Well its almost a yr(June 7th) after my LASIK surgery and all is well. Better even. I still have 20/15 lft and 20/20 rt. Still a bit of light sensitivity to the sun though. If its sunny I can't go outside w/o shades or my eyes hurt and I get headaches. That and strobe lights at clubs makes me see spots afterwards. Other than that I couldn't be happier. My financing is almost paid off too. 7more mos. Just thought I'd post this just in case any of you guys are contemplating this procedure.

Must have been all that spunk that us jarheads sprayed in your eyes- fricken squid.  We still love you navy guys- best damned chauffeurs in the business!

Thanks for the post.  I'm thinking about it.  I am absolutely useless without glasses.  I know of no one more near-sighted than me, and I hate it.  The procedure is half as cheap in Canada, and in the summer it's only $100 to fly to Vancouver direct from Anchorage.  On the other hand, your vision is not something you want to bargain-hunt for.  One should look for the best.  Objectively knowing who's best is something I have to find out first.

I was thinking about it myself but I don't like staying still and or keeping my eye from blinking for 5 minutes would drive me nuts..
I heard its pretty hard to do. Can you give me the details of the procedure?

John

Well us squids love dropping you guy off beaches so you can clear for us to have a BBQ [:D] Now go back to you post at the gate and let the women folks in so us squids can have fun.

Raven, As far as doctors, you should ask how many procedures they've actually performed themselves. Some post numbers they've only assisted. Also look for doctors that have been doing this for a while. Like way back when it was RK. They will likely have the experience.

Beagles,

1st) you go thru and exam to see if you qualify.
2) They map your eye
3) 1wk b4 surgery you stop wearing contacts
4) day of surgery they map your eye again. Then they put numbing drops in your eye. They hold your eye open with a speculum. Clean eye surface. Then slice the gelatinous flap covering the cornea. Zap it with the laser. Clean surface again and replace flap. the whole procedure takes about 1min per eye.
5) you will have eye drop to help healing and prevent infection that you use for the 1st 3wks or so
6) you have follow up visits 1day, 2wks, 1mos, 3mos, 6mos and 1yr.

The more proficient the Dr. the lesser your side effects will be.

Side effects are:
Night blindness
Itchiness
Intermitent Blurry Vision
Light sensitivity
Dry Eyes

These should go away in 30 days or so.
BTW the worst thing about the procedure was the smell of flesh burning while the laser was doing its thing. YUUCCCKKK!!!!

Interesting about the cornea not bonding at the cut.

I am currently working with with a doctor on a new concept.

Corrective contacts

Ok, before you say "duh!", these are different. First you do a high quality topography of the cornea, feed it into a computer, crunch some numbers, order custom semi rigid contacts.

The idea is to wear the contacts for a specified number of minutes per day. The contacts themselves actually reshape your cornea.

There is no guarantee for long term correction. But... no evasive procedures. If things don't work out, stop wearing the contacts. There have been some reports of patients of not having to wear the contacts after the "shaping" period.

After I get back from my vacation, we will be doing the topography scans and getting a pair of contacts. I too had the Lasik, but things didn't heal quite right. I have bumps and valleys across the cornea. Interesting looking though sights now days. I did have better vision with glasses before. But... I do like the fact that I don't have to worry about them now.

So... I will keep interested parties up to date as things go.

Haven't had any problems yet. Had chance to test it out by sparring and been hit in the eye a few time with some good blows and still fine. I was told that the flap can come undone within the first 3mos of the procedure. That's why they don't want you touching your eyes till after 90 days.

Hey Squid,
You weren't a corpsman by any chance, were you?  Thought I recognized you from your grilling pic.

NOPE a lonely supply corp officer. I'm the guy that hands out aircraft doodads to all the squadrons. Was stationed on MCAS El Toro though. Was enlisted AK2(e-5)then. Worked at the warehouses across MAG46 hangars. Ever been there.

Thanks for the info....I suppose I can handle just about anything after having a kidney stone removed through my penis....



John

Guzzler: the procedure you describe is called Ortho-K, (keratatomy sp?)  I've been going under it for about 4 years now, I went from a 7.5 to a 4.5 and 4.75 diopter.(negative).  It's a good process, safer,but it's like a drug, once you do it, you can't stop or your eyes regress back to it's original state and progress onward.  This is the reason I had to drop out of the army, because boot camp meant I had to not wear them for two months.
There is also a new one out there, implant of contact lense inside the eye, it's also reversible, but VERY, VERY expensive, about 1600 an eye I'm told. but it's fast acting and also you can get it taken out if something happens.  The only thing I don't like about lasik is its permanence, if it's bad, you are screwed for good.

Woh dude, that hurts just thinking about it. Believe me the LASIK is a much less, shall we say, traumatic experience. Find a Dr. with lots of experience in the procedure. Again if you can find one that has been doing it since it was RK, its all the better. Plan on paying 1000-1500 an eye. If you pay this much normallly the follow up are included.

Not that I'm rich or anything like that, but $1500 per eye sounds like a pretty good price.  Cheap, if you consider what you are getting in return.

Hell, I could charge that on a credit card and happily pay the usurious interest rates.

Just to put it in perspective, people think nothing of going $30,000 into debt for an SUV that will be a rusting, worthless hulk after 10 years.

I'm getting ready for the LASEK eye flesh burning ordeal.  I have heard the Dr is considered the finest, so anticipate very good results, for $3700.  Ever hear of anyone having trouble with those flaps?

My optometrist had -9 for each eye and she now has 20/20 for both eyes.  

INTACS, implantable tiny transparent rings, are good for low to moderate(-5) vision for now, something I would prefer.

ARTISAN LENS, implantable contact lens, extreme nearsightedness

CONDUCTIVE KERATOPLASTY, utilizes highly localized radio-frequency energy to reshape the cornea, still investigational.

I asked my Dr. that before my surgery. He said the worse scnario is they over cut the flap and loose it. It falls off to the floor. They do the procedure, then rush you to the emergency room and do a transplant from some dead guys flap. He mentioned it happened to him 2x in his years of doing it.

I want to do it just for shooting purposes. My wife is deadsetagainst it however, she has heard too many scary stories.

I have heard the cornea, using LASIK, can be re-cut a few times.  If an error is made, they touch it up, which is usually in the service plan for 1 year.  This Dr. corrects a lot of the F*ckup $499 jobs, done by the new doctors.

 

Yeah I've got the lifetime plan, but in order to do touch ups I have to fly back to Newport Bch, CA

My fiancee had lasik a little over a year ago.  Her only complaints are light sensitivity, bad night vision, and the occasional halo around lights, especially at night.  She is very happy with the results.

I hate sharp things that would be used on me.

They can use a dull blade I guess [:D]

RKO used a knife, we now use the magic of light

I agree

I've been wearing glass all my life, but I tried contacts in the late 70's. Finally gave them up after 2 years because they were too much of a PITA.

Personally, I don't believe the technology is at the point where it's worth taking the risk. I also heard cornea shaping is promising. In the mean time, I'll continue to wear my glasses because the only side effect I have to worry about is dropping them and scratching the lenses.

Surgery, no friggin way.

I had the LASIK surgery 4 years ago.  I am still extremely happy with the results.  20/20 in both eyes.  I am 49 years old, and still do not need reading glasses, even after the surgery.