I can see again - LASIK Laser Eye Surgery

[AbandonedTrolley]

I've been wearing a combination of glasses and lenses for pretty much the last 15-16 years. Vanity makes me not wear glasses outside the house, and lenses tended to get uncomfortable late into the night. I was down to my last month of lenses (If you want them and have the same prescripon as me click here) and was about to order more, after thinking about the expenses of it all I decided to think about surgery instead. I spoke with a few friends that have had the procedure recently and all spoke well of it, with this I decided to take the plunge and get it done.

I originally went for my consultation with Optical Express last Friday 22/01/10 Took about an hour while they checked your prescription, took a map of the eye to indicate thickness of the cornea and also pressure tests on the eye too. Once they had the results from that they advised me that I was suitable :) Good news!

Next the shock...prices They offered two variables, either a mechanical cut of the eye for the first part or laser (Intralase), the laser is less intrusive and has a faster healing time but obviously comes with a cost. The next option was the type of surgery, they offered the standard LASIK or Wavefront , again the Wavefront was the more advanced and offered more chanes on the surface of the eye allowing better vision for night driving etc with halos/glare. The consultant then mentioned that if I could take one of the two cancelled slots for the following Friday they would offer 10% discount (probably offered to everyone) but given that I wanted it done I thought I might as well book in sooner rather than later.

Intralase with Standard came out at £1330 and Intralase with Wavefront was £2330 so quite a bit of difference. I booked up for the standard treatment as that was what my budget allowed for.

My parents picked me up and took me home, on the way we discussd it and they said they would pay the difference of the two, so called up and changed the treatment. (I love my parents!)

With that and only a week to go I really didn't have time to think about it too much, all I did was focus on the positives to come from it and nothing about the procedure, I knew all about it so nothing was a shock that I had been told.

Friday came (Yesterday) and I went for the treatment, they remapped my eye to check for any changes and then was taken in. The whole procedure took about 15-20 minutes I guess, maybe less. They put some anticeptic drops into the eye to numb them and water to keep them moist. They then used two different lasers, one to make the flap and the other to do the corrective surgery. The surgeon and assistant were really good and talked me through every process they were doing and there was no pain at all. Once done I sat in a dark room for about 40 minutes whilst the drops wore off and all of a sudden there was discomfort, similar to being poked in the eye or peeling onions. Nothing too bad, but certainly not a nice sensation. They checked the eyes to make sure all was good. Already I could tell that my distance vision was much better albeit cloudy and hazey.

Last night I had to wear goggles whilst sleeping (for a week) to make sure you don't rub your eyes during the night and damage the flap. Apparently the bulk of the healing is done in the first 24 hours though. I've been given 3 types of drops to use, antibiotic drops 4 times a day, anti-inflamatory 7 times a day, and liquid tears for lubrication been advised every hour or so.

Woke up this morning perfect vision, just had my 24 hour check and have better than 20/20 vision and fine to drive, so right now I would say it's possibly the best money I've ever spent!

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

Wow that is just awesome news! I have a friend who is contemplating getting it done, might show her this thread and rest her fears. Seriously, congrats mate!

[Bhav]

Awesome news mate! :) My eyes are terrible (no really, terrible). Hopefully I'll be able to afford this one day soon.

[Plarkster]

Awesome, congrats - sounds great! Really might have to consider this in the near future.

[mad_onion]

Yep, I need to get the LASIK too :)

[bluboy]

What company did you use?

[DrewJW]

I went for a checkup, and was recommended the more expensive treatment, but the cost was crippling, but I am thinking of having it done myself.

Trolley you may have a PM from me soon regarding more information.

[Cupcakes]

Definitely inspired to highly consider Lasik for myself (pending that I'd be eligible.) I hate all of the money I've spent as well for glasses/contacts for the last 15 years for myself... I remember how much was forked over for when I first converted to contacts (hard lenses too :() but then over to soft.

Would definitely love to be able to see better at night as I have major issues with glare/halos, so I'd probably opt for whichever the non-standard treatment is for it.

Glad to hear how awesome your vision is though. I've put off my consideration for just extreme fear of my eyeballs being lazered away into oblivion.

[DrewJW]

You have a PM Trolley.

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

<snipped>

Question from the young lady for you: Was the cost for both eyes?

[acnpt]

I'm thinking about getting this done too :yes:

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

Definitely inspired to highly consider Lasik for myself (pending that I'd be eligible.) I hate all of the money I've spent as well for glasses/contacts for the last 15 years for myself... I remember how much was forked over for when I first converted to contacts (hard lenses too :() but then over to soft.

Would definitely love to be able to see better at night as I have major issues with glare/halos, so I'd probably opt for whichever the non-standard treatment is for it.

Glad to hear how awesome your vision is though. I've put off my consideration for just extreme fear of my eyeballs being lazered away into oblivion.

they wont get lazered away, but wouldn't it be way cool to have lazer beams shoot from ure eyes ala Superman!?

[Sethos]

They are really making some serious dough off that operation, 20 minutes with a laser and they want that much money? Oh please.

[Max Veteran]

I'd have it done, but I don't like them cutting the flap open. Seen videos of it and it looks gruesome. I'll wait 10 years or so until you put your face up against a machine and it does it all in 30 seconds, without cutting anything.

[yakumo]

I honestly don't mean to upset or scare you, but I discussed laser eye surgery with my families optometrists in depth once last year, and the points he questioned that he said came up at conferences he took part in that may be relevant to me were :

- After laser eye surgery the exact ORIGINAL length of your eye is lost and this makes it difficult to impossible for cataract surgery later in life (you say they measured this, is the measurement documented and passed to medical records now?)

- I'm a long time practising martial artist, and laser eye surgery weakens the eye making it dangerous for combat sports.

were either of these points raised in any way at all?

If one day these issues were fully covered I'd love to have it done myself (though the actual surgery part of it scares the bejezus out of me)

Glad to hear your vision is amazing and all went well, I wish you all the best with it :)

[Pharos]

Oh please.

It's not about how long it took, but about the equipment and the cost of development. The average CT scan costs at least $500 and you just lay down there and the operator presses a button. And they're a company after all, they're in for the monies :-)

[tiagosilva29]

I had surgery in 2005. Lost 0.25 in the right eye already. Astigmatism is kicking in too.

[Sethos]

And they're a company after all, they're in for the monies :-)

Yes and that's the point, this is just extreme - Turning on the laser and doing the surgery barely costs them 1/8th of what they are charging - It's a total rip-off.

[acnpt]

They are really making some serious dough off that operation, 20 minutes with a laser and they want that much money? Oh please.

+1

Watch a couple youtube vids, buy a powerful laser pen off the internet, get some girls and a couple sexy nurse outfits from Ann Summers. Your good to go! :laugh:

[rezza Veteran]

I had surgery in 2005. Lost 0.25 in the right eye already. Astigmatism is kicking in too.

That's what I'm worried about, too - my prescription isn't static, and if it continues to deteriorate after the LASIK surgery then I'll just end up needing glasses again soon anyway - so basically all those thousands of pounds would have been spent just to lower my prescription. Not sure if it's worth it then.

[torrentthief]

i'm pretty sure i've seen advertisements for £350 per eye so around £700 total, much less than the £1330 this person paid.

[tiagosilva29]

That's what I'm worried about, too - my prescription isn't static, and if it continues to deteriorate after the LASIK surgery then I'll just end up needing glasses again soon anyway - so basically all those thousands of pounds would have been spent just to lower my prescription. Not sure if it's worth it then.

If they want to operate you without being static, they are scamming you. One has to be static for several years (4 years in my case) before even considering surgery.

What ****ed me up was simply that I spend too much time in front of screens, read in bad conditions, et caetera.

[ahmz]

You can't put a price on good eyesight. Congrats.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

I had LASEK back in 2005. I was not a good candidate for LASIK (shape of my eye wasn't good enough for the flap or whatever) and wanted a quicker recovery time then PRK. I now have 20/18 vision and have very little side effects. I guess my only "complaint" would be my eyes are sometimes dry...but that is just grabbing at really nothing. I do not have the nighttime halo effects.

Cool thing for the OP...since he just had it done...my eyesight just got better during the few months following the procedure.

[Chasethebase Veteran]

Wow congratulations! My eyesight is terrible but I don't mind wearing glasses so I wouldn't consider this. You have great parents as well for paying the difference for you!