Getting my Eyeballs Fixed! (OT)

On 2006-03-04, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
On 2006-03-04, William Hamblen penned:

Read about Kathy Griffin's experience first.

http://www.kathygriffin.net/lasik.php.

On the other hand, my brother had it done and he's been fine so far.

My understanding is that everyone's eyes are different. The healing
has a lot to do with the density of blood vessels in your eyes and
where they are, because of course blood flow promotes healing.

I had my surgery done when I was 21. I had very little itchiness,
could see perfectly the next day, and have overall been extremely
happy with it.

I do believe that you will be most happy with the surgery if you
really have severe vision problems. People who can see the clock when
they wake up in the middle of the night, who could drive themselves to
the doctor if they had to without glasses, are going to be a lot
pickier than people like me ...

I do have starbursts at night. Light sources have a "halo" around
them. To me, this is like night time with contacts, except without
the itchiness that accompanies that experience.

There's always a risk in any medical procedure. I feel that lasik is
using a sledgehammer to swat a fly: the severity of the procedure is
not commensurate with the condition being corrected. I'm short sighted
enough to need glasses to see just about anything past the end of my nose,
so the glasses go on in the morning and don't come off until night.

--
The night is just the shadow of the Earth.

On 2006-03-04, jmcquown penned:

My brother had his done about 3 years ago; no problems at all.


I know a lot of people who have had LASIK done (when I got mine done,
in 1999, there was a loophole in my company's insurance policy, so a
bunch of people got it.)

No one that I personally know had anything catastrophic happen.

The people who really didn't have terribly bad vision to begin with
(-2 or -3 diopters) were much less pleased with the results than those
of us who were truly nonfunctional without glasses or contacts.

One brother and sister both had problems with their corneal flaps not
healing as expected; they flipped right back open. I forget how that
was dealt with, but they're fine now.

My observation is that, the older you are, the more chance there is of
side effects. Young tissue just heals faster and better; but we knew
that already.

Also, in your late 30s or early 40s (depends by person), your eyes
will start to change again, primarily due to muscles weakening. That
will actually "correct" a small amount of nearsightedness, or make you
slightly farsighted.

I'm currently trying to decide if I want to get the procedure redone
(my eyesight is somewhere between 20/40 and 20/80, much better than
the 20/3000 (yes, those are three zeros) I had when I first got it
done). All of the above is making me hesitate. TLC has a lifetime
guarantee on their surgeries, so it would be free. There's also more
of a risk of epithilial cell growth on second surgeries.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2006-03-04, William Hamblen penned:

There's always a risk in any medical procedure. I feel that lasik
is using a sledgehammer to swat a fly: the severity of the procedure
is not commensurate with the condition being corrected. I'm short
sighted enough to need glasses to see just about anything past the
end of my nose, so the glasses go on in the morning and don't come
off until night.

I guess it depends on how severe you consider your condition. I would
absolutely agree that the decision for LASIK is a very personal one,
and you need to realize that yes, it is surgery, and yes, you could go
blind if everything went exactly wrong. (As far as I know, no one has
gone blind from LASIK, but it could happen if there were an earthquake
right when they were doing your eyes, etc.)

For me personally, my (lack of) eye sight was becoming a real problem.
My eyes were becoming more and more intolerant of contacts, and
wearing glasses is a real pain when you're doing something active and
sweaty, or with the potential of being in the water. I realized that
if I lost my contacts while white water rafting, I would be completely
helpless.

I weighed the risks and decided it was worth it for the strong
likelihood that I could do all the things I loved to do without fear
that I would find myself essentially blind if I lost my vision aids.

I don't regret it. It was a life altering surgery for me.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2006-03-04, W. Leong penned:

I am not brave enough to go through the surgery. My hair dresser got
it done a few years ago and he had to get a second operation. Not
sure what the second one fixed. Anyway, I need to wear bifocals and
I am not sure this condition can be corrected by surgery. Plus it is
too much $$ for me. Best of luck and let use know how it goes.

What they can do is correct each of your eyes to different strengths,
so that one is better at near and one at far. I don't like the idea
of that much, but apparently it works well for some people.

The second operation probably had to do with epithilial cell growth,
which is basically a few extra cells growing instead of a completely
clean heal.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

"William Hamblen" wrote in message
...
On 2006-03-04, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
On 2006-03-04, William Hamblen penned:

Read about Kathy Griffin's experience first.

http://www.kathygriffin.net/lasik.php.

On the other hand, my brother had it done and he's been fine so far.

My understanding is that everyone's eyes are different. The healing
has a lot to do with the density of blood vessels in your eyes and
where they are, because of course blood flow promotes healing.

I had my surgery done when I was 21. I had very little itchiness,
could see perfectly the next day, and have overall been extremely
happy with it.

I do believe that you will be most happy with the surgery if you
really have severe vision problems. People who can see the clock when
they wake up in the middle of the night, who could drive themselves to
the doctor if they had to without glasses, are going to be a lot
pickier than people like me ...

I do have starbursts at night. Light sources have a "halo" around
them. To me, this is like night time with contacts, except without
the itchiness that accompanies that experience.

There's always a risk in any medical procedure. I feel that lasik is
using a sledgehammer to swat a fly: the severity of the procedure is
not commensurate with the condition being corrected. I'm short sighted
enough to need glasses to see just about anything past the end of my nose,
so the glasses go on in the morning and don't come off until night.


Even my optometrist - who is so good that he is the advisor to all our local
hospitals on sight matters - finds me "a challenge" to prescribe lenses for.
I asked him what he thought about laser treatment and he said he could not
recommend it. Ever the cynic, I enquired whether it could be that he might
be worried that it could put him out of work! I know him well enough to
feel able to say this, it was him that discovered something badly wrong and
got me to the hospital for surgery and I've seen him on a monthly basis for
several years.

I should have known better, really, I know he is extremely ethical. He said
"No, it's nothing to do with that. It has not been established for that
many years and we don't know the long term effects over a lifetime. It
could easily result in the sight not being able to be corrected in later
life, should it be necessary."

So that was out of the window for me then. My sight is difficult enough to
correct after all my surgery without having my optometrist having to worry
about my vanity.
I'll never wake up and be able to read my bedside clock. My surgeon last
time said he would like to achieve this for me, but it didn't work. Like
Adrian says, that isn't always a bad thing. I sleep quite badly so it's
quite good not to know what time I wake up 6/times nightly ;-)

Tweed

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
On 2006-03-04, William Hamblen penned:

Read about Kathy Griffin's experience first.

http://www.kathygriffin.net/lasik.php.

On the other hand, my brother had it done and he's been fine so far.

My understanding is that everyone's eyes are different. The healing
has a lot to do with the density of blood vessels in your eyes and
where they are, because of course blood flow promotes healing.

I had my surgery done when I was 21. I had very little itchiness,
could see perfectly the next day, and have overall been extremely
happy with it.

I do believe that you will be most happy with the surgery if you
really have severe vision problems. People who can see the clock when
they wake up in the middle of the night, who could drive themselves to
the doctor if they had to without glasses, are going to be a lot
pickier than people like me ...

I can't read the computer monitor a foot in front of my face without my
glasses or contacts. I definitely can't read the clock in the middle of the
night (and I even bought one with extra large glowing digital numbers). My
eyes started going at age 11. I suspect I'll be very happy with the results
of this!

Jill

Christina Websell wrote:
"William Hamblen" wrote in message
...
On 2006-03-04, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
On 2006-03-04, William Hamblen penned:

Read about Kathy Griffin's experience first.

http://www.kathygriffin.net/lasik.php.

On the other hand, my brother had it done and he's been fine so
far.

My understanding is that everyone's eyes are different. The healing
has a lot to do with the density of blood vessels in your eyes and
where they are, because of course blood flow promotes healing.

I had my surgery done when I was 21. I had very little itchiness,
could see perfectly the next day, and have overall been extremely
happy with it.

I do believe that you will be most happy with the surgery if you
really have severe vision problems. People who can see the clock
when they wake up in the middle of the night, who could drive
themselves to the doctor if they had to without glasses, are going
to be a lot
pickier than people like me ...

I do have starbursts at night. Light sources have a "halo" around
them. To me, this is like night time with contacts, except without
the itchiness that accompanies that experience.

There's always a risk in any medical procedure. I feel that lasik is
using a sledgehammer to swat a fly: the severity of the procedure is
not commensurate with the condition being corrected. I'm short
sighted enough to need glasses to see just about anything past the
end of my nose, so the glasses go on in the morning and don't come
off until night.


Even my optometrist - who is so good that he is the advisor to all
our local hospitals on sight matters - finds me "a challenge" to
prescribe lenses for. I asked him what he thought about laser
treatment and he said he could not recommend it. Ever the cynic, I
enquired whether it could be that he might be worried that it could
put him out of work! I know him well enough to feel able to say
this, it was him that discovered something badly wrong and got me to
the hospital for surgery and I've seen him on a monthly basis for
several years.

I should have known better, really, I know he is extremely ethical.
He said "No, it's nothing to do with that. It has not been
established for that many years and we don't know the long term
effects over a lifetime. It could easily result in the sight not
being able to be corrected in later life, should it be necessary."

So that was out of the window for me then. My sight is difficult
enough to correct after all my surgery without having my optometrist
having to worry about my vanity.
I'll never wake up and be able to read my bedside clock. My surgeon
last time said he would like to achieve this for me, but it didn't
work. Like Adrian says, that isn't always a bad thing. I sleep
quite badly so it's quite good not to know what time I wake up
6/times nightly ;-)

Tweed

Then again, there is the story of my Aunt Jean which was truly a miracle.
She'd gone "legally" blind due to diabetes at a young age, in her early
20's. She had a number of surgeries on her eyes for various reasons over
the years but she literally had not been able to see for 40 years. The last
time she saw her doctor about her eyes he wanted to do surgery and she was
obstinate; she said she really didn't want anyone cutting on her eyes again.
He said, "You don't understand, I can HELP you!" Her friend who had driven
her there talked her into. She called me on the phone, ecstatic. "Jill, I
can SEE!" Apparently he did radial keratotemy while he was doing whatever
else he was doing. This dear woman who hadn't seen herself in a mirror in
40 years was able to watch television, read a book without a huge lighted
magnifying glass, etc. all because of this surgery. Sadly, she only got to
enjoy it for 6 months before she passed away of a heart attack.

Jill

Kreisleriana wrote:
On Fri, 3 Mar 2006 22:07:37 -0600, "jmcquown"
yodeled:

I wonder if Persia will look different? LOL

I'm sick of the optometrist not getting my prescription right. I'm
sick of having to reach for glasses before I can stumble to the
bathroom in the middle of the night. A few years ago my parents
offered to pay for lasik surgery for me to have my vision corrected.
After trying unsuccessfully since early December to get a new
(correct) pair of glasses, I caved and called my parents this
morning. Yes, they are still willing to pay for lasik surgery for
me. Wooo hooo! Some time next week I'll be able to see without
corrective lenses for the first time since 1971. YAY!

Jill



Wow! I don't think I'd know myself without glasses. If I got my eyes
corrected, I suspect I'd still wear them.

There's always that "fashion edge". Ever notice the women who play
attorneys on television all wear those oh-so-chic little glasses, as if they
are trying to downplay the fact that they are drop-dead gorgeous? (Like I
ever met an attorney who looked like that.)

Jill

jmcquown wrote:

Kathryn wrote:

I imagine it will feel quite strange to open your eyes in the
morning and see straight away.
--


I switched to a type of contact lenses that I can wear for up to
thirty days without taking them out. Waking up in the morning and
being able to read the time on my alarm clock was very strange! I'm
hoping eventually to get the type of surgery that Jill is having.

Kathryn


I talked with an opthalmologist about those types of lenses but even though
he prescribes them he doesn't recommend sleeping in contacts. Eyes move
when you sleep (REM) and lenses can get "lost" behind the eyeball. (shudder)

This surgery isn't cheap, that's for sure ($4400 for both eyes). I might
vent about my father from time to time but one thing I can say about him he
always comes through for me. I love my dad!

The trouble is, most medical insurance won't cover it,
because it's "elective". Fortunately, cataract surgery is
not, and nowadays it's standard procedure to correct the
patient's vision with the implant. (So now I only need a
contact lens in one eye.) I was always terribly squeamish
about any surgical procedure involving my eyes, ears or
throat, but with modern cataract techniques, there really is
"nothing to it", usually.

However, the still near-sighted eye has only the beginnings
of cataract, and seems to be stabilized for the present, so
I must be content to see well with only one "uncorrected"
eye. Unfortunately, the implant does not adjust to distance
like one's natural lens, so being able to see a normal
distance without corrective lenses means that I need reading
glasses for close work - still, it's better than glasses
full-time.

On Fri, 3 Mar 2006 22:07:37 -0600, "jmcquown"
wrote:

I wonder if Persia will look different? LOL

I'm sick of the optometrist not getting my prescription right. I'm sick of
having to reach for glasses before I can stumble to the bathroom in the
middle of the night. A few years ago my parents offered to pay for lasik
surgery for me to have my vision corrected. After trying unsuccessfully
since early December to get a new (correct) pair of glasses, I caved and
called my parents this morning. Yes, they are still willing to pay for
lasik surgery for me. Wooo hooo! Some time next week I'll be able to see
without corrective lenses for the first time since 1971. YAY!

Jill

Wow, Jill, that is great! I hope it goes perfectly and you can enjoy
good vision again. I'm sick and tired of never being able to see
right, too, but surgery scares me too much, so I'm just living with
being a blind ol' lady ;-)

Ginger-lyn

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