Hi everyone........I had LASIK on 6-22-2007. I'd like to add my personal experience (so far) to the board.
I was extremely myopic with astigmatism. Right eye was 20/300 and left eye was 20/400. At 39, I had been wearing glasses for 34 years, and decided enough was ENOUGH. Everything seemed to come together at the right time; my vision was finally stable for a 2-year period, I found an excellent clinic, and also found financing that would fit my modest budget. I thoroughly researched the procedure (I had been for about 3 years now), knew pretty much what to expect during and afterward, got all my exams, got a great consultation! They pronounced me a good candidate for LASIK, and completely answered any questions I bombarded them with.
The only pain I experienced was from those darned eyelid retractor items. It was ok on the right eye, but boy did I feel it on the left eye! My surgeon said that the left eye is always more sensitive. (true?)
I could see pretty well immediately afterwards; with some blurriness. I went home and took the prescribed nap (LOL) I could only keep my eyes shut for about an hour, as I was too excited to look at everything! I've been doing the drops faithfully, though I detest the Prednisone ones; they are very milky.
So, that was Friday. I went for an exam the next day and was recorded at 20/15 for both eyes (which is a miracle to me; I hadn't expected the results to be THAT good!) I had some bruising on the whites of my eyes (yes, normal...I know)
Today is Tuesday. So far I've been experiencing some dramatic shifts in my vision even at this early stage. My distance vision is fabulous. My mid-range is pretty darned good. My close vision..........well, I used to joke that I had super-x-ray close vision; that's gone now. I find that I need +1.25 reading glasses for text and for computer work. The surgeon explained to me that this might be true after surgery, due to presbyopia (?), and also explained it had nothing to do with the surgery; it was just a part of aging eyes. This evening, though, I am noticing the text on the computer is not as blurry; I can make it out pretty well without the reading glasses!
My biggest annoyance so far is the haloes at night; but I'm told that will improve. The ghosting was gone after just a couple of days.
I am so happy to be free of glasses that were so heavy that they left dents behind my ears, even with the micro-thin lenses. I was so scared beforehand, thinking that I might be making a mistake, or that something would go wrong. I'm so very glad I did this, though. My fiancee says that he noticed a big change in me, even directly after surgery!
My biggest motivation for getting LASIK was, that I was concerned that my eyes would just get worse and worse to the point where I couldn't see at all.........a big fear of mine. I have an aunt who wears glasses AND contacts and still can't see clearly. I didn't want that fate for myself.
I am very happy with the results; they far exceeded my expectations.