine are over 500 microns. I understand bladed lasik requires at least 500, but I heard that laser only needs 100?

 

[LordOpie]

After the procedure I'll be able to see well, but will still need reading glasses.

I might, but they said I would almost definitely need reading glasses in a few years.

Also, what's your eyesight? Mines about -9 and I understand that LASIK is really only good up to about -10.

 

[dan-o]

Doesn't AZ have a law that allows harvesting corneas from illegal aliens?

 

[LordOpie]

Doesn't AZ have a law that allows harvesting corneas from illegal aliens?

The problem is that everything then has a brown haze.

 

[manimal]

i was just over borderline. my brother did my lasik and said that the cut was perfect and i have enough for an improvement.
best thing i ever did for sure (especially since it was free )

 

[Reactor]

How thick are your corneas?

Both of mine are over 500 microns. I understand bladed lasik requires at least 500, but I heard that laser only needs 100?

They didn't give me an exact number, just said I was borderline. Because I'm farsighted with astigmatism the need more cornea to work with. My prescription is about +3.25, with about 2 diopters of astigmatism. I correct to 20/20 or 20/25 technically, but lenses will never completely fix a astigmatism. I'm tired of having no peripheral vision and smudged and scratched glasses.

 

[narlus]

isn't lasik about $3K or so?

what the hell sort of diamond-crusted blinged-out glasses are you buying at such a rate?

 

[Reactor]

Doesn't AZ have a law that allows harvesting corneas from illegal aliens?

Forced or voluntary?

 

[Reactor]

isn't lasik about $3K or so?

what the hell sort of diamond-crusted blinged-out glasses are you buying at such a rate?

Because of my vision, I have to have the most expensive type of plastic lenses (~$200-250 + scratch coat + UV protection + scratch warranty) which come out to $250 - $350 depending on discounts . With mountain biking I need a second pair because one always gets scratched up. Because I'm fairly rough on glasses (mountain biking, kid, dogs...) I usually get titanium frames. My last two pairs (one with progressive bifocals, one without, both with photo-grey) came out to almost $800.

My custom lasik or PRK after a discount with lifetime enhancements comes out to $2150.

 

[TreeSaw]

Sq-Earl is in a similar boat...he always needs to expensive lenses (due to his vision) and his eye Dr. said that he is borderline and that if he were to have the procedure done, he would have to have glasses again in a few years because of his astigmatism anyway.

 

[LordOpie]

It used to be that they couldn't correct ANY astigmatism, but now they can correct some. I bet all those who are borderline today will be a go in two years. They're constantly improving the tech.

 

[Leethal]

I had PRK done about 9 years ago before Lasik was common, recovery takes a bit longer but it was well worth it...

 

[Reactor]

It used to be that they couldn't correct ANY astigmatism, but now they can correct some. I bet all those who are borderline today will be a go in two years. They're constantly improving the tech.

Yeah, I've been trying to get something like this done for several decades. First there was RK, which was a nightmare, and was only useful for nearsightedness. Then Lasik, but at first it was only useful for nearsightedness. Then PRK, Then CK, which could fix farsightedness, but not astigmatism. Now with improvements in the software and custom mapping they can fix farsightedness and astigmatism with Lasik and PRK.

I'm jazzed and scared at the same time. I want to do photography and mountain biking without glasses.

 

[LordOpie]

How are your eyes? You had PRK a week ago, yeah?

 

[surfinguru]

Damn, some of you guys have some seriously bad eyes! -10?!? Or am I not understanding the scale?

So for me, with a +2.00 and +2.50 nearsitedness should be no issue for lasik then huh?

 

[LordOpie]

...

What bike do you ride?

 

[Reactor]

How are your eyes? You had PRK a week ago, yeah?

Doing better every day. two days after surgery I was. 20/100 and 20/70 and extremely nearsighted. As of last Friday I was 20/50 and 20/30 and improving every day. Now the nearsightedness is started to slowly fade. Im able to work and drive now! No eye pain, just blurry.

 

[Reactor]

Damn, some of you guys have some seriously bad eyes! -10?!? Or am I not understanding the scale?

So for me, with a +2.00 and +2.50 nearsitedness should be no issue for lasik then huh?

unless you have thin corneas or some other problem it should be a breeze.

 

[LordOpie]

Doing better every day. two days after surgery I was. 20/100 and 20/70 and extremely nearsighted. As of last Friday I was 20/50 and 20/30 and improving every day. Now the nearsightedness is started to slowly fade. Im able to work and drive now! No eye pain, just blurry.

Awesome! Pretty wierd to have to deal with really bad vision for a while, but glad it's gotten to a very useful level.

 

[Reactor]

my vision should be 20/20 in a month or three.

 

[HypNoTic]

Just had Lasik yesterday.

I had 1.75 myopia on one side and 2.0 on the other. No astigmatism. I can't tolerate contact lenses and had stable prescription since at least 15 years. I'm 27 and the recovery time was incredible! I had the basic Lasik procedure (KPR + Lasik, the one where they cut a flap of the cornea then burn with the laser). As of this morning, I have 20/20 on both sides. Still have slight headaches, which are almost over, the time for the brain and eyes muscles to relearn to focus properly. Slight halos around light but nothing too disturbing. The halos should disappear within few weeks, at most 6 months. Including 1 year coverage and all the medication, it cost 2000$ CDN. About 24h after the procedure, I was able to spend a little time on the computer (with extra large fonts...) and should be able to get back to work tomorrow.

In case where heavy prescription (6+) or more than one symptom is present, they recommend using the Zyoptix laser instead of the KPR procedure. About twice the price but it doesn't affect the cornea nearly as much and you totally avoid the halo effect this way. I had a few friends that had heavy cases and are now totally glasses free.

It's worth every penny!!!

For info: lasikmd.ca

 

[LordOpie]

my vision should be 20/20 in a month or three.

Just had Lasik yesterday.

awesome for both of you!