I had Lasik performed 12/20/2007 after wearing glasses and contacts since third grade and I am now 52 years old. This message board helped me through the recovery and answered many of my questions during that time, thanks. Now it is my turn to post an entry since I need to make a decision regarding enhancement and wanted some opinions and comments to help as considerations. Below is the background information:
Original (prior to Lasik)
Right Eye OD -4.50 -1.25 x 90
Left Eye OS - 5.50 -1.00 x 185
After (4/28/08)
Right Eye OD -0.75 -.50 x 166
Left Eye OS -1.50 -.50 x 001
So after Lasik, Big Disappointment, reading the message board, understanding the healing time and the Dr. indicating everything is correctable gave me some peace of mind. I still had difficulty seeing distance and the doctor and I agreed that we should do an enhancement on the right eye. The Dr. took measurements using CustomVue and refraction and got slightly different results. With the CustomVue he got -0.42 0.47 x 156 and with refraction -0.75 0.50 x 166.
Since he thought the CustomVue wavefront would provide better results he used them for the enhancement. Unfortunately, this left me slightly off in the right eye with -0.25 -0.25 x 180. While this is a small amount it makes a big difference and I am at best 20/30 possibly 20/35 without correction. The Dr., while slightly disappointed with the right eye said this was a good monovision result and I should accept and leave it alone. After much discussion, he gave me new glasses and we tried some contacts in both eyes (multifocal) in left eye and that is where I am at currently.
The problem as I explained to the Dr. is that I feel I paid $5,000 for a new prescription. My options are to leave everything as is. Without contacts or glasses I do not feel comfortable driving, especially at night. While I can see the big stuff and can pick up a newspaper or magazine and read, I do not feel comfortable without glasses or contacts nearby. The second option is to continue to use contacts. It is very functional with the contacts but certainly not what I expected. I feel that I need the contacts in most situations unless I am in my home or familiar surrounding to get the clarity. Third option, have enhancement on left eye so that I can better see 20/20 even though I understand that I will probably be presbyopia and need reading glasses. I am leaning to this option. Both eyes would then be very close to each other in terms of results. This is more of a modified slight monovision. If I have the enhancement it will be about 16 months since the original surgery and I have some slight concerns with the flaps. I am also concerned that he has been unable to achieve the objective and should I give him a third chance. By having the enhancement in the left eye I will get closer to achieving my original results, which is to mostly be free from contacts of glasses. I understand that at my age it is a compromise and I will need glasses and/or contact on occasion. Right now I would say that 70% of the time I need some type of correction in terms of contacts or glasses. With the enhancement I think I will be able to function 70% of the time without contacts or reading glasses. Perhaps I am overly optimistic but I am trying to determine the best compromise for me.
Thanks in advance for your comments and opinions.
Thanks