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poopylala posted 3/16/2014 22:30 PM

It finally hit me that this time next week, I'll be able to see pretty clearly without needing contacts or glasses! Even though I'm young, while the number of years isn't that many, I still can't remember back to when I could see fine without help.

I am a little nervous as I have no previous similar experience to base this procedure off of, although I've read tons of blogs and talked to several people who've done it and my questions have been answered. I think my only fear really is that something could be terribly painful (I've read there can be short instances of discomfort) or could go horribly wrong and I could go blind (doubtful but still a concern).

Has anyone here done it? Any words of wisdom?

5454real posted 3/16/2014 22:43 PM

You're gonna love it! I put the shades up cause really, really follow the advice of the surgeons and really protect your eyes after the procedure. I went from 20/650 and 20/725 to 20/15 and 20/20. I actually was able to request that! I wanted to be a touch far sighted(Golfer). For those who don't know, what a normally sighted person could see at 650 ft away, I was able to see at 20 in my left eye and 725 in my right. It was awesome!!!

The first time you wake up and fumble for your glasses to see the alarm clock and then realize it's clear as a bell? Wow, nothing(well ok, a lot of things were better) can compare to the *Oh wow!* factor.

Good Luck!

BTW You are really going to enjoy not having to spend the money on glasses anymore

metamorphisis posted 3/17/2014 07:40 AM

Yay! My sister had this done 2 years ago now. Reading your post was the first time I remembered that she used to wear glasses in ages! It was immensely successful and her vision is perfect. It was just so neat to see her without glasses after wearing them for decades. I think you'll love it!!

sparkysable posted 3/17/2014 07:52 AM

Did anyone warn you about the smell during the procedure?

poopylala posted 3/17/2014 08:08 AM

I've read at some point it smells like burned hair?

lovehatelove posted 3/17/2014 08:28 AM

AWESOME!! I don't think my vision is bad enough to get lasik... it's stayed the same since HS...!

I went from 20/650 and 20/725 to 20/15 and 20/20.

OMG! you were super blind...!! glad you can see now!!!

Williesmom posted 3/17/2014 08:34 AM

I had Prk because my coreas were too thin (finally, a part of my body that's thin!!).

It was pretty painful, and I didn't have 20/20 vision for about 3 months. Even so, I would do it again.

My sister, brother, and BIL all had Lasik. They had 20/20 the next day.

I had mine done about 9 years ago, and started wearing reading glasses last year. But, I'm also 45 years old, and they warned me that this could happen.

tushnurse posted 3/17/2014 08:43 AM

I had Lasik over 10 years ago, and I too was blind as a bat without my glasses. Had developed a sensitivity to contacts, so I couldn't really wear them much, and the first thing I did in the morning was put on my glasses, and the last thing I did at night was take them off.

I am an outdoorsy girl so it was a hassle between, camping, fishing, swimming, etc to deal with glasses.

I can honestly say that the Lasik was the best money I ever spent. I went from 20/460 ish to 20/20 and 20/15. It has been wonderful to be free of glasses, and the hassles all these years. Now that I am 43, and middle age has hit, I am sporting cheaters at work, and when I read for an extended period of time. But that is still so much better than full time, and being able to see what's off in the distance is amazing.

rachelc posted 3/17/2014 09:04 AM

I love it - 12 years ago. Best thing I've done. hubby and I had it done the same day. I had pain, he did not.
My vision is better than 20/20 now.

purplejacket4 posted 3/17/2014 11:40 AM

I strongly advise sleeping in a lazy boy chair the first night. I'm a thrasher and turned over so hard onto my alarm clock I hit my left cornea and knocked the flap loose. Two surgical repairs and three weeks later I was fine but it could have been avoided with some precautions. I was also hacked at the surgery center for misplacing the instructions until AFTER my surgery! It would have had to be in 65 font for me to read it right afterwords!!

Make sure you have A LOT if eye drops ready to go. Don't panic about the bright jewel sparkles if lights at night or the halos around lights. That will go away.

tushnurse posted 3/17/2014 11:45 AM

PJ, why is it that Dr's and nurses make the worst patients????

When I had it I had to sleep with actual things over my eyes, had to do that for a full week.

purplejacket4 posted 3/17/2014 11:56 AM

I dunno TS but it's the truth!

The day after when my ophth saw my eye he said "oh shit!" Not what you want to hear! He "floated" and ironed the flap but it was still wrinkled. Three days later he "tacked" down the flap with ten sutures. THAT hurt. FWS was there to be my moral support but ended up serving as the rotater nurse because they were understaffed at the eye center. So much for moral support.

So for two weeks I had sutures in my eye that felt as thick as cables. Every image had ten different shapes. I had to wear a Halloween pirate eye patch because it was making me sick. On the bright side it did take place in October so there you go. Within three hours of the suture removal my vision had normalized and is now 20/15.

GabyBaby posted 3/17/2014 12:09 PM

I'll be 42 this year and I'm seriously considering getting lasik done.
I need to do more research and speak to the doc who does them. I have thinning corneas, an astigmatism, and I'm far-sighted. I've had progressively worse sight nearly every year since I was in my late 20s.

Hmmmm....it may be time to up my flex spending account for next year!

Jessy1501 posted 3/17/2014 23:30 PM

I'm really hoping I can get this done one day. I've been wearing glasses since I was in 5th grade and upgraded to contacts in middle school. My eyesight has gotten progressively worse and my contact prescription is currently an 8 and a 6. I am BLIND! I had one doc tell me that the curvature of my eye wouldn't allow for lasik, but I need to get more opinions. Plus the eyesight has remain unchanged for a couple of years, right?

Best of luck to you and let us know how it goes!!

Mack9512 posted 3/18/2014 09:56 AM

Best money I ever spent!

I got mine done in 2003. I have pretty bad eye allergies so wearing contacts were a pain in the ass and wearing glasses caused migraines.

11 years later and I'm still better than 20/20. Luckily my eyesight wasn't that bad to begin with so my eyes are under warranty for the rest of my life.

poopylala posted 3/18/2014 10:41 AM

Oh my!! Some of y'all have worse vision than me! I have -4.75 in my right eye and -4.50 in my left. I'm beyond 20/400 but idk the exact second number.

I had my pre-op appointment yesterday and they said I'm all ready to go! I got the prescriptions for the eye drops and such as well as Valium for the big day.

I'm anxious/excited to the point where my dreams are central to this procedure haha

She did say since my work is 4 hours long Friday evening and I delegate tasks (I'm in charge of assigning community service folks to do tasks for a live theater) that I can go to work as long as I take it easy. Did anyone have any issues that first day doing anything?

Deeply Scared posted 3/18/2014 10:49 AM

(((((poopylala)))))

Just a big hug for good luck!

unfound posted 3/18/2014 11:10 AM

I had it done 15 or so years ago and it was AMAZING (even back then when it was done with a chisel ).

After the procedure I had to wear the old man sunglasses for a few hours, as light hurt (was uncomfortable) my eyes. Technology has probably taken care of this side effect if your dr says you can go to work in the evening though. The next morning it was life as normal, only with perfect vision . The worst side effect was I did poke myself on the bridge of my nose a bit, trying to adjust the glasses that weren't there anymore.

eta- remember, the lasik fixes your vision now, but doesn't stop the progressive deterioration of normal aging. I was good for about 11 years, then had to get reading glasses.

[This message edited by unfound at 11:12 AM, March 18th (Tuesday)]

sparkysable posted 3/18/2014 14:15 PM

I also notice that my eye doesn't lubricate itself as well so I have to put drops in for dry eye.

nutmegkitty posted 3/18/2014 14:59 PM

Good luck! I had this done 15 years ago and it was a miracle.