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Lasik Eye Surgery


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I had it done a year ago - closest thing to magic I've ever experienced.

 

LASIK MD told McGill there are discounts available to med students, but I had the procedure before med school so I don't know the details. You should be able to get a free consult and quote - that's your best bet to gauge pricing, because there are lots of specifics related to your particular eyesight that may affect cost. My eyesight was something like -5.75 and -6 with astigmatism, and the cost was substantially more than what is typically quoted in ads. The procedure was standard, and took five minutes, maybe less. They put freezing drops in your eyes so you don't feel pain, mainly pressure.  The smell of lasers cauterizing your eyeball is probably the worst part. Once it's over, you instantly see two thirds better than you did five minutes prior - which is crazy in itself. Your vision will be blurry and your eyes will be sore for less than a day. They give you funky sunglasses to wear and tell you not to do much for the first 24 hours (no TV, reading, screens, etc). I woke up the next morning with crystal clear vision, and was told at my follow-up that afternoon that I no longer had to wear the sunglasses. Your eyes may still feel a bit sensitive to bright lights, but nothing major. Otherwise, there was hardly any downtime. Not sure I would even call it downtime. If you do it on a Friday, you should be back to normal by Monday. The few lasting effects I experienced for a couple months were seeing halos around street lights when driving at night (not enough to prevent me from driving, and it improved with time), and moderately dry eyes. If you're seriously thinking about it, go in for the free consult! I would do it again in a heartbeat. 

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I had iLASIK 8 years ago, and I am on pretty much the same page as caribou! I was -4 and -3.75, and ended up paying around $2700 after everything (which takes into account 8 years worth of inflation and private insurance). It took longer for me than 5 minutes, but they corrected all of the individual geographic flaws in my ocular landscape. I was 20/12 for a few years, and my vision's still 20/15 today. When I look at what I spent on contacts and glasses in any given year, I've already "paid it off." I don't know anything about what kind of insurance you get through school, but you could probably give your insurance company a call directly and ask - they should have a pretty good idea.

 

The one thing that I would advise is that if you do go for the surgery, either refuse the ativan or require them to give you a dose to try out in advance. They insisted that I take it despite the fact that I wasn't really anxious (I was actually super stoked about the whole thing), and I definitely regretted it when I found out that I am one of the lucky few to experience paradoxical effects with the drug. ;) Which is part of the reason that I can't give you the exact timing on the procedure, ha - I flipped out when they were half way through my second eye.

 

My eyes honestly weren't sore or light-sensitive after I got home and slept off the ativan-induced panic attack, but my vision was a little blurry for the first day or two. After that, there was no "downtime." I had the halos around lights at night time for about four months, but they weren't all that distracting. My night vision now is worse than it used to be, but it's still better than average. Putting eyedrops in for a couple of weeks was a pain in the ass, so I'll mention it as something to consider when timing your procedure, but I get to tell everyone I have laser vision, so I'd say that makes it worth it.

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I am tempted, but was wondering:

 

1) Does the PARO insurance cover part of it

 

2) Say there is a negative outcome and I am unable to pursue my original specialty, is it covered by the RBC disability insurance?

 

I'll probably have to figure those 2 parts out before I go for it.

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My friend had it last summer, it a very small procedure and quick recovery. Eyes remain sensitive to light for a while but it will heal slowly and can change your life

 

Is there a better time to do it in ones life (age wise)? Also is there a good location in Toronto one can get it done?

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Is there a better time to do it in ones life (age wise)? Also is there a good location in Toronto one can get it done?

I started saving for the procedure when I was fourteen, but they wouldn't do it for me until my eyes remained stable for at least one year after my eighteenth birthday. I had the procedure when I was nineteen, and essentially, my surgeon has guaranteed my eyes for touchups for life (within reason). So from a personal standpoint, I'd say that as long as your prescription has remained unchanged for some time, the sooner, the better.

If there's a chance that your vision is still declining, I would definitely say wait: no sense in having to redo the surgery. But in terms of age, younger is better, imo.

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Its worth it. I love it and have no real side effect other than some starbursting at night but I can still drive at night. When you work 26 hours straight you really don't want to wear contact lenses...

 

 

I started saving for the procedure when I was fourteen, but they wouldn't do it for me until my eyes remained stable for at least one year after my eighteenth birthday. I had the procedure when I was nineteen, and essentially, my surgeon has guaranteed my eyes for touchups for life (within reason). So from a personal standpoint, I'd say that as long as your prescription has remained unchanged for some time, the sooner, the better.
If there's a chance that your vision is still declining, I would definitely say wait: no sense in having to redo the surgery. But in terms of age, younger is better, imo.

Its kind of a false promise. They can typically do 2 lasik procedures before the cornea becomes to thin to operate.

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Its worth it. I love it and have no real side effect other than some starbursting at night but I can still drive at night. When you work 26 hours straight you really don't want to wear contact lenses...

 

 

Its kind of a false promise. They can typically do 2 lasik procedures before the cornea becomes to thin to operate.

 

My doctor was pretty upfront about the fact that some people may not even be able to repeat the procedure once, but from what he told me, it's very dependent on the person, and on the method that they use (scalpel or laser to create a flap or... some kind of dissolving type method that I don't remember because I was definitely not keen on having any part of my eyes dissolved even if he promises that things grow back). They measured a whole wack of things before and after the surgery and as far as I could tell, they were pretty upfront about what was realistic for me. I've only been back once, for a five year checkup, but I'm told that things have remained pretty stable so far.

 

I probably should have said "for two or three touchups, unless you begin to have severe age-related deterioration" instead of "within reason," because that's what it means in my case, essentially.

 

How long ago did you have your procedure done?

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Do we only get discount as medical student?? or as resident physician as well? Still undecided, with my medical student status expires soon lol!

I heard that we get around 50% as medical student? is that still true?

 

Also, for anyone pursuing SURGICAL specialties, or diagnostic radiology, any speciality that requires a minutious visual acuity, I highly NOT recommend LASIK surgery. Don't take the 1-2% risks! Some opthalmo working for LASIK M.D are actually wearing contact lenses! You won't like the feeling of seeing halos at night, or constantly having dry eyes as a surgeon operating at 3 am! 

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  • 2 months later...

Hey guys sorry to revive an old thread.

For Lasik surgery procedures, would you guys suggest that Bladeless All-Laser Lasik surgery? I went to Lasik MD, the optometrist said that with Advanced Custom wavefront lasik with Keratome, I should be fine.

 I was reading up on the procedure, they use of a femto-second laser, also known as“IntraLase,” “blade-less,” “blade-free” or “all-laser.” 

Any thoughts on this? My cornea is not thin per say (thicker than average, 590 microns). I understand that Femto-seconder laser cuts thinner cornea than the custom Lasik?

The downside that it will cost me 1000$ more for Bladeless (around 3000 after all). We are lucky to have the CFMS rebates .

Did you guys all go for Bladeless or the Advanced Custom Lasik? Any thoughts?

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If anyone have thoughts about halos and night vision, that would be appreciated. I heard that even years after Lasik, you could still have more halos (starburst, etc) then before the procedure. I also heard the same thing about night vision. 

I already see halos and starburst at night and I don't want to see "more" of these.

Thks

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From what I read, seeing halos and starburst at night are common side effects, you might have them up to 3 months PO.

Some people have them permanently, I guess that it all depends on your eye examination. They tell you upfront that you have a larger pupil, thin cornea, dry eyes who cause you prone to side effects.

For anyone considering a specialty which requires perfect visual acuity: surgery residents, radiology, I highly recommend against it! You don't want to take the chance. 

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I'm a surgical resident and I dit it 10 days before the start of the residency (bladeless Lasik). 

Worth it in my opinion, my vision is better/clearer than it was before the surgery with my glasses. 

1 month later, the only side effects I still have are halos at night... and those are slowly fading. I don't have dry eyes anymore, even at 3 am in the OR.

 

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22 minutes ago, codebar said:

I'm a surgical resident and I dit it 10 days before the start of the residency (bladeless Lasik). 

Worth it in my opinion, my vision is better/clearer than it was before the surgery with my glasses. 

1 month later, the only side effects I still have are halos at night... and those are slowly fading. I don't have dry eyes anymore, even at 3 am in the OR.

 

Are they really bothersome and only slightly annoying at night ?

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11 hours ago, codebar said:

I'm a surgical resident and I dit it 10 days before the start of the residency (bladeless Lasik). 

Worth it in my opinion, my vision is better/clearer than it was before the surgery with my glasses. 

1 month later, the only side effects I still have are halos at night... and those are slowly fading. I don't have dry eyes anymore, even at 3 am in the OR.

 

Hey Codebar, did the optometrist at Lasik MD recommend you to go bladeless Lasik? 

In my case, it is up to me. They did even mention the standard Lask (500 per eye), but highly suggested Advanced Custom Lasik with keratome. My cornea is 590 microns (thicker than normal). I still prefer the new technology, where they preserve even more cornea tissue. The only downside is that it will be 1000 more expensive lol!

Anybody has some thoughts?

For halos, it is really hard to tell. Some people see halos only 1-3 months PO, and some people still have persistent halos and starbursts. I won't do it personally if I am in surgery or radiology, you don't want to take the 1-2% risk.

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15 hours ago, psychiatry2017 said:

Hey Codebar, did the optometrist at Lasik MD recommend you to go bladeless Lasik? 

In my case, it is up to me. They did even mention the standard Lask (500 per eye), but highly suggested Advanced Custom Lasik with keratome. My cornea is 590 microns (thicker than normal). I still prefer the new technology, where they preserve even more cornea tissue. The only downside is that it will be 1000 more expensive lol!

Anybody has some thoughts?

For halos, it is really hard to tell. Some people see halos only 1-3 months PO, and some people still have persistent halos and starbursts. I won't do it personally if I am in surgery or radiology, you don't want to take the 1-2% risk.

If it was me, I would take the Advanced Custom Lasik. I won't do it because I'm a dental student (can't risk anything with my eyes) but if I was in your situation, I would take the most advanced technology without a doubt.

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On 06/08/2017 at 9:49 PM, psychiatry2017 said:

Hey Codebar, did the optometrist at Lasik MD recommend you to go bladeless Lasik? 

Actually, I went to Laservue (Montreal) and I spoke directly with the ophtalmologist who recommended me the bladeless Lasik as it was his favorite procedure. 

On 07/08/2017 at 0:51 PM, Clapton said:

If it was me, I would take the Advanced Custom Lasik. I won't do it because I'm a dental student (can't risk anything with my eyes) but if I was in your situation, I would take the most advanced technology without a doubt.

It is interesting, because a lot of people say that they can't risk anything with their eyes and have been wearing contact lenses 16 hours a day for the last 10 to 20 years (I'm not implying that you do), which is at greater risk of complication than a lasik surgery. Indeed, there is always a risk to a surgery but people seems overly dramatic about it. It is not like there is a 1% chance of going blind. 

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5 hours ago, codebar said:

Actually, I went to Laservue (Montreal) and I spoke directly with the ophtalmologist who recommended me the bladeless Lasik as it was his favorite procedure. 

It is interesting, because a lot of people say that they can't risk anything with their eyes and have been wearing contact lenses 16 hours a day for the last 10 to 20 years (I'm not implying that you do), which is at greater risk of complication than a lasik surgery. Indeed, there is always a risk to a surgery but people seems overly dramatic about it. It is not like there is a 1% chance of going blind. 

I'm wearing glasses. But it's not only the less than 1% chance of going blind. There's dry eyes sx, halos, starburst, bad night vision, sometime diplopia, worsening of your vision, etc. 

I know a guy who had lasik and now he has permanent dry eyes (need tears every 2-3 hours, and had some kind of plug in his eyes) and he's having a hard time to see at night (or when lights are dim).

Like any procedure, there is some risks. But again, Lasik is considerate to be really safe and I'm sure most of the people who decided to get it are happy with the results.

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