LASIK during Med School

[femel]

Vision changes, I have a friend whose mother had it done in her forties, one eye for close vision and one eye for distance (instead of bifocals). Three years later she was back in glasses, the close vision was worsening and the distance vision was better. Her eyes weren't fitting her anymore.

[muchdutch]

One day in class, we were doing small groups in opthamology and someone asked the opthamologist, who was wearing glasses, why he didnt get corrective surgery. He told us that it wasn't the worth the risk losing his sight and not being able to practice surgery anymore. Just something to think about if you're considering it.

 

Mental note: do eye surgery before you start your career!

[JewelLeigh]

Just thought I'd follow up here. I finally got up the gots and actually got the surgery. I had my pre-op assessment done at LASIKMD on Wednesday and my surgery done yesterday. So far, I am absolutely ecstatic with the results.

 

For those who are interested in having it done, I'll give you a play-by-play (inluding updates over the next little while as I heal).

 

Pre-op Assessment

You can't wear your contacts for 48 hours prior to this appointment (though TLC says 2 weeks - so I just took them out and left them out 3 weeks prior to be safe.) Also of course no makeup allowed. The appointment itself is pretty straight forward...they do a bunch of measurements of your eye, reheck your prescription and of course discuss your eye history. They dilate your eyes, so you'll need a driver for the way home. By the end of your visit, an optometrist discusses with you your candidacy and suggests which procedure is best suited to you based on your eyes. In my case, with a fairly high prescription (R -5.25, L-5.75) and larger than average pupils (7.1mm and 7.3 mm) they recommended the Zyoptix (ie. "custom") procedure. No way was I arguein with their recommendation, so Zyoptix it was

 

Pre-op Prep

Again, no contacts for 2 days is the official policy, but even LasikMD quotes literature saying that the result is more likely to be satisfactory the longer you have your contact out. No make-up for 48 hours prior. You are allowed to eat the day of surgery, so that isn't a problem. No johnny shirt required other - definitely a bonus. Comfy clothes with no fleece or lint was the only restriction. No scented products either. (You can imagine that minus make-up to brighten up my pale winter face and without anything to tame my normal state of frizz, I was looking pretty hot the day of surgery, haha. Deodourant allowed though - phew.) No caffeine or EtOH in the 24 hours leading up to surgery.

 

The surgery

The appointment lasted 3 hours for me. First they rechecked my prescription and pupil size. Next I met with someone to go over the risks and sign the scary scary consent form (all risks obviously made to sound the worse possible to cover their butts - the word blindness was in fact used...ahh!) Next came the most painful part - no..not the surgery - the swiping of my VISA to part with the substantial amount of money this bloody risky surgery (or so I felt after signing that consent) was going to cost me. Getting nervous now...good thing the next step is - Ativan! Surgery is next. The girl before me nearly chickened out. She made it all the way to the elevator before her husband convinced her to come back. Nice part to that story was that even as she walked out of the OR after her surgery, she said in wonder "I can see the clock!!"

 

So I'm next. I've got my sexy bouffant-style OR cap on (but otherwise my normal comfy clothes) and in I go. No glasses on, so I listen to the blurry surgeon ask me if I have any other questions. Onto the OR table (feeling so on the wrong side of things as I look at the OR staff and instruments) they position your head in a foam-like pillow to keep it still. Anesthetic eye drops. Then the nasty-looking lid retractor, which they pull really tight!! It was the most painful part I think (I'm whining - it really wasn't that painful). On goes the suction cup thingy - it pulls your eye up so hard that your vision goes completely dark for a couple of seconds! Next the flap is created - seemed pretty straight forward from my view of things, haha. The the laser does it's work. Now for me...this was no big deal because I have experience with the smell of things burning in the OR due to cautery. This situation smelled much the same and I know bothered quite a few people I spoke to afterwards - so just something to be prepared for. Anyway...laser is loud, does it's thing while I focus on a blinking red light (it has a tracker in case you move/sneeze/etc). The surgeon flips the flap back, smooths it into place, tapes that eye shut and on to the next eye. Altogether pretty straight forward and painless with the lid retractor and the suction being the most uncomfortable parts. The surgeon then checked my eyes with a slit lamp to ensure the corneal flap is properly aligned. Already when still in the OR, I could see much much much better than my pre-op vision. Things were hazy, like driving in the rain or swimming with goggles on, but still a massive improvement from my baseline.

 

Immediately post-op

You must stay at the LasikMD office for an hour so they can recheck your flap before you go home. You wear these incredibly cool sunglasses and must keep your eyes closed. They put in drops for you (antibiotic, steroid and moisturizing). After the hour is up, you are rechecked with a slit lamp by an optometrist and you're free to go

 

The rest of that day, your instructions are to sleep, put drops in and keep your eyes closed as much as possible. No TV, computer or reading for 24-48 hours! (Yes, I am cheating...but I am a good typer so I am doing the majority of this with my eyes closed.) I spent most of the surgery day listening to some of my favourite movies (funny how easy it is to play each scene in your head when you've seen it before), snoozing and of course putting in drops so often that if I made a quarter for each, I could probably pay off my surgery in 2 days, lol. The good thing about the drops is that other than the steroid and antibiotic drops, which go in 4 times a day for the first 5 days, the moisturizing drops only go in when you are awake (every 10-15 minutes) and have your eyes open. So...all the more encouragement to stay asleep (having just finished my 3 months of surgery clerkship - I am not going to argue when someone tells me to sleep). I also have to wear protective eye gear when I sleep for two days and the cool-guy sunglasses anytime I go outside for at least a week (can't remember the exact timing for those right now).

 

POD #1

Feeling fantastic other than a bit of dry eye if I keep my eyes open for >5 minutes without putting drops in. And...the best part...I see better than I did with glasses! The haze that I had post-op is already gone and in fact, last night when I woke up at 3:30am, I could not only read my clock, but it was incredibly crisp and clear with no halos, glare or starbursts! Woot

 

Today I go for my first of many follow-up visits. If my vision is good enough, I will be allowed to drive (short distances for 2 days, then longer). Otherwise, I keep on trucking with the drops. No shower today, but a bath is alright. Shower allowed tomorrow I think.

 

I'll be started back on clerkship rotations on Monday, which I believe is more than enough time. They say if you work in a low risk environment (no dust, minimal chance of eye injury) you can return in 0-2 days.

 

So far, the only complication for me is a small sub-conjunctival hemorrhage on the inner half of my right eye. It was from the suction thingy and is a fairly common occurance (which is painless and has no effect on my vision). Hopefully it'll clear up in a few weeks.

 

So...long post - but hopefully interesting/informative for those of you considering getting it done. I'll try to keep posting as I continue through the healing process.

[ploughboy]

Hey JL,

 

Thanks for posting your experience!

 

For the PRK view, here's a post from a couple of years ago now (I had my surgery in 2003), from one of the old lasik threads ( http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12387 )

 

 

Hey there,

 

I'm not an opthomologist, optometrist or MD, so take the following as one guy's opinions...

 

Getting PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) was one of the smartest things I ever did. I wore glasses since the second grade. Every year my eyes got a little worse, until things finally leveled out at a very high prescription (-9.00 in both eyes, with slight regular astigmatism in the left eye). I'd wake up in the morning and fumble for my glasses right away, just to see the clock. Shrinkage's points might sound a little paranoid, but they totally resonate with me. Losing or breaking one's glasses doesn't happen very often, but if it leaves you helpless, you worry about when/how it could happen. I didn't like the feeling of vulnerability that came with having vision that bad.

 

I'd thought about laser surgery for years, but my SO was adamant that I not get it done. Touching, but kind of annoying. A little while after she became not-so-significant I happened to come into some money, so I started researching laser surgery. As I'm sure you've found, there are lots of websites out there both pro and anti. Be a critical reader. Don't take everything you read on the Internet at face value (distortions, exaggerations and untruths on the Internet? Say it ain't so!). Everything out there has some degree of bias, and that includes this post.

 

After some research I was comfortable with the idea of surgery, and had a good idea what the risks were. I realized with a prescription as high as mine I might not have perfect vision after surgery. I would have been perfectly happy with 20/40 vision. I figured even if I still had to wear weaker glasses after the surgery it'd be better than having a -9.00 prescription.

 

My eye doc recommended Focus in Ottawa (where I was living at the time). I went in for a consultation with one of the surgeons and found out my corneas were too thin for Lasik. Cutting a flap plus zapping enough material to correct my prescription wouldn't have left enough material behind. It wasn't an "ohmigod your eyes are going to implode" situation, but the surgeon was not comfortable with doing the procedure on me. So he referred me to the big cheese at Focus. Dr. Edmison has been doing refractive surgery for over 10 years, and did cataract removal for 20 years before that. He's lasered tens of thousands of eyes, with a pretty good success rate (where success = 20/40 vision or better). He actually prefers PRK to Lasik, since it doesn't affect the integrity of the eyeball the way Lasik does (among other reasons). I can't remember word-for-word what he said, but it was essentially: "you're trading a few days of post-op discomfort with PRK for a better procedure."

 

I didn't think to ask whether he'd had corrective surgery himself (good one Ian!). Since he was wearing reading glasses (presbyopia) and isn't exactly a spring chicken I suspect he hasn't undergone the procedure.

 

So I got zapped. At $2000 per eye it wasn't cheap, but it was worth it. Absolutely no regrets, it was definitely the right choice for me - but that might not make it the right choice for you. Be an informed patient.

 

My experience with the common problems/concerns:

 

Night vision (haloing) - I asked my surgeon about night-vision complications, both haloing and diminished acuity. New technology has reduced the amount and severity of haloing in patients prone to it. I don't notice any halos at night except when I'm really really tired, and after a few blinks they go away. This happened before my surgery too, so I don't think there's a connection.

 

Night vision (acuity) - Focus used to test pre and post surgery night vision in all their patients. They stopped after a few thousand patients, since they felt it was wasted effort. Although there was a slight, measurable loss of acuity in almost all patients, the vast majority of patients didn't notice it. I actually arranged a consultation at the Ottawa Eye Institute, and paid out of pocket to have my pre-op night vision assessed. So that will give me a base-line for comparison if I ever feel things are slipping. I haven't felt the need to have my night vision checked since I had the surgery.

 

Dry eyes - I stopped using eyedrops months ago. The only time my eyes are dry is first thing in the morning, and a few blinks fixes that.

 

Haze - With PRK there is an elevated risk of corneal haze after the surgery, especially in patients with high prescriptions like me. This was the one complication that worried me, since as I recall the percentage of patients with this complication was in the low single digits, whereas most of the other complications occurred in well under 1% of patients. I just had my one-year checkup, by an optho completely unaffiliated with the clinic where I had the surgery done (I've moved across the province). I have absolutely no haze at all in my right eye, and very very very (yes, she used three "very"'s) slight haze in the left. Cool.

 

Going blind - IIRC there hasn't been a documented case of a non-experimental laser completely blinding a human subject, and only one case of an experimental laser doing so (and that was a fairly bizarre situation all around, if memory serves). I'm sure the folks over at some of the "anti" websites will beg to differ, but as I recall the standard of proof on some of those website is pretty low. On the flip side, there are documented cases of some horrible things happening to certain patients. I haven't done any sort of formal analysis, but it seems that bad things happen most often to patrons of bargain-priced clinics. You get what you pay for.

 

Long-term effects - all the pro-laser surgery propaganda I've read makes the point that opthos have been studying wound healing in eyes for over a hundred years, and it's a fairly well understood area. The anti's will say "ya, but we don't know the long-term effects of using a laser on the eye like this." I think they've got a good point there, and I can't recall what the pro side's counterpoint is. For me, it was a risk I was willing to take. Talk to me again in 50 years and I might have a different opinion.

 

Misc - Refractive surgery isn't a magic bullet that will give you 100% healthy eyes. As my optometrist pointed out to me last week, the front of my eye is normal, but the back of my eye is still that of a high myope. That means I'm still at elevated risk for things like retinal detatchment (due to the elongated shape of my eye, nothing to do with PRK). Yearly checkups, dialation etc will continue to be part of my life going forward.

 

If you're curious about what exactly happens during PRK, a quick account of my surgery is attached. Apparently I was channeling Ernest Hemmingway when I wrote it...

 

pb

 

 

 

 

Day of surgery (Wednesday) - arrive at clinic, sign waiver. Get take-home bag of medicated eyedrops etc. Take happy pill. World becomes a truly wonderful place. Final check of my eyes. Escorted into surgery. Chair tilts back like I'm in an Apollo capsule. Cool. Eyes frozen, lid speculum put in place. Weird sensation. Doc explains (again) what's going to happen, asks if I have any questions. Nope, go ahead. Ok, watch this red flashing light. Science-fictiony snapping sounds as big ol' laser warms up. Outer tissue of my eye lasered away. Doc wipes away the debris. Bizarre having somebody touch my eyeball without me feeling it. Second pass with laser, this time to shape the eyeball. Flashy red light alternates between blurry and less blurry, but I can still see it. 45 seconds later doc takes a break, wipes debris from eye. Third pass to finish correction. Keep watching the red light. Keep watching the red light. Red light disappears. WTF??? Tabarnac, he's blinded me!!! Happy pill no longer working. Red light reappears. Life is good. You could have freakin' warned me about that, doc.

 

Second eye, same deal as the first. This time no panic when red light disappears. Chair tilts back up. Nurse asks me to read the clock across the room. 11:57. Hey, I can see!

 

Taxi home. Eyes still frozen. Spend trip staring out window at traffic. Anesthetic wears off part-way home. Eyes feel gritty. Spend rest of day lying in bed with ice on my face, rising every few hours to put in eyedrops.

 

Day two (Thursday) - wake up. Vision blurry, but already better than my pre-op uncorrected vision. Cool. Cab to clinic, eyes examined. Looking good. Bandage contact lenses changed for fresh ones. Come back again tomorrow. Spend rest of day lying in bed with ice on my face, as before.

 

Day three (Friday) - wake up. Vision a little better. Head hurts. Eyes hurt. Nose running. Life sucks. Why did I do this? Cab to clinic, eyes examined. Bandage contacts are stuck to eyes. Small area of epithelium not fully healed where they stuck. Doc prys contacts off my eyes. Really hurts. Cry like baby in front of cute Vietnamese optho. New bandage contacts put in. Extra eyedrops. Come back tomorrow.

 

Day four (Saturday) - wake up. Eyes scratchy. Vision unchanged. Worried I'll be a case study for botched PRK. Cab to clinic. Eyes examined. Epithelium healed. Bandage contacts removed. Instant relief. Everything looks good.

 

Days five to eight (Sunday to Wednesday) - Wake up every morning, vision slightly better every day. Cool. One-week checkup. Prescription now +1.00. Reduce dosage of steroid eyedrops. Life is good.

 

Day 365 - One year checkup. Eyes look good, slight haze in left, none in right. Can read 25/20 line with right eye, 20/25 line with left eye (slight irregular astigmatism).

[ffp]

Wow JL and PB - thanks for the detailed accounts. I'm considering this surgery more and more... although still a bit chicken... I'm considering interventional cardiology,and if I lose my sight, I'm SCREWED! That said, one of our interventionalists just had it done and completed a week on call just now (with regular trips to the bathroom to insert eyedrops). My eyes are about as bad as yours were, pb... when we were vacationing in the Philippines, I briefly lost my glasses and worried that I would have to wear my prescription scuba goggles around just to see!

 

Maybe it'll be my reward if I pass these $#%#$% FRCPC exams... although the currently-planned tropical vacation sounds nice as well

[lostintime]

Is it true that you get some sort of discount if you're a med student?

[onamountain]

The girl before me nearly chickened out. She made it all the way to the elevator before her husband convinced her to come back. Nice part to that story was that even as she walked out of the OR after her surgery, she said in wonder "I can see the clock!!"

 

Having someone cut into your eye is scary business. When my grade 11 bio teacher got laser eye surgery, they gave her a stress ball to squeeze. As they were slicing her cornea, she got so nervous that she broke the stress ball!

 

In the end though, she was ecstatic with the results (thank goodness).

[kate]

I have a cute story. I'm not sure if it's true or not... but legend has it that one of the founding cosmetic-refractive surgeons made a presentation at an ophthalmologic meeting about new refractive techniques. A member of the audience (presumably an ophthalmologist) asked the speaker: "Would you do this procedure on your mother?" The speaker replied: "I wouldn't do it on my mother, but I would do it on your mother!"

 

On a serious note, almost everyone I know who has had laser eye surgery has been satisfied with the results, including two ophthalmologists I know of who have had the procedure done. On the flip side, I also know of one ophthalmologist who performs laser eye surgery him/herself, but would never consider having the procedure done. (H/She wears contact lenses on the days h/she goes in to perform the refractive procedures!) It's a personal decision with pros and cons to be weighed; each of us will weigh these pros and cons differently.

 

Good luck to the OP and all others!

 

Kate

[Borborygmi]

Watch this: http://www.Break.com/index/lasix_eye_surgery_up_close.html

 

Wow... definite no after seeing this video... my eyes are way too precious to me. I'll keep my fashionable glasses.

[estairella]

Is it true that you get some sort of discount if you're a med student?

 

You can get a fairly significant discount for Lasik MD through CFMS (cfms.org), if you're a med student you are a member.

[Karma]

Hey:)

 

I had lasik eye surgery 5 years ago, and it's one of the best things I've ever done. I took one week off from work and did it during the christmas break in university.

 

Personally, i needed to be in bed for 2-3 days. After that I was good to go. Found it a little bit hard to read for long hours for about six months after the surgery, but some regular eye drops that you can buy everyhere really helped.

 

I went to Lasik Md and didn't regret my choise. I really took time to visit other places that offer the surgery but chose Lasik Md because I liked their service best.

 

So, my advice is, do it during a break from school, because you'll need about a week to recuperate.

 

Good luck!

[AndreaM]

My dad had it done in the early '90s when it was still fairly new. He was almost legally blind before the procedure, so it made a huge difference in his life.

[JewelLeigh]

I did it during 3rd year of med school and easily could've gone back to work 2-3 days later. I had minimal discomfort and very minimal dry eye. I went with LasikMD. They gave me a small discount because I was a medical student.

 

3 years later, I'm still ecstatic with the results - better than 20/20 both eyes. I am definitely very very happy with the decision to go forward with Lasik.

[muchdutch]

Hey all - just thought I'd post my story.

I just went infor eye surgery. Today. I actually went with PRK on the advice of my Ophtho who is a top corneal surgeon (and also sees/fixes all the Lasik screwups).

So far bit of dry eye, but nothing too crazy uncomfortable. I took two days off work (plus the weekend) and will be back to work on Monday. As it stands, I can already see much better. I put my glasses on and wondered what kind of wonky vision I had before!

We shall see how my recovery shapes up and how my vision improves in the coming months.

[apache]

I had it with LASIKMD... they give 50 percent off for medical students... procedure and follow up rocks, get lasik for life and free optometrist visits

 

i went to the the bar the same night, with sunglasses of course

 

Hey everyone, I finally decided to get Laser Eye surgery after my LMCC part 1 in May. Has anyone on the board had this procedure done? Please share your experience. Which company (ie TLC, LASIK MD etc...) did you go through and are you happy with them? how much recovery time did you need???

 

Thanks!

[future_doc]

hey guys, if you are against plagiarism, I encourage you to report the ^ above poster who is selling term papers.

[KelvinRudd]

I was just about to ask about this topic so glad someone already posted. I would be great if people started posting medical journals instead of just using anecdotal evidence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*****************************************************************************************************

Dr. Joseph Phillips - 4 shots of vodka 1 beer.

Dr. Devin Mei - 7 shots of vodka 2 beers.

Dr. Natalie Rinda - 2 glasses of champagne (to be expected)

Dr. Linda Keating - 4 shots of vodka 2 beers.

Dr. Xiao Chen (Victor) - 11 shots of vodka 3 beers.

Me- 6 shots of vodka and 1 beer.

Dr. Kate Torres - 1 beer (noob)

[AdamP]

so i had a consult with lasikmd yesterday. i'm pretty much still on the fence but leaning 60-40 in favor of surgery. so i figure writing out my thoughts could help.

 

basically i want it because contacts aren't really doing it for me, i have a decent case of chronic blepharitis so they get dry and uncomfortable really fast. that and i want the convenience and aesthetics of no glasses.

 

so I went in, apparently because of my conditions, larger than average pupil, and the at the lower end of average corneal thickness + a -4 prescrip, I was only really a good candidate for the advanced custom wavefront type of surgery. which is fine because that's what I would have went with anyways. The original price was going to be around 3400 total but because of the medschool discount it's down to 2g's which I think is reasonable and would be willing to pay. fyi practicing physicians only get 10 percent off, unless you are an optho md/resident in which case it's free. so technically the deal is better now then if I finish, not that that is a major concern of mine. They are also offering a lifetime guarantee + if I don't get to 20/20 in a year it's all free.

 

I guess the pros are

-no more glasses/contacts

-convenience

-good price

-20/20 guarantee

-apparently the surgeon on my day is their medical director, preformed over 30,000 lasiks, professor of optho etc. etc.

 

cons

-they said the thickness of my lens means there is room for one corrective surg after the original, but they also said i'm in a 10-15 percent chance of needing that which seems rather high

-my large pupil size puts me in the risk of getting halos, although i think i might have them already and be used to it

-i'm not too sure how much i trust the lifetime warranty, they said it only covers corrections using standard lasik technology (if a new technology comes along could they correct it with that?), and i'm also a little worried on the thought of having two surgeries just because of the sheer amount of corneal tissue that would be removed.

- probs most important is the thought of a better (less evasive) etc. new technology coming out in the future. i mean the question is less of an if it comes out then it is a when. but i suppose it's sort of like buying a laptop (not to compare organs to computers) you can keep waiting and they will keep getting better and cheaper but eventually you just need a laptop. I think beginning of my twenties/start of medschool etc. it would be a prime time to have this done.

 

some of my thought processes anyways, anyone else have an opinion??

[orange123]

so i had a consult with lasikmd yesterday. i'm pretty much still on the fence but leaning 60-40 in favor of surgery. so i figure writing out my thoughts could help.

 

basically i want it because contacts aren't really doing it for me, i have a decent case of chronic blepharitis so they get dry and uncomfortable really fast. that and i want the convenience and aesthetics of no glasses.

 

so I went in, apparently because of my conditions, larger than average pupil, and the at the lower end of average corneal thickness + a -4 prescrip, I was only really a good candidate for the advanced custom wavefront type of surgery. which is fine because that's what I would have went with anyways. The original price was going to be around 3400 total but because of the medschool discount it's down to 2g's which I think is reasonable and would be willing to pay. fyi practicing physicians only get 10 percent off, unless you are an optho md/resident in which case it's free. so technically the deal is better now then if I finish, not that that is a major concern of mine. They are also offering a lifetime guarantee + if I don't get to 20/20 in a year it's all free.

 

I guess the pros are

-no more glasses/contacts

-convenience

-good price

-20/20 guarantee

-apparently the surgeon on my day is their medical director, preformed over 30,000 lasiks, professor of optho etc. etc.

 

cons

-they said the thickness of my lens means there is room for one corrective surg after the original, but they also said i'm in a 10-15 percent chance of needing that which seems rather high

-my large pupil size puts me in the risk of getting halos, although i think i might have them already and be used to it

-i'm not too sure how much i trust the lifetime warranty, they said it only covers corrections using standard lasik technology (if a new technology comes along could they correct it with that?), and i'm also a little worried on the thought of having two surgeries just because of the sheer amount of corneal tissue that would be removed.

- probs most important is the thought of a better (less evasive) etc. new technology coming out in the future. i mean the question is less of an if it comes out then it is a when. but i suppose it's sort of like buying a laptop (not to compare organs to computers) you can keep waiting and they will keep getting better and cheaper but eventually you just need a laptop. I think beginning of my twenties/start of medschool etc. it would be a prime time to have this done.

 

some of my thought processes anyways, anyone else have an opinion??

 

THanks for this update Adam. I've wondered whether getting Lasik is a good idea for me. But I realised that my no's have not stabilised as yet. I hope they do soon, so that I can get a consult. at lasik md. I was not aware that med students get a discount, so thanks for posting that! EDIT: I guess I should read the previous posts. It was mentioned by muse. whups.

My no's are quite high, (and I JUST bought new frames + contacts yesterday thinking that lasik would prevent this hassle) and I worry that they'll see my rx, and say, "hell to the no!".

 

I also hear ya, when you wonder whether it's better to wait a few years, and then get laser eye surgery, as technology can only keep on improving.

 

Do keep us posted. I hope that whichever decision you make, is the right one for you, for now and in the long-run.

[igotacookie]

I had PRK surgery last month with Dr Denton at LasikMD in Edmonton.

 

PRK is similar to lasik. The difference is that they use a brush to remove the surface epithelial tissue, laser, put a bandage contact in, then wait for it to regrow. Results are superior but recovery is longer, it is also an option for those who are not viable for lasik for whatever reason.

 

Price - 2k (after med student discount)

Recovery - 4 agonizing days in my basement doing nothing, light sensitivity for a few days after

Pain - first couples days are rough, feels like glass is in your eyes. Next few days aren't as painful but I could not look at any light source whatsoever.

Results - 20/20 after a couple weeks of healing

Service - Everyone I met is friendly and professional. Although lasikMD does cut corners by hiring a bunch of "optometrist technicians" to do the majority of the grunt work.

 

Overall, I am glad I chose to do it at 22 and in the summer before I start my first year.

[tiramisu0]

I had LASIK (the wavefront/custom one) done a little more than a month ago for $2000 after med student discount.

 

Most of the concerns you have are right on. I have 20/20 on one eye but 20/30 on the other one. Also, visual acuity is not the only concern if you have pre-existing astigmatism. For my eye that has 20/30 right now, astigmatism also came back (1.25 previously, 0.75 as of now).

 

Because of the life time guarantee, I am eligible for free touch-up surgery. However, I think the risk is too much for the benefit at this point, especially since my better eye (20/20) is my dominant eye. The difference between the two eyes is definitely noticeable, but I have gotten used to it pretty quickly. I still feel that I can see slightly better now than when I had glasses on. I will consider the touch-up surgery, therefore, only if my worse eyes gets even worse after all the studying.

 

Now more on the cons: I also had above-average pupil size and yes I have halos that I didn't have before. They bother me only slightly, and I hope it will get better - I heard that it can disappear after 3 months or so.

 

Visual acuity or quality of vision - I sometimes feel that something isn't perfectly clear, or that certain areas of my field of vision is a little uneven or slightly darker. Having said that, I am a sensitive and observant person, and yet I still cannot pinpoint exactly where or what the problem is, so it must be very minor as long as it does not get worse.

 

Finally, the dryness issue- I was warned about dry eyes, but fortunately it does not bother me at all. Sometimes when I work all day (12 hours or more) at the computer, I feel pain due to dryness, and this type of pain is definitely new although nothing major as it tends to go away with eye drops. However I have heard that dryness can be a major issue for people who already have dry eyes.

 

Overall, although my LASIK experience was not completely successful, I do not regret my decision at all. I actually have less headache (contacts AND glasses sometimes gave me headaches), LOVE the fact that I can see in shower or in bed, and I feel that I have more energy without the heavy glasses on my nose.

 

so i had a consult with lasikmd yesterday. i'm pretty much still on the fence but leaning 60-40 in favor of surgery. so i figure writing out my thoughts could help.

 

basically i want it because contacts aren't really doing it for me, i have a decent case of chronic blepharitis so they get dry and uncomfortable really fast. that and i want the convenience and aesthetics of no glasses.

 

 

cons

-they said the thickness of my lens means there is room for one corrective surg after the original, but they also said i'm in a 10-15 percent chance of needing that which seems rather high

-my large pupil size puts me in the risk of getting halos, although i think i might have them already and be used to it

-i'm not too sure how much i trust the lifetime warranty, they said it only covers corrections using standard lasik technology (if a new technology comes along could they correct it with that?), and i'm also a little worried on the thought of having two surgeries just because of the sheer amount of corneal tissue that would be removed.

- probs most important is the thought of a better (less evasive) etc. new technology coming out in the future. i mean the question is less of an if it comes out then it is a when. but i suppose it's sort of like buying a laptop (not to compare organs to computers) you can keep waiting and they will keep getting better and cheaper but eventually you just need a laptop. I think beginning of my twenties/start of medschool etc. it would be a prime time to have this done.

 

some of my thought processes anyways, anyone else have an opinion??