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| Have you had your eyes corrected? |
| Yes |
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5% |
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| No |
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40% |
[ 8 ] |
| no, but want too |
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55% |
[ 11 ] |
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| Total Votes : 20 |
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runaroundsue
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Joined: 18 Sep 2002
Posts: 6629
Location: supporting GREENer pastures
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 Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:16 Post subject:
| elkid wrote: | | I wore glasses since the age of 7, then switched to contacts at 12. Two years ago I got a major eye infection and was back in glasses for six months. Went back to contacts, and got a second major eye infection last summer and was back in glasses. I was told I could not go back to contacts, for if I got another eye infection it would most likely result in blindness. Not wanting to live in glasses for the rest of my life (vanity, it limited my facial expressions, PITA when running, lack of peripheral vision), I forked over the dough for LASIK last fall. Hands down some of the best money I ever spent. I'd do it again even if it cost 2, 3 times what it did. PM me if you want more info. |
cornea ulcer, abrasion??? Good point, I've had an ulcer and I don't even wear my contacts for long periods of time. If I got another one.....I'd get the surgery done....pronto. My ulcer wasn't in my line of vision, but when I was at the doctors office, I saw some bad ones. Supposedly it's rare to get...but I don't believe that. Next time anyone goes to their opthamologist office check out the doctors.....they wear glasses or they've had surgery.....they do not wear contacts. I have a guess that they make big $$ off contacts.....I mean they are a piece of plastic and probably cost pennies to mass produce. Something's stinky. My son is seeing a new eye doc today. I'll let you know if he/she wears glasses or not.
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Running Brewer
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Joined: 12 Oct 2004
Posts: 3872
Location: Santa Poco
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:16 Post subject:
| elkid wrote: | Also, there IS cutting involved. They cut a flap of outer cornea that is peeled back so the laser can hit your inner cornea. The flap is self-healing, no stitches. You feel nothing. I had the anesthetic drops and Xanax and was all w00ty w00t.
Should you opt for this, wavefront mapping is the way to go. |
hmm, this information was left off the the website. 
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Molly600
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Joined: 15 May 2002
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:18 Post subject:
| cherylpf wrote: | | Meanwhile, everyone I know who has done it LOVES IT. |
I second this. I know many people that have done it and they all RAVE about it.
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runaroundsue
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Joined: 18 Sep 2002
Posts: 6629
Location: supporting GREENer pastures
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:21 Post subject:
| Running Brewer wrote: | Well my vision is 20/200. That means that how the average person sees at 200 feet I see at 20.  I don't like wearing glasses, I just don't see well with them, I hate no have peripheral vision, and they always seem to be in the way. I don't mind the contacts but when travelling or camping they are a pain. I don't really want to spend the money but I am starting to think it would be worth it. I would love to wake up in the morning and see my alarm clock. |
you should have it done. Check out other options though...like lens implants as you are so young. My sister had lasik and then had to wear glasses again in two years. When you approach 40, your vision will change and that's why some people opt for the replaceable lens. I don't know too much about. My brother opted for mono vision. He uses one eye for nearsight and one eye for far sight. He's now over 50 and doesn't need glasses for that old age near sight loss.
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runaroundsue
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:27 Post subject:
| Molly600 wrote: |
I second this. I know many people that have done it and they all RAVE about it. |
I have 4 family members have it done
older brother- the one described above with mono vision....loves
another older brother- hates it, regrets having it done....because of bad night vision. He never had problems with contacts and wishes he still put contacts in every day.
younger sister- happy she had it done....now wears glasses for driving anyway at night....due to that poor night vision thing
husband-- happy he had it done....isn't thrilled
all 4 had terrible vision....the kind that stumble around at night. Thus, why I haven't had it done.....I can function in the morning without correction. I can't watch tv, drive, or read fast-food menus without correction.
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elkid
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Joined: 18 Nov 2002
Posts: 8353
Location: hiding out in Philly
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:29 Post subject:
| Running Brewer wrote: | | Well my vision is 20/200. That means that how the average person sees at 200 feet I see at 20. I don't like wearing glasses, I just don't see well with them, I hate no have peripheral vision, and they always seem to be in the way. I don't mind the contacts but when travelling or camping they are a pain. I don't really want to spend the money but I am starting to think it would be worth it. I would love to wake up in the morning and see my alarm clock. |
I was legally blind without correction - they couldn't measure it in 20/anything. It was "feet from the E". Seriously, in the chair I could see a light but couldn't tell there was anything in it. I had to be THISCLOSE to it to see.
Peripheral rocks. Seeing an alarm clock rocks. But it's not a decision to be made lightly - it's your eyes, for Pete's sake. If I were in your situation, probably wouldn't do it. Yes, contacts are a pain, but possible blindness would be, too. Once I heard I couldn't wear contacts, I carefully weighed the risks and decided I couldn't live in glasses (because you're half blind with them, like sleeping, showering, swimming, etc. and they affected my athletics so much).
I have heard of horror stories, but only from "the early days".
Sue - I had viral conjunctivitis. The first time it was the top two corneal layers deep; the second time through all three. The big danger was that if this led to corneal erosion (which was a possibility with me) and the third layer ruptured, my eyeballs would have collapsed because the liquid inside would have leaked out. I couldn't wear contacts again after that, and was on antibiotics for a long, long, time. Also, the need for glasses at 40 is usually age-based and entirely different from the vision problem for which you'd get LASIK.
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MechEngDropout
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Posts: 10474
Location: Off the grid
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:31 Post subject:
| cherylpf wrote: | I have perfect vision so I haven't.
However, my good friend is a "perfect candidate" however her opthamologist father won't let her, as he feels this is such a new technology and we haven't seen what will happen on the long term. Of course, he probably would err on the side of caution with his own kids' eyes, but I thought it was pretty interesting he doesn't do it for his patients and discourages his family from it. Just food for thought.
Meanwhile, everyone I know who has done it LOVES IT. |
I would consider it sometime well in the future, after it's been perfected, if you will. Call me old fashioned, but I don't trust newfangled biological technologies.
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cherylpf
crazy cat lady
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:32 Post subject:
I have a coworker who got RK back before lasik and I realize they are different procedures but he got the worst botch job of all time. He can't see as well as he did before the procedure, and that is with his coke bottle bottom glasses. Makes me rethink anyone doing anything to my eyes evah.
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elkid
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Location: hiding out in Philly
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:38 Post subject:
| MechEngDropout wrote: | | I would consider it sometime well in the future, after it's been perfected, if you will. Call me old fashioned, but I don't trust newfangled biological technologies. |
Name me one medical procedure that's perfected. ONE.
With LASIK, as with any medical procedure, you have to look at the percentages. As time goes on, and doctors are getting more experience, the success rates are climbing. But you'll never have it perfected.
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MechEngDropout
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:43 Post subject:
| elkid wrote: |
Name me one medical procedure that's perfected. ONE.
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I'm pretty satisfied with how they draw blood. I've never heard of anyone having lasting effects from having blood drawn. Sure they may miss a vein and have to poke you 9 times but it won't affect you in the long run. Sure, the example is a stretch but I didn't mean perfected as in no mistakes ever. I just don't feel it has been proven enough yet.
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elkid
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:46 Post subject:
| MechEngDropout wrote: | | elkid wrote: | | Name me one medical procedure that's perfected. ONE. |
I'm pretty satisfied with how they draw blood. I've never heard of anyone having lasting effects from having blood drawn. Sure they may miss a vein and have to poke you 9 times but it won't affect you in the long run. Sure, the example is a stretch but I didn't mean perfected as in no mistakes ever. I just don't feel it has been proven enough yet. |
Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking of similar risk procedures, not in terms of apple-to-orange analogy. I was thinking things like organ transplant, cardiac bypass - things of a serious medical nature where if you go with the wrong surgeon or make the wrong decision very, very bad things happen.
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MechEngDropout
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:52 Post subject:
| elkid wrote: |
Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking of similar risk procedures, not in terms of apple-to-orange analogy. I was thinking things like organ transplant, cardiac bypass - things of a serious medical nature where if you go with the wrong surgeon or make the wrong decision very, very bad things happen. |
Well then it's hardly fair to compare it to organ transplant, don't you think? You aren't replacing an eyeball. You aren't taking veins/arteries from another part of the body and installing them in the eye. How about we compare it to plastic surgery? Would that be fair?
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elkid
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Joined: 18 Nov 2002
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Location: hiding out in Philly
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 11:57 Post subject:
| MechEngDropout wrote: | | Well then it's hardly fair to compare it to organ transplant, don't you think? You aren't replacing an eyeball. You aren't taking veins/arteries from another part of the body and installing them in the eye. How about we compare it to plastic surgery? Would that be fair? |
No, I don't think it's fair comparing LASIK to plastic surgery. While you're not replacing the eyeball, you ARE reshaping it which is somewhat equivalent. If the procedure is messed up, you go blind. Plain and simple. It is not in the same realm as plastic surgery, which is more times than not elective (I of course exclude reconstructive reasons). True, some people choose to have it purely for vanity's sake. Others don't have alternative choices to live the same quality of life. While it's not life/death like organ transplants and vein removal, the consequences of a procedure gone bad are equally horrific, lifelong lasting, and permanent. You'd certainly suffer much more greatly if your eyes got f--ked up than if your nosejob went bad.
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MechEngDropout
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 12:08 Post subject:
| elkid wrote: |
No, I don't think it's fair comparing LASIK to plastic surgery. While you're not replacing the eyeball, you ARE reshaping it which is somewhat equivalent. If the procedure is messed up, you go blind. Plain and simple. It is not in the same realm as plastic surgery, which is more times than not elective (I of course exclude reconstructive reasons). True, some people choose to have it purely for vanity's sake. Others don't have alternative choices to live the same quality of life. While it's not life/death like organ transplants and vein removal, the consequences of a procedure gone bad are equally horrific, lifelong lasting, and permanent. You'd certainly suffer much more greatly if your eyes got f--ked up than if your nosejob went bad. |
You're comparing the risk factor to that of an organ transplant. Blindness versus death. Good comparison. The risk of some permanent damage (be it impaired sight or fatality) is similar between the two. But the procedures aren't. Like you said, it's reshaping part of the eye. Which is similar to reshaping another part of the body, as in plastic surgery. The risk isn't as large in plastic surgery because it's been developed over a longer period. And yes, I'm well aware that reshaping a nose is not the same as reshaping the lense in your eye. When it gets to the point where the risk factor is similar to that of similar operations, I'll consider it. For this example, it would have to have a risk similar to that of plastic surgery, except with leeway for more risk because it is a more complicated operation.
And there's no way around saying that this is an elective procedure, where organ transplants are not.
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runaroundsue
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Posted: 10/19/04 - 12:12 Post subject:
I believe that most risk is not actually the procedure itself....it's the infection risk. You can swing both ways on this. Obviously Elkid with 2 under her belt, did not want to risk that there was some pattern. I with one, felt it was a fluke (not positive though). Eye infections are scary stuff and you know the seriousness when you walk in the ER with one. It's not even the loss of sight that Elkid mentions, but DEATH. I'd definitely pick the most reputable doctor before anyone did anything with my eyes.
That said. Think of how many times your finger touches your eye with your eye with contacts. Hey, I'm trying to convince RB and scaring myself. Elkid, did you just have to use eye drops....where you can't sleep because they have to be put in every hour???
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