Seeking information

[tack77]

I went last Friday for my lasik consultation. I went in with my doubts after reading various things on the net about it since I am severly nearsighted (-8.5 in each eye) with astigmatism. The tech said he thought it was a wash, but when the dr reviewed my corneal thickness, said there was plenty. After reading on this forum, I wish I would have asked what the thickness was and how much would have to be reduced, but I didn't know what those numbers meant at the time. It was explained to me that the most typical downfall in my case is that i would be undercorrected and need an enhancement later on. Anybody else have a similar situation to this?

Also, would it be bad to work midnights then go for the procedure the following morning? I plan on talking a few days off after the procedure but just trying to limit how much time i'll need to be off. I was told no reading the morning of the procedure, but what does the word morning mean to someone who works midnights,,lol, you know what i mean.

ANy help or suggestions appreciated.

[tack77]

Also,

i work outside in cold weather, would this affect me shortly after lasik?

[tack77]

ok have some correction. I don't have my last eyeglass Rx but i called the lasik center today and they gave me this from my lasik evaluation.

R -5.0 + 1.75 X 085
L -8.25 + 1.25X 085

This seems wierd to me since my previous contact precriptions were the same in both eyes, and Im not sure of my recent eyeglass exams but Im sure they werent off by that much

[tack77]

ok, this is kind of scary

I went to the eye doctor today in which i received my last eye exam and glasses. I requested my prescription and was shocked

r -7.50 -1.50 X 180
l -7.50 -1.00 X 005

why this huge difference in this and the lasik RX?

[Lightcycles]

Hi,

The eye glasses power is frequently different from the real spherical correction required to get you to 20/20.
When there is a large differences in degree of myopia between two eyes (like in your case) - giving the patient 20/20 correction in each eye is frequently impossible as the high difference in power of lenses between left and right eye will create different size images and your brain will have a hard time to merge them. This will be expressed in patients not being able to tolerate actual "true" correction - they would have dizziness, headaches, double images and other problems.
So ophthalmologists are left with one of two options:
- prescribe contact lenses with true correction (contact lenses will not cause as dramatic effect in image sizes as they are closer to eye but the higher astigmatism the more difficult to tolerate contact lenses as your cornea is more likely to be uneven)
- prescribe glasses with under-corrected "weak" eye (-8.25 shrunk to -7.5 in your weaker left eye) and over-corrected "strong" eye (-7.5 instead of -5 in your stronger right eye).

It looks like in your case your ophthalmologist chose to go with second option.
Please also keep in mind that your vision might have changed over years - that's the reason good Lasik practices always check your contacts and glass prescriptions and ask you for how long you've had it for.

I would recommend you to get a 2nd and 3rd opinion in few other Lasik offices (especially since they all normally give free consultations to find the good candidates).
Please get the following information from them and post it here:

- the smallest and largest thickness of your corneas (important to decide on how strong your eyes will be after the Lasik is done and if your corneas are of uniform thickness)
- results of your refraction exam (your spherical and cylindrical correction)
- if they recommend to do custom vs regular Lasik (the amount of cornea tissues is more for custom Lasik)
- if you are a good candidate to achieve 20/20 correction in each eye after initial or second (enhancement) surgery

Best,
~LC