Lasik Surgery Personal Experiences - Part 1
We will cover a series of articles detailing actual experiences of people undergoing Lasik Surgery, common people like you and me.
Identifying information will be removed removed from their post to protect the doctors and the patients identity.
We hope that it will give you proper perspective and information from a patients standpoint and help you in deciding whether you want to go for Lasik Surgery and if so what to ask, what to know and what to prepare for and finally what to expect.
Everyone considering Lasik or IntraLase goes through series of questions and concerns in their mind before deciding. I sincerely hope the information and experience we provide here helps you to decide logicallyand correctly.
Today's article is about the firsthand Lasik Surgery experience of a 40+ female and Silicon Valley professional in Bay Area. She also speaks about the experiences of her husband, peformed by a different doctor.
After MUCH serious consideration, research and understanding (and concern) of the risks/rewards, I had Dr. T perform LASIK on both of my eyes on 3/31/00. Dr. T doesn't have much of a 'bed-side manner', but is extremely experienced and came with excellent references. He knows his stuff. I understood that after interviewing several well known Dr's. - his experience and knowledge 'stood out'.
I had been wearing coke-bottle glasses and or uncomfortable contacts for 40 years. My vision was 20/800. Due to serious farsightedness I couldn't clearly see anything more than about 10 inches from my face without glasses. In my interviews with Doctors I actually had one (who performs the surgery!) ask me why I should risk blindness if my vision could be corrected with glasses. I considered that question seriously. Again, my glasses were thick, a hassle for my active life-style and I never adjusted to even soft contacts. Water/Snow skiing, snorkling - all of it- was difficult or impossible with such limited vision. I went for it - with Dr. T. When I actually laid down on the table to have the procedure, I had a panic attack about potential irreversible harm. WHAT WAS I THINKING?????? Needless to say, we went through with it, I chose monovision because I was beginning to have the 'over 40, wish my arms were longer' thing. Dr. T even tested my tolerance for the monovision.
I'm here to say that within 5 minutes I sat up on the table, could see everyone and everything in the room. I cried, for me it was a miracle. I tested 20/30 at that moment, 20/15 the next day, and drove myself to the follow-up exam 24 hours later - with NO GLASSES!!!! I had blurred vision up close for about 2 days. I just didn't read or do the computer for those 48 hours. I had NO complications, no halos, no on-going blurred vision, better than before night vision, no pain, no infect ions. PERFECT. Every single day of the past 5 years I am thankful and awestruck that I can 'see', I still can't get over it. Yes, I guess I'm a 'poster-child' for all that can go right. As I get older I've begun to wear the 'readers' (from Long's) when the light is dim and/or my eyes are tired, at night. For the most part, though - I don't use them.
AND, my husband, whose vision was only 20/40 (!!!) got LASIK (traditional, not Wavefront) in January of this year with Dr. K, Pleasanton, again, monovision - and again, thrilled with the results. No complications whatsoever.
Ok, enough from me. There are always serious considerations, every human and how they respond to this procedure can be different, and Sean - it didn't go perfectly for you. But stick with Dr. T - he'll make it right if he can, he' s a great Doctor and this still might turn out for you. It is not incommon to have a 2nd 'corrective' procedure. I've had many many friends who've had LASIK within the past 8 years - so far I've not met anyone who regrets it.
If you've gotten this far in your reading - 'thanks for hearing me out'. Good luck and best of health to all.
N
Filed under Eye Treatment
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