- Oct 24, 2000
- 17,254
- 44
- 91
My experiences over the past week. Enjoy.
Vision Correction
*A Hard Decision*
It must first be known that I have never liked anything near my eyes, anything touching my eyes, or any problems with my eyes... so the decision to have LASIK performed was one of quite difficulty to make.While the prospect of having crystal clear vision without the aid of contact lenses or glasses was something I had dreamt of since I was a wee lad, the anxiety I felt in making this decision was pretty overwhelming. Even after finding out that my wife's insurance would cover some of procedure's cost, I just didn't like the idea of being awake while people fiddled with my eyes.
The decision was finally made in March of 2005. After going years without any issues with my contacts or eyes, within months of each other I had to weather a stint with Pink Eye followed by a brief visit from CLARE (contact lens attributed red eye). My wife reaffirmed that her insurance still covered LASIK but that would be removed from their coverage at the end of this school year. I probably couldn't ever spend $5k on something other than a car or a house, so it was now or never.
Just after I had healed from CLARE, I informed my doctor of this decision and he started me off on the 2 month trip, starting off with no contact wearing for the duration. We scheduled a pre-op appointment for the 21st of April.
*Preparatory Practices*
In preparation for the financial hit we would have to incur, I called up my wife's insurance company to find out exactly how much of LASIK was covered by them and was greeted with some strange news, "100% of the traditional LASIK cost, but no coverage for customLASIK." Hmm...Free? Or $5k? What would you choose?
Before I knew it, it was the day of the pre-op exam. I was warned ahead of time that they would need to dilate my eyes with a special drop that lasted for 3 days. As I understood it, this was to completely relax the eye muscles to get a more accurate prescription reading as well as to give the doctor a better look at my eyes. The visit, which included a full eye health exam as well as a few machines I had never been subject to before, was relatively painless. Even the dreaded "puff of air" glaucoma test seemed easy in comparison to what I would be going though only a few weeks later.
My doctor explained the whole procedure to me and actually got me excited to go. The nervousness went away for the most part. "Now, there's still one test that we don't do here," my doctor explained, "They'll have to measure the thickness of your cornea when you get to the laser center to make sure you can have LASIK done."
Alright, so the anxiety didn't go completely away now that there was a bit of doubt.
*D Day, H Hour*
Fast-forward to the day of the procedure. I arrived at the laser center on May 12th at about 9:30am, chauffeured by my dad. I was ready for this. No problems, I had geared my mind up to just do it. I filled out the bit of paperwork and realized I had forgotten my wallet back home. That didn't turn out to be an issue seeing that they had everything for me already including insurance information. Phew. Included in the papers was a consent form that allowed people to view the operation in progress through a one-way window and video monitor. I asked if my dad wanted to, he said "Sure, why not." I probably wouldn't have watched.
Then the tests began, first a test to see the curvature of my eyes, followed by a pupil measurement, then a topography of my eyes was done to make sure it was the latest information. Finally, the cornea thickness test. My eyes were numbed with some anesthetic drops and I was told to pick a spot on the wall in front of me and stare at it. This test was more weird than anything else. If you've ever seen that video by Cypress Hill, where one of the guys pushes on a material in front of the camera lens with his finger and the view distorts around that spot... well, that's what I saw. I didn't feel a thing other than the tech's hand on the back of my head to keep it steady.
"So," I asked, "what's the verdict?" Her expression said it all, confirmed by her voice... my corneas were too thin for LASIK. That was definitely not what I wanted to hear.
*A Disappointing Diagnosis*
I was brought into another room and met one of the head doctors. He was blunt but his honesty was appreciated. I was informed that it was his professional opinion I should not have LASIK performed due to the chances of complications being 1 in 500, which is a bit too high for me (and him). Also, if down the road I needed an enhancement, they would not do it under their "lifetime guarantee" program.
Instead I was offered an alternative called PRK. It was explained to me that PRK is the original LASIK; however instead of creating a flap of corneal tissue they actually scrape away cells and allow them to grow back on their own. The downside is that this is more painful (could be anywhere from mild discomfort to child-birth pain) and takes longer to heal. LASIK has become so popular because of how fast people recover and the lack of pain. It was also explained that after the procedure I would have to wear bandage contact lenses for the first few days. That concept made me laugh a bit, but it was to insure nothing went in the hole they were creating and to ease the discomfort I would feel.
Immediately I asked about returning to work as I had already taken the Thursday and Friday off and was hoping to get back on Monday after a successful LASIK operation. I was told that I should be able to return on Monday. Cool, I can deal with a weekend of pain if I can get back to work on Monday. I was still quite disappointed though but was assured that PRK's results are at least as good as, or even better than those of LASIK. So, I asked what my dad thought and we both came to the same conclusion. When we met the surgeon, I told him I'd go for it.
After that conversation, I really didn't know what to expect in the surgery so my stress level shot through the roof. I didn't have my normal eye doctor of over 15 years explain the procedure. I didn't have time to research the problems, actual heal time, or issues associated with it. I was basically in the dark.
Led to a prep area, I was given a hat and some booties to wear at which my dad remarked "I wish I had my camera." Another tech came in and gave me a post-op kit with steroid drops, rewetting drops, a pair of uncomfortable sunglasses, a roll of tape and some shields I was supposed to wear when sleeping to avoid any accidents. We went over what I needed to do after the surgery which was basically 1 drop of steroids, 4 times a day, 1 drop of antibiotics, 4 times a day, rewetting drops as needed, and sleep as much as possible for the first few days. They also gave me a prescription for painkillers to be filled later.
*Look Up at the Flashing Light...*
The wait was very short and I was ushered into the "Laser Suite" (No Cell Phones Allowed). I immediately noticed the room was substantially cooler than the rest of the building. There was a large nondescript boxy machine on my left next to the one-way window I previously mentioned, an uncomfortable looking human-shaped table in front of me, and a television monitor mounted in the upper right corner. They asked me to lie down and all the sudden it got very... alien abduction-like.
From that point I don't remember seeing another person at all, just voices and the occasional fingers. There was a very bright light in my face as I lied down on their table and my eyes immediately began watering because of it. Two large cotton swabs were tucked into my hat on either side of my head to absorb any liquid that dripped from my eyes. I was asked if I had any iodine or shellfish allergies, then had my eyelids swabbed with iodine. They administered anesthetic drops in my eyes and the table harshly rotated into position under the boxy machine. They asked me to slide down till I comfortably was looking straight up at the flashing light that was mounted to the box and that I may hear some clicking which was just the laser gases mixing. There was also a camera pointed at my face built into the box.
I then heard the entry door open and close and the sound of someone sitting down behind me. It was the surgeon and the mental torture experiment began. While my eyes were numb, nothing else was. A dark cover was applied to my left eye. I wasn't told what was going on from then, but it felt like a piece of scotch tape was used to pull my right eyelid open, then what I can only imagine was a very Clockwork Orange-like forceps placed over my eye to hold the lids open completely.
The flashing light may have been raised at this point to give the surgeon more room to work, but I'm honestly not sure. It did seem further away though. From here, he repeated several times "Look up at the flashing light... Look up at the flashing light..." as he was literally scraping the top of my layer of my cornea off with some metal tools. It didn't take too long, but my pulse was racing, my hands were clenched, and my toes were curling just from the idea of what he was doing. After he was done, a white tube rotated into my view. It may have been the actual laser; it may have been some sort of suction device; I really don't know. He cleaned my eye and said "Look up at the flashing light..." yet again while another voice quietly said "Tracking his eye..." It was definitely go time.
At this point, the box started clicking a lot and the surgeon repeating his "flashing light" mantra several times except this time, he followed it by "good" each time. During this period, the quiet voice was counting down seconds at intervals. My vision progressively got worse till where it grayed out to nothing at all at which the clicking subsided. Was it due to me almost passing out? I don't know. It did happen with both eyes though. I do know that with LASIK, they harden your eye to cut the flap and at that point you lose vision, but this was during the actual lasering.
The surgeon then swabbed my eye a bit again, and my vision came back. For a split second I could see quite clearly until he began doing other things, none of which were terribly descript. The process ended with the application of the yellowish bandage contact lens, a similar cover to that placed over my left eye put over my right, and the left cover removed.
Time for round two.
*In the Dark*
After my left eye was finished, I was in sort of a daze. Both eye covers being removed, the table I was on swung back harshly to it's original position and I was instructed to sit up. The door was opened for me where my dad waited after viewing the whole thing through his window. I was helped up and ushered to a recovery room which was very dark. Two new covers, the same that I mentioned were included in my post-op kit were put over my eyes and the uncomfortable sunglasses were placed over them. They had me sit in the dark for about 20 minutes relaxing... at which point I had a tremendous headache which I can only describe as tension induced. I've never had a tension headache prior to this however, so I figured it was a side effect.
The doctors came in to talk to me and go over the post-op procedures yet again, to which I paid absolutely no attention due to my headache. They gave me some Advil for it then dosed me with some painkillers, having me sign a paper saying they did... I didn't read it though, and I doubt I even signed my name normally or in the proper place.
I asked again about work, and their statement from being able to go back on Monday had changed to "Tuesday or Wednesday" but at that point I could care less. Then that was it... Time to go home. My dad lead me to the elevator and got the car as I leaned against the building not opening my eyes at all, fearful of what I would see (or in this case, wouldn't see). Soon after, I was drugged up and slouched over in the car seat as I was brought home where I crashed on my bed and woke up some hours later to the sound of my dad's car pulling up after he returned from getting some Dunkin' Donuts. My headache was gone completely and I was feeling not too bad off in general.
*Recovery*
The next day (Friday), my dad picked me up at 11ish and brought me to my follow up appointment at my eye doctors where they ran me through the prescription and topography machines. I met a new doc that I'd never needed to see before; a specialist that just took a look at things, threw a sink-load of drops in my eyes to help with discomfort, then sent me on my way telling me everything looked just fine so far. He also set me up with another follow up the next day with my normal doc.
I can't really describe the rest of the weekend much though, other than my eyes felt as though they had about 6 eyelashes in there, lodged under contact lenses. It was very uncomfortable, but I had dealt with similar pain before so it was tolerable. I still dosed pain killers though to help me sleep. Sticking to the eye drop schedule, by Sunday the pain had mostly subsided and I was opening my eyes more often. Throughout this time though, I was not happy with my vision as I couldn't see much better than when I went in and I was unsure of when or if I would. Too many unknowns for my liking. I know I sent some emails out to people saying that I didn't, at that point, recommend PRK at all.
Considering my job requires sitting at a computer, I gave reading a shot Sunday night and couldn't do it at all no matter how close I got to words. I had to call out on Monday and pawn off a meeting I had to an understanding co-worker. I called into my eye doc's and asked what time they wanted me there on Tuesday to take out those blasted bandage contacts. At that point, they'd been in my eyes for 4 days, 5 by the time they were removed.
I called up my boss Monday night and explained that I'd be getting the contacts removed in the morning on Tuesday, and hopefully I'd be in after that. I figured that was why my reading vision still was poor. Everything else had improved a bit, still blurry but definitely not terrible and much better than my normal vision used to be without glasses or contacts.
*I can see clearer now, that haze is gone.*
Tuesday morning my dad picked me up at 10ish and drove me to my eye doc's yet again. There he basically gave my eyes a shower of saline and worked the bandage lenses off, making sure they weren't stuck to the healing cells of my eyes. Immediately I could see everything a bit better and he exclaimed, "Yep, these things are pretty nasty." I tried reading after that and things were not great, but a lot better than they were so I worked the rest of the day as best I could.
Today, my vision has improved yet again and I can read a bit better though not the best. Hopefully tomorrow will bring clearer text and clearer... ahem... sights. Would I recommend PRK to someone who had not other choice? Even now with vision not being 100%, I would have to say definitely.
Vision Correction
*A Hard Decision*
It must first be known that I have never liked anything near my eyes, anything touching my eyes, or any problems with my eyes... so the decision to have LASIK performed was one of quite difficulty to make.While the prospect of having crystal clear vision without the aid of contact lenses or glasses was something I had dreamt of since I was a wee lad, the anxiety I felt in making this decision was pretty overwhelming. Even after finding out that my wife's insurance would cover some of procedure's cost, I just didn't like the idea of being awake while people fiddled with my eyes.
The decision was finally made in March of 2005. After going years without any issues with my contacts or eyes, within months of each other I had to weather a stint with Pink Eye followed by a brief visit from CLARE (contact lens attributed red eye). My wife reaffirmed that her insurance still covered LASIK but that would be removed from their coverage at the end of this school year. I probably couldn't ever spend $5k on something other than a car or a house, so it was now or never.
Just after I had healed from CLARE, I informed my doctor of this decision and he started me off on the 2 month trip, starting off with no contact wearing for the duration. We scheduled a pre-op appointment for the 21st of April.
*Preparatory Practices*
In preparation for the financial hit we would have to incur, I called up my wife's insurance company to find out exactly how much of LASIK was covered by them and was greeted with some strange news, "100% of the traditional LASIK cost, but no coverage for customLASIK." Hmm...Free? Or $5k? What would you choose?
Before I knew it, it was the day of the pre-op exam. I was warned ahead of time that they would need to dilate my eyes with a special drop that lasted for 3 days. As I understood it, this was to completely relax the eye muscles to get a more accurate prescription reading as well as to give the doctor a better look at my eyes. The visit, which included a full eye health exam as well as a few machines I had never been subject to before, was relatively painless. Even the dreaded "puff of air" glaucoma test seemed easy in comparison to what I would be going though only a few weeks later.
My doctor explained the whole procedure to me and actually got me excited to go. The nervousness went away for the most part. "Now, there's still one test that we don't do here," my doctor explained, "They'll have to measure the thickness of your cornea when you get to the laser center to make sure you can have LASIK done."
Alright, so the anxiety didn't go completely away now that there was a bit of doubt.
*D Day, H Hour*
Fast-forward to the day of the procedure. I arrived at the laser center on May 12th at about 9:30am, chauffeured by my dad. I was ready for this. No problems, I had geared my mind up to just do it. I filled out the bit of paperwork and realized I had forgotten my wallet back home. That didn't turn out to be an issue seeing that they had everything for me already including insurance information. Phew. Included in the papers was a consent form that allowed people to view the operation in progress through a one-way window and video monitor. I asked if my dad wanted to, he said "Sure, why not." I probably wouldn't have watched.
Then the tests began, first a test to see the curvature of my eyes, followed by a pupil measurement, then a topography of my eyes was done to make sure it was the latest information. Finally, the cornea thickness test. My eyes were numbed with some anesthetic drops and I was told to pick a spot on the wall in front of me and stare at it. This test was more weird than anything else. If you've ever seen that video by Cypress Hill, where one of the guys pushes on a material in front of the camera lens with his finger and the view distorts around that spot... well, that's what I saw. I didn't feel a thing other than the tech's hand on the back of my head to keep it steady.
"So," I asked, "what's the verdict?" Her expression said it all, confirmed by her voice... my corneas were too thin for LASIK. That was definitely not what I wanted to hear.
*A Disappointing Diagnosis*
I was brought into another room and met one of the head doctors. He was blunt but his honesty was appreciated. I was informed that it was his professional opinion I should not have LASIK performed due to the chances of complications being 1 in 500, which is a bit too high for me (and him). Also, if down the road I needed an enhancement, they would not do it under their "lifetime guarantee" program.
Instead I was offered an alternative called PRK. It was explained to me that PRK is the original LASIK; however instead of creating a flap of corneal tissue they actually scrape away cells and allow them to grow back on their own. The downside is that this is more painful (could be anywhere from mild discomfort to child-birth pain) and takes longer to heal. LASIK has become so popular because of how fast people recover and the lack of pain. It was also explained that after the procedure I would have to wear bandage contact lenses for the first few days. That concept made me laugh a bit, but it was to insure nothing went in the hole they were creating and to ease the discomfort I would feel.
Immediately I asked about returning to work as I had already taken the Thursday and Friday off and was hoping to get back on Monday after a successful LASIK operation. I was told that I should be able to return on Monday. Cool, I can deal with a weekend of pain if I can get back to work on Monday. I was still quite disappointed though but was assured that PRK's results are at least as good as, or even better than those of LASIK. So, I asked what my dad thought and we both came to the same conclusion. When we met the surgeon, I told him I'd go for it.
After that conversation, I really didn't know what to expect in the surgery so my stress level shot through the roof. I didn't have my normal eye doctor of over 15 years explain the procedure. I didn't have time to research the problems, actual heal time, or issues associated with it. I was basically in the dark.
Led to a prep area, I was given a hat and some booties to wear at which my dad remarked "I wish I had my camera." Another tech came in and gave me a post-op kit with steroid drops, rewetting drops, a pair of uncomfortable sunglasses, a roll of tape and some shields I was supposed to wear when sleeping to avoid any accidents. We went over what I needed to do after the surgery which was basically 1 drop of steroids, 4 times a day, 1 drop of antibiotics, 4 times a day, rewetting drops as needed, and sleep as much as possible for the first few days. They also gave me a prescription for painkillers to be filled later.
*Look Up at the Flashing Light...*
The wait was very short and I was ushered into the "Laser Suite" (No Cell Phones Allowed). I immediately noticed the room was substantially cooler than the rest of the building. There was a large nondescript boxy machine on my left next to the one-way window I previously mentioned, an uncomfortable looking human-shaped table in front of me, and a television monitor mounted in the upper right corner. They asked me to lie down and all the sudden it got very... alien abduction-like.
From that point I don't remember seeing another person at all, just voices and the occasional fingers. There was a very bright light in my face as I lied down on their table and my eyes immediately began watering because of it. Two large cotton swabs were tucked into my hat on either side of my head to absorb any liquid that dripped from my eyes. I was asked if I had any iodine or shellfish allergies, then had my eyelids swabbed with iodine. They administered anesthetic drops in my eyes and the table harshly rotated into position under the boxy machine. They asked me to slide down till I comfortably was looking straight up at the flashing light that was mounted to the box and that I may hear some clicking which was just the laser gases mixing. There was also a camera pointed at my face built into the box.
I then heard the entry door open and close and the sound of someone sitting down behind me. It was the surgeon and the mental torture experiment began. While my eyes were numb, nothing else was. A dark cover was applied to my left eye. I wasn't told what was going on from then, but it felt like a piece of scotch tape was used to pull my right eyelid open, then what I can only imagine was a very Clockwork Orange-like forceps placed over my eye to hold the lids open completely.
The flashing light may have been raised at this point to give the surgeon more room to work, but I'm honestly not sure. It did seem further away though. From here, he repeated several times "Look up at the flashing light... Look up at the flashing light..." as he was literally scraping the top of my layer of my cornea off with some metal tools. It didn't take too long, but my pulse was racing, my hands were clenched, and my toes were curling just from the idea of what he was doing. After he was done, a white tube rotated into my view. It may have been the actual laser; it may have been some sort of suction device; I really don't know. He cleaned my eye and said "Look up at the flashing light..." yet again while another voice quietly said "Tracking his eye..." It was definitely go time.
At this point, the box started clicking a lot and the surgeon repeating his "flashing light" mantra several times except this time, he followed it by "good" each time. During this period, the quiet voice was counting down seconds at intervals. My vision progressively got worse till where it grayed out to nothing at all at which the clicking subsided. Was it due to me almost passing out? I don't know. It did happen with both eyes though. I do know that with LASIK, they harden your eye to cut the flap and at that point you lose vision, but this was during the actual lasering.
The surgeon then swabbed my eye a bit again, and my vision came back. For a split second I could see quite clearly until he began doing other things, none of which were terribly descript. The process ended with the application of the yellowish bandage contact lens, a similar cover to that placed over my left eye put over my right, and the left cover removed.
Time for round two.
*In the Dark*
After my left eye was finished, I was in sort of a daze. Both eye covers being removed, the table I was on swung back harshly to it's original position and I was instructed to sit up. The door was opened for me where my dad waited after viewing the whole thing through his window. I was helped up and ushered to a recovery room which was very dark. Two new covers, the same that I mentioned were included in my post-op kit were put over my eyes and the uncomfortable sunglasses were placed over them. They had me sit in the dark for about 20 minutes relaxing... at which point I had a tremendous headache which I can only describe as tension induced. I've never had a tension headache prior to this however, so I figured it was a side effect.
The doctors came in to talk to me and go over the post-op procedures yet again, to which I paid absolutely no attention due to my headache. They gave me some Advil for it then dosed me with some painkillers, having me sign a paper saying they did... I didn't read it though, and I doubt I even signed my name normally or in the proper place.
I asked again about work, and their statement from being able to go back on Monday had changed to "Tuesday or Wednesday" but at that point I could care less. Then that was it... Time to go home. My dad lead me to the elevator and got the car as I leaned against the building not opening my eyes at all, fearful of what I would see (or in this case, wouldn't see). Soon after, I was drugged up and slouched over in the car seat as I was brought home where I crashed on my bed and woke up some hours later to the sound of my dad's car pulling up after he returned from getting some Dunkin' Donuts. My headache was gone completely and I was feeling not too bad off in general.
*Recovery*
The next day (Friday), my dad picked me up at 11ish and brought me to my follow up appointment at my eye doctors where they ran me through the prescription and topography machines. I met a new doc that I'd never needed to see before; a specialist that just took a look at things, threw a sink-load of drops in my eyes to help with discomfort, then sent me on my way telling me everything looked just fine so far. He also set me up with another follow up the next day with my normal doc.
I can't really describe the rest of the weekend much though, other than my eyes felt as though they had about 6 eyelashes in there, lodged under contact lenses. It was very uncomfortable, but I had dealt with similar pain before so it was tolerable. I still dosed pain killers though to help me sleep. Sticking to the eye drop schedule, by Sunday the pain had mostly subsided and I was opening my eyes more often. Throughout this time though, I was not happy with my vision as I couldn't see much better than when I went in and I was unsure of when or if I would. Too many unknowns for my liking. I know I sent some emails out to people saying that I didn't, at that point, recommend PRK at all.
Considering my job requires sitting at a computer, I gave reading a shot Sunday night and couldn't do it at all no matter how close I got to words. I had to call out on Monday and pawn off a meeting I had to an understanding co-worker. I called into my eye doc's and asked what time they wanted me there on Tuesday to take out those blasted bandage contacts. At that point, they'd been in my eyes for 4 days, 5 by the time they were removed.
I called up my boss Monday night and explained that I'd be getting the contacts removed in the morning on Tuesday, and hopefully I'd be in after that. I figured that was why my reading vision still was poor. Everything else had improved a bit, still blurry but definitely not terrible and much better than my normal vision used to be without glasses or contacts.
*I can see clearer now, that haze is gone.*
Tuesday morning my dad picked me up at 10ish and drove me to my eye doc's yet again. There he basically gave my eyes a shower of saline and worked the bandage lenses off, making sure they weren't stuck to the healing cells of my eyes. Immediately I could see everything a bit better and he exclaimed, "Yep, these things are pretty nasty." I tried reading after that and things were not great, but a lot better than they were so I worked the rest of the day as best I could.
Today, my vision has improved yet again and I can read a bit better though not the best. Hopefully tomorrow will bring clearer text and clearer... ahem... sights. Would I recommend PRK to someone who had not other choice? Even now with vision not being 100%, I would have to say definitely.
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