My LASIK Experience Start-to-Finish

[printcraft]

Oh, I forgot to mention.......... if you ever get a vague feeling like
something is in your eye it means your eyeballs are about to
fall out.... don't worry though, that hardly ever happens.

 

[GBuck]

Oh, I forgot to mention.......... if you ever get a vague feeling like
something is in your eye it means your eyeballs are about to
fall out.... don't worry though, that hardly ever happens.

Only every time I look at your avatar.

 

[esrice]

(Eotech is the one with the circle around the dot right? Otherwise that joke will simply not work.)

Haha, yeah, it works.

Oh, I forgot to mention.......... if you ever get a vague feeling like
something is in your eye it means your eyeballs are about to
fall out.... don't worry though, that hardly ever happens.

Well that explains why my eyeballs fell out twice yesterday. Thought it was just me. . . .

 

[theweakerbrother]

Haha, yeah, it works.



Well that explains why my eyeballs fell out twice yesterday. Thought it was just me. . . .

I hope you found them!

 

[esrice]

I hope you found them!

I did. But now one eye is green.

 

[GunSlinger]

I too was told that I could see a reduction in low light/night vision, but I haven't yet noticed any. I still see some red halos around tail lights, but that gets better every day.

esrice two week after his 'shine job'...



You can no longer hide in the dark from him.

 

[esrice]

esrice two week after his 'shine job'...

Yeah its kinda crazy how you found an exact picture of me.

 

[printcraft]

Well that explains why my eyeballs fell out twice yesterday. Thought it was just me. . . .

Duct Tape goggles will keep your eyes in place, it's what I use.

 

[IndyBeerman]

Duct Tape goggles will keep your eyes in place, it's what I use.

Sure does, this is the approach I used after my two recent cataract surgeries because I got tired of putting my eyeballs back in after sneezing.

I've decided I like it so much that I'm going to become a super hero name DucTapeGuy, not going to wear a cape on the advice of Mr. Incredible, something about getting sucked into jet engines.

 

[TechFarmer]

I too was told that I could see a reduction in low light/night vision, but I haven't yet noticed any. I still see some red halos around tail lights, but that gets better every day.

6 months later, I still see halos. The only time it's really a problem is when driving at night. Like you said, there are red halos around taillights and also "headlight-colored" halos around oncoming headlights. When driving on the interstate at night, with lot's of far-off oncoming traffic, the halos are overwhelming. They obscure too much of my forward vision.

Luckily, this doesn't happen all the time and there are a couple of solutions. The halos only show up when my pupils are fully dilated (i.e. it's really dark.) So when under street lights, or when oncoming traffic is close, my pupils constrict and there are no halos. The other solution is to use eye drops that constrict my pupils. They are safe for continuous use and completely eliminate the problem, although they take about 30 minutes to take effect.

I've trained myself to minimize the problem by finding bright areas (in what I'm already looking at) and focusing my attention on them, causing my pupils to constrict. This makes the halos disappear.

Dr. Price said the halos would never go away, but told my to stop looking at them and that I would eventually stop noticing them. To a certain extent, I agree with him. The only exception is when driving at night under the "wrong" condition, when it becomes too overwhelming to ignore.

In the end, my vision is the best it's ever been and I love not wearing contacts. Outside during the day, my vision is absolutely amazing. I wish it were 100% without tradeoffs, but it's not. Halos are the only issue, but they aren't a problem all that often, and when they are I can either use the drops and they are completely gone or focus on something bright to get them to pretty much disappear.

 

[esrice]

6 months later, I still see halos.

I was told I had somewhat larger pupils (7mm), so I'm curious to see if they ever truly disappear.

Have you tried any of the "night driving" glasses?

 

[TechFarmer]

I was told I had somewhat larger pupils (7mm), so I'm curious to see if they ever truly disappear.

Have you tried any of the "night driving" glasses?

I also have 7mm pupils, and that's the problem. When the pupil opens larger than then corrected (refractive) ablation zone, halos can start to show up.

I tried polarized lenses and they have no effect. External glare isn't the problem, it's the additional internal reflections within the eye that are the issue.

 

[esrice]

I took my wife down to a bed & breakfast in Brown County for our 8th anniversary and we spent two days hiking and shopping. I love the freedom my new eyes offer!

It was great that I didn't have to pack a glasses case or contact solution. It was nice being able to get up and head to breakfast without putting in contacts. I loved hiking outdoors without my eyes getting scratchy and uncomfortable. I was able to spend the whole time focusing on our activities, and ZERO time thinking about my eyes.

Everyone should have this done. Employers and insurance companies should offer this as a benefit. I should've done this 5 years ago.

 

[esrice]

Yesterday was my final exam. Its been about 6 weeks since the procedure.

With both eyes together I'm firmly 20/15, and read half of the 20/10 line. Dr. Tenkman was quite impressed, and said that they are seeing these kind of results more regularly now.

The light halos at night have diminished, and I don't even think to look for them anymore.

By the end of the evening I notice my eyes getting dry, so I've been keeping them wet with drops.

I've been to the range 3 times since the procedure, and love that glasses and contacts don't get in between me and my targets. I also took a force-on-force class and was thankful that I wasn't half blind while wearing the required headgear.

As a final wrap-up to this experience, I want to recommend LASIK to EVERYONE who wears glasses and/or contacts. Prices continue to drop, and the level of freedom it offers is awesome. I believe my experience was completely worth the price I paid. Feel free to post up and questions you might have and I'd be glad to answer them.

 

[printcraft]

Remember to blink if things start to get blurry.
I forget 1/2 the time while I'm working and my eyes get to burning.

 

[esrice]

UPDATE

So its been just over 5 months since I had my LASIK procedure and I wanted to post up an update.

After my initial recovery that first week I've had no lingering issues or problems. Nighttime vision is fine and the halos are gone. I don't use eyedrops regularly anymore and my eyes aren't dry.

I'm so used to having uncorrected vision now that I almost forget what it was like to get something caught in my contacts. We spent a couple days at Holiday World and Splashin' Safari this past summer and being able to see AND ride the water rides was AWESOME.

In my original post I listed 3 things I wanted from my LASIK procedure.

At the end of it all, I want 3 things out of this:

1. To be able to read the clock from across the room without getting up and putting on my glasses.
2. To be able to wear regular sunglasses and eyepro. ( https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/accessories_and_gear/196456-oakley_sunglasses.html )
3. To be free from the uncomfortable, expensive, and time-consuming task of putting in contacts and wearing glasses.

1. I LOVE being able to read the clock at will. Not only for convenience sake, but also for what it allows me to do in a possible home defense scenario.

2. I'm still loving my Oakleys both on and off the range.

3. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I'm saving 5 minutes EVERY day by not having to mess with silly contacts. The enhanced comfort alone was worth the price of the procedure.


I don't know if Price Vision Group is running any current promotions, but I would still recommend them if you're considering a LASIK procedure.

 

[jeremy]

My review of my Lasik Experience...

Without a doubt best money I have ever spent in my life to date!

 

[iChokePeople]

My review of my Lasik Experience...

Without a doubt best money I have ever spent in my life to date!

Better than the $12/month for the "maid" when you were in Korea or PI?

 

[jeremy]

Better than the $12/month for the "maid" when you were in Korea or PI?

What happens in Korea stays in Korea...


It was better than the Money I spent for the Twins in Prague for a week though, and that was a GREAT time...

 

[Bugoutbob]

This was so very worth it for me. I had it done about 5 years ago and have never looked back. Plan on trying to sleep the whole day of the procedure... I kept doing Tylenol PM and just slept. It's burns afterward, I won't lie, but I have never regretted it. My warranty was awesome too, if I needed to get it done ever again, it would be only $500 per eye. But, I say was on purpose... my Dr ended up offing himself.