People that have had corrective eyes surgery please standup.

[iGas]

Which plan should I go with?

Plan A PRK: $2980
More experienced MD
More informative
Eyes exam was performed by an optometrist, and he were awesome and was very informative
4 hour drive per follow up visit (24h, 3d, 7d, 30d, and 90d checkup)
Hotel stay for 1 night, possibility 3 nights.

Plan B PRK: $3300 (same clinic can also do conventional PRK/Lasik surgery with out Wavefront for $2000)
Eyes exam were done by a technician
10 minute drive per follow up visit (24h, 3d, 7d, 30d, and 90d checkup)

Plan C Lasik: $2980
Same doc as plan A but less follow up.

 

[Imp]

Haven't had it, but being blind, I have read up on it.

I'd go for the MD over a tech. He/she has probably seen more, done more, and capable of recovering better if anything goes wrong. I forget the advantages of PRK or Lasik over the other, except I believe PRK doesn't comprimise the integrity of your eye as much.

It's your eyes, so 5 long drives won't amount to much in the long term.

 

[Zeze]

You know what I'm scared of the most about corrective eye surgery?

Look back 10-15 years. The shit we had was so primitive.

I don't want to go down 10-15 years from now (which is SHORT) and people regretting shitty 10-15-yo eye surgery when they have perfect eye correction with zero side effects.

I don't want them saying "Yea, shit you got 20 years ago is irreversible. Sorry."

 

[MotF Bane]

Seriously, you're talking about your eyesight. Absolutely go for the best place, don't look to be saving yourself money or time on this.

 

[MotF Bane]

You know what I'm scared of the most about corrective eye surgery?

Look back 10-15 years. The shit we had was so primitive.

I don't want to go down 10-15 years from now (which is SHORT) and people regretting shitty 10-15-yo eye surgery when they have perfect eye correction with zero side effects.

I don't want them saying "Yea, shit you got 20 years ago is irreversible. Sorry."

Also, totally this.

 

[Schadenfroh]

I had PRK, go with LASIK, save yourself a good bit of pain and time, as long as you are not planning on going into the military or joining the FBI.

 

[CptObvious]

I had LASEK done last year. I couldnt tell you which procedure was better as I was somewhat of a special case (high myopia, relatively thin corneas) so LASIK was not an option. Overall the procedure and healing weren't so bad, but the results weren't perfect (residual myopia and astigmatism...Im pretty sure they undercorrected me to be safe). Overall though it was worth it. I can see well enough to do all of my everyday tasks without problems. However, perfect vision with no complications is not guaranteed and that should be a calculated risk you should be willing to take.

 

[rcpratt]

Uh, I would want an optometrist.

Unfortunately, I'm not eligible. But I am have a cornea transplant in May :|

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Seriously, you're talking about your eyesight. Absolutely go for the best place, don't look to be saving yourself money or time on this.

On this subject, both my father and my uncle have had the Lasik thing done. My father lived in California and had access to many professionals and the one he chose left him with great eyesight, although admittedly fifteen years later his vision began deteriorating again (but not severely). The uncle lives in Nowhere, Texas and also had it done locally, and has had problems with eye dryness ever since, and now always carries around eye drops, some five years later.

 

[coldmeat]

I wouldn't let a "technician" anywhere near my eyes.

 

[iGas]

Seriously, you're talking about your eyesight. Absolutely go for the best place, don't look to be saving yourself money or time on this.

I'm not looking at saving a few hundred bux, but the drives sux.

It seems that you guys are convincing me to do plan A.

 

[iGas]

I had PRK, go with LASIK, save yourself a good bit of pain and time, as long as you are not planning on going into the military or joining the FBI.

I'm a candidate for either Lasik or PRK, however I'm opting for PRK because I have a couple of scars on my cornea (not in the vision area) that will be repair at the same time.

 

[Bateluer]

I wouldn't let a "technician" anywhere near my eyes.

Pfft, technicians do a lot of preliminary exam work, equipment prep, etc. Wouldn't let them do detailed work like LASIK or PRK, but doing the evaluations is fine. Its mostly pictures and measurements.

I had LASIK a few years back, and have been pretty satisfied with the results. I don't need to wear glasses, but I do have the dry eyes side effect. Usually go through at least two vials per day of Refresh Plus eye drops.

Edit - For Plan A, OP, you will need someone to drive you for your follow ups.

 

[Poulsonator]

I had LASIK done in November of 2000. Been 20/20 ever since. Best investment ever. Went in on a "buy-one-get-one-free" special, so me and a friend got it done for $998 each.

 

[bfdd]

You know what I'm scared of the most about corrective eye surgery?

Look back 10-15 years. The shit we had was so primitive.

I don't want to go down 10-15 years from now (which is SHORT) and people regretting shitty 10-15-yo eye surgery when they have perfect eye correction with zero side effects.

I don't want them saying "Yea, shit you got 20 years ago is irreversible. Sorry."

lol corrective eye surgery? that's what you're worrying about 15 years from now? not robotic eyes that are way more awesome?

 

[Bateluer]

lol corrective eye surgery? that's what you're worrying about 15 years from now? not robotic eyes that are way more awesome?

This. In 20 years, I'll have new eyes cloned with nanite enhancements.

 

[rpanic]

Had mine done 10yrs ago for 3K wifes 8yrs ago for 2700k same dr., its was the best money ever spent.

 

[bfdd]

This. In 20 years, I'll have new eyes cloned with nanite enhancements.

You're going to wait the 15 for them to come out, then save for 5 or are you just going to wait until the next generation of them come around?

 

[Pollock]

You know what I'm scared of the most about corrective eye surgery?

Look back 10-15 years. The shit we had was so primitive.

I don't want to go down 10-15 years from now (which is SHORT) and people regretting shitty 10-15-yo eye surgery when they have perfect eye correction with zero side effects.

I don't want them saying "Yea, shit you got 20 years ago is irreversible. Sorry."

The future is already here. Just have a lens inserted into your eye, which won't deteriorate over time. Apparently it's all the rage in Europe, and there have also been studies on patients with LASiK on one eye and Visian (implanted lens) on the other, where they consistently say the Visian eye has better sight, even years later.

And you can have it done after LASiK, I believe. However, my surgeon quoted something around $4500+ per eye, whereas LASiK was $2000 per eye. I've only had it done for a few months now, but I'm really enjoying it. Dryness is a problem in the morning, but I'm hoping it goes away somewhat soon. My sister had it done last fall and also had some dryness, but it went away for her. But yeah, if my vision deteriorates down the road (it inevitably will) I will probably just have that done.

 

[timosyy]

Relevant to my interests.

I've had glasses since elementary school, but my prescription hasn't really changed since freshman year of high school (I'm 23 now). Since I'm working and living at home, I have the cash sitting around to get Lasik. Seriously considering getting it. Actually just yesterday in a fit of rage I declared that I would get my eyes checked over the weekend, grab my vision history, and try to schedule Lasik for next week or so.

Of course now that it's a day later I'm second-guessing myself. My concern has already been echoed above (better procedures coming out), but then... the counter also is that new procedures would probably be "backwards-compatible".

 

[DaWhim]

seriously thought about it when my eye glasses broke. after reading a lot of doctors that perform the surgery don't get one for themselves, I kinda stop reading. i am okay with my glasses after all.

 

[Ninjahedge]

15 years and no problems so far.

Went from not being able to see the stripes on the road to being able to see individual office windows from across the Hudson river.

A little bit of digital pixelation though (it is a digitally controlled laser, not analog) in teh beginning. It was evident when looking at things like street lights.

But as for "halos", it was never worse than glasses.

Being able to ski, swim and do other stuff w/o worrying about glasses/contacts was a blast.

The only other problem is eye-rubbing. When I rub my eyes for a bit, sometimes it takes a little while for the focus to come back 100%, I think this may be to eye deformation, but I may be wrong.

$3000 pre-tax (Flex plan at the time, did it in January, paid $250/mo for that year...)

 

[bobdole369]

None of the above. I read horror stories, and I'm OK with contacts and glasses at night. No way I'm having someone touch my eye flap.

 

[ajskydiver]

You know what I'm scared of the most about corrective eye surgery?

Look back 10-15 years. The shit we had was so primitive.

I don't want to go down 10-15 years from now (which is SHORT) and people regretting shitty 10-15-yo eye surgery when they have perfect eye correction with zero side effects.

I don't want them saying "Yea, shit you got 20 years ago is irreversible. Sorry."

I had RK done in 1995 and even back then it had been around a LONG time.

Read about the PERK Study below, the Prospective Evaluation of Radial Keratotomy.

See here: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00000129

Here's a bit of it:

Study Start Date: April 1981
Study Completion Date: October 1983
Detailed Description:

Approximately 11 million Americans have myopia that can be corrected with eyeglasses or contact lenses. Some of these people may also be candidates for radial keratotomy (RK), a procedure that aims to correct or reduce myopia by surgery that flattens the corneal curvature.

Keratotomy was first performed by surgeons in Europe and the United States in the late 1800s, and the basic optical and mechanical principles of the operation were defined in the 1940s and 1950s by the Japanese doctors T. Sato and K. Akiyama, who used anterior and posterior corneal incisions. The posterior incisions damaged the cornea, and the procedure was modified in the Soviet Union by doctors Fyodorov and V. Durnev to include incisions in only the anterior cornea. Since its introduction into the United States in 1978, numerous ophthalmologists have modified the procedure by introducing technical and surgical improvements such as ultrasonic methods to measure the thickness of the cornea and the use of diamond-bladed micrometer knives to make the incisions.

However, scientific assessment of RK lagged behind growing public and professional interest in the procedure. In 1980, in response to widespread concern about the long-term safety and efficacy of RK, a group of ophthalmic surgeons approached the National Eye Institute with a proposal for a multicenter clinical trial that would evaluate the potential benefits and risks of this procedure.

The Prospective Evaluation of Radial Keratotomy study, involving 435 patients and 99 pilot patients, was a clinical trial designed to evaluate the short- and long-term safety and efficacy of one technique of radial keratotomy. The procedure was evaluated by comparing a patient's refractive error and uncorrected vision before and after surgery. The more myopic eye received surgery first. Patients were required to wait 1 year before having the operation on the second eye.

The surgical technique was standardized, consisting of eight centrifugal radial incisions made manually with a diamond micrometer knife. The diameter of the central, uncut, clear zone was determined by the preoperative spherical equivalent cycloplegic refraction (-2.00 to -3.12 D = 4.0 mm; -3.25 to -4.3 D = 3.5 mm; -4.50 to -8.00 D = 3.0 mm). The blade length, which determined the depth of the incision, was set at 100 percent of the thinnest of four intraoperative ultrasonic corneal thickness readings taken paracentrally at the 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-o'clock meridians just outside the mark delineating the clear zone. The incisions were made from the edge of the trephine mark to the limbal vascular arcade and were spaced equidistantly around the cornea.

Patients were examined preoperatively and after surgery at 2 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, annually for 5 years, and at 10 years. Examinations in the morning and evening of the same day were done at 3 months, 1 year, 3 years, and 11 years in a subset of the patients to test for diurnal fluctuation of vision and refraction.

The primary outcome variables measured at each visit was the uncorrected and spectacle-corrected visual acuity and the refractive error with the pupil dilated and undilated. The corneal shape was measured with central keratometry and photokeratoscopy. Endothelial function was evaluated using specular microscopy. A slit-lamp microscope examination was made to check for complications from the incisions. Contrast sensitivity was tested in a subset of patients. Patient motivation and satisfaction were studied with psychometric questionnaires at baseline, 1 year, 5-6 years, and 10 years.

 

[wwswimming]

i know 15 people that have been partially or wholely disabled by refractive surgery, mostly PRK & LASIK.

and i have emailed with about 200 more who are coping with extreme adverse effects - constant eye pain, dry eye, increased refractive error, etc.

look for the "FDA Reports" at websites like -
http://www.LASIK-Flap.com/
http://LifeAfterLASIK.com/

for more info.

i have also been involved in reporting a falsified clinical trial, where a patient who was crippled by LASIK - it left metal dust embedded in both corneas - had her result removed from the trial report - by the surgeon who performed the surgery - who is still performing LASIK and IntraLASIK.

if you want info about LASIK or IntraLASIK in your neighborhood, obtain the names of the most experienced surgeons, and then go to the courthouse and enter their names in the Civil Records database to get the # of their Med Mal cases.

then get copies of those cases, and try to contact the affected patient and/or the the attorney(s) that represented them. see what they have to say.

if you want to hear the non-Madison-Avenue perspective on refractive eye surgery.