Had lasik yesterday...

[kett]

I've been lurking around these boards for a while and I wanted to post my lasik experience.

I almost had lasik done 5 years ago until I decided to do a little extra research on the internet about lasik. Of course I ran into those very negative boards claiming that lasik is horrible and risky and I chickened out.

Finally this year I decided to take the plunge despite y fears. I was sick of contacts, though they have never caused me too much trouble, in fact, I hardly ever noticed them at all, and I absolutely DESPISED glasses. I would rather walk around blind (I was a -5 in each eye prior to surgery) than wear glasses and that is just what I would do if I didn't actually need to see to survive. Once I decided to get lasik I began to become very vision-aware. I noticed things that I never noticed before, like the fact that I get moderate halos at night with contacts and significant starbursts at night with glasses. I realized that my vision was quite blurry after my contacts had been in my eyes for more than a week. It is amazing what your brain adjusts to after a while. So, knowing this, I decided that the risks were worth it since it probably couldn't get worse than glasses anyway. The most reassuring thing was reading the reports that such a massive majority of people are so pleased with the results of the surgery. I understood that I was not the perfect candidate - I have a 7.5mm pupil, -5 in each eye and a "slight" astigmatism in my left eye that had never been corrected with contacts or glasses, so I don't know how slight it actually was.

So yesterday I got lasik using the allegretto laser and a laser flap. The process went just as everyone else has described - very quick and very painless - and the worst part, by FAR, was when the doctor took the tape off of my eyelids. I couldn't believe how quick it was, how easy it was and how professional and kind everyone was. I rode home in the foggy gray morning light and even despite the blurry vision I could see the world around me. It was incredible. I lazed around all day and slept a good 12 hours at night and woke up this morning to 20/15 vision. I think I drove my husband bananas with my constant remarking on how crisp the world is. It is the only way I can describe my new vision: crisp. It is absolutely incredible. The doctor checked me out and said the flap looks perfect and my vision is healing nicely. I am on a myriad of eye drops (steroids, anti-biotics and moisturizers) and my vision fluctuates a little here and there, but I keep catching myself suddenly staring off into the newly-crisp world to take it all in. My eyes are a little dry (I live in Utah so dry eyes are a way of life here) and I have starbursts around lights at night, which I would say are much better than the starbursts I experienced with glasses and slightly worse than the starbursts with contacts. Even still, if my eyes were to never get any moister (is that a word?) and even if the starbursts never got any better (although I am very confident that they will) I would still have had lasik all over again. I feel so lucky to live in a day and age when we have the kind of technology that allows us to fix something as delicate and precious as our vision.

So now I am going to step away from the computer and give my poor eyes a break. I'll follow-up again after my next check-up, but I just wanted to say that I appreciate the conversations on this board and I wanted to share my own.

[LasikExpert]

Glad to hear of your Lasik results. Do be sure to come back and keep us informed. Too bad that you delayed your new vision for five years.

[kett]

Today was my one month check-up. Doctor says I have 15/20 in both eyes, but even without that confirmation, I can tell that my vision is better than I can ever recall it being in my life. For the past 30 days I have had minor fluctuation here and there, the biggest problem being a slight haze around lights (even in the day) when my eye gets too dry, but a little blinking or eye drops resolve it perfectly. I still look around the world every day and just marvel at all the fine detail I was missing in my vision before this. I absolutely can't wait to go swimming again and be able to see. I love waking up at night and not having to do a silly eye dance to try and keep my dry contacts in my eye (and losing that battle often enough that I blinked my contact right out onto the floor). I love not having to deal with the raw-irritation that my contacts gave me after working all day in front of the computer. And I LOVE not having to have my glasses on once or twice a month to rest my eyes.

Currently, my eyes get dry when I stare at my computer all day at work - but that happened with contacts too - and I haven't noticed any real dryness on the weekends or at night. A little here and there, but no worse, and usually better, than I experienced with contacts.

My night vision - which was my big fear with such large pupils - is good. I see crisp, clear details and there are no halo's or starbursts if there is even a small amount of light present. So if I am driving, if I am on a road with a street light, my night vision is perfect; I see as well as I see during the day. If I am in a very dark area, however, I do get starbursts around bright lights. So if I am driving on a rural road with no street lights I will see headlight starburst right up until the car gets close to me, at which point they vanish. I go into detail not because I am upset, but just because I know that anyone worried about night vision problems wants to know as much as possible about other people's experience. I see better at night, even when starbursts are present, than I ever saw with contacts or glasses. If the starbursting never gets any better at all I would still get Lasik all over again, no hesitation.

Just wanted to share my progress and say thanks to everyone else that has shared theirs. I'll check back on my next follow-up appointment.

[davinci23]

Hi Kett,

Consider yourself fortunate and lucky.... The only time i feel that way is outside on a sunny day (vision awesome there)

I'm at 9 weeks post-Lasik and I've got some ghosting (astigmatism?) in both eyes, dry eye (drops still ~30 mins), and halos. Halos at night are going away slowly; that's the one upside. In the right eye, I have a ghost to the southeast. In the left (long distance), I have a ghost at the north. In the left (very short distance), I have a ghost to the southwest. The ghosting is making doing anything with letters/numbers not fun. Imagine watching a sports ticker on TV and every number having a ghost above and another one to the southeast.

My doc says it'll go away in time but losing confidence as the days/weeks go by..... I pray that these oddities are correctable via glasses if they don't go away.

May your good fortune continue but I hope some of your luck rubs off onto me in the next few days/weeks.... ;-)

[LasikExpert]

Regular astigmatism is correctable before and after Lasik. You may want to look at our article on dry eye after Lasik, if you have not already. Remember that you have just had microsurgery on your eyes. Some people take longer to resolve, or need a different treatment plan than others.