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*Lasik is a company that does eye surgery, and did my eye surgery last friday(Oct.22); this is my experience 
I had bad eyes. I didnt think they were 'that' bad. But apparently they were. Solution: Eye surgery. It's a fairly common procedure nowadays, most people know someone who's had it so I wasnt worried about getting it done... but first; lets do some learning.
Now, there are two types of eye surgery. Theres the PRK method(no i dont know what it stands for) and the lasik method(i guess they named their company after this type). Before the actual surgery you go in for an evaluation to determine which type of surgery you qualify for. It basically depends on how thick your cornea is. (As I understand it)In the lasik method they, from the side of the eye, cut into the cornea over your pupil creating a flap and, when said flap is pulled back, the pupil is exposed. During surgery they will fold this flap back, fire the laser into the eye, then fold the flap back. This helps massively with the healing process as there is only a small amount of cornea that needs to be healed and the pain is only slight. Naturally I didnt qualify for that method, my cornea's are too thin, so I had to get PRK, where they just shoot the laser into your eye and say 'lol, hf'.
So, they do surgeries in the morning and recommend that you go home and sleep afterwards, clever me stayed up late and only got a few hour sleep so I could do just that. When I got there I was given a relaxing pill which didnt do anything for me, although I expect I have a rather high tolerance to pain killers from my previous experiences. There were about 5 other people in the waiting room, all getting the PRK surgery. As I waited I could clearly hear the laser buzzing in the operating room, and I knew that someone was getting their eyes lasered, and I was next...it was disconcerting. My name got called and I went anxiously into the OR. The surgeon seemed like a nice enough guy. He put numbing drops in my eyes so I would hardly feel anything, then laid me down on this cool table that had tons of equipment at the top; the laser, naturally.
Let me just say right now, I'm sensitive about my eyes, its one of those parts of your body that you never want to lose/have damaged. I have never worn contacts and I rarely, rarely put drops in my eyes because, I simply hate it, nothing should touch or go in my eyes; nothing at all. I knew this whole operation would be a bit of a challenge for me, but hell, if soccer moms can do it, why cant I? That was my mentality as the surgeon showed me this funny little tool that looked a bit like tiny pliers, except they had little metal pieces that would sort of cup my eyeball. Literally, cup my eyeball. He would slide those little metal extensions around my eyeball and then lock the tiny pliers open, preventing me from blinking. At least I thinks that how they worked, I wasnt really listening, I was doing my best to escape within myself, find the calmness within, and crap like that. He taped my other eye closed then clamped my left eye open and I involuntarily staring up, at a little red light that I would have to stare at during the lasering; I was set to get it over with. I was, but he wasnt, there was more perverse torture to put me through; he had to polish my eye. Lol wat?? Yea. He told me to keep staring at that little red light while he turned around to grab the 'polisher'. I didnt get a good look at it, but I swear to you, it was an electric toothbrush. I am 99% sure, it was just a stupid electric toothbrush, and he used it to polish my eyeball!Uuuhgg. He rubbed that crappy $5 toothbrush all over my eye and I couldnt even blink; he kept having to stop because apparently I was rolling my eye back and not looking at the little red light, but how am I supposed to see it when you have your convenience store toothbrush blocking my eye?! Happily they gave me two stress balls, so I was squeezing the shit out of those. Finally, after some liquid was put on my eye via what looked like a q-tip, I was ready for the laser; all I had to do was look at that red light and everything would be great. It wasnt difficult to do, after that toothbrush torture the laser was a pleasant stinging relief. So I stare at that red light, I hear a switch flipped, then the unmistakable sound of the laser, and then, I inhale...through my nose...and I smell something. It takes a second to process but it can only be one thing; I am smelling my eye burning, my cornea is being melted away by the laser, and I can smell it. I can only liken the smell to burning hair, or when you get a cavity filled and they drill into your tooth and you can sorta smell it; its one of those fundamentally repulsive and wrong smells. At that point I was distracted by the fact that the little red light was getting extremely blurry. It seemed to be getting bigger too. Over the next couple seconds that little red dot got fuzzier and fuzzier, and it grew and grew until it covered half my vision, I wasnt sure I was still looking where I should be, I was looking at the red light yes, but how could I not; it was massive. Next second the laser snapped off, the surgeon applied something to my eye and my vision was immediately back to normal and that little red light was its normal size, as it had always been. A special contact was put on my eye to protect it during the healing, the tiny pliers were removed and I blinked mercifully a few times before that eye was taped closed and then I went through the whole experience again, with my right eye...uuhhgg. The whole thing took less that 10 minutes and afterwards I was given some drops and painkillers.
My mom drove me home and I tell you, I was feelin great. They said all sorts of things about pain and blurred vision for a period of time, but I was fine; my vision wasnt perfect by any means, but there was already improvement, and I felt no pain. Of course that didnt last; the numbing drops were responsible for my lack of pain, and about an hour after the surgery I couldnt open my eyes for more than a second or two, and when I did they would immediately fill with and abundance of tears, so I couldnt see anyway, and there was pain. I wouldnt say there was alot of pain, but... the way I would describe it is; slight to moderate pain, but extreme, extreme irritation. For the first 24 hours I literally couldnt open my eyes, sleep was out of the question until exhaustion set in, I could only listen to things going on around me, and I had to put stupid drops in my eyes four times a day, and I could not, under and circumstances, rub my eyes. One of the drops they had given me was an antibiotic, which of course stung, and made my eyes tear, which made my nose run, quite annoying. Eating was also quite difficult, I couldnt see any of the food I was trying to spear with my fork so I gave up and ate things I could blindly scoop; soup mostly.
After a terrible night I went back for my 24hour evaluation, where they told me everything was looking good and I was on track. At this point I could function by blinking, but I was still in extreme discomfort and generally frustrated at the world. There was nothing to do. I listened to the tv, which sucked, listened to the radio, which sucked more, and listened to whatever my brother was doing on the computer, which also sucked. I was on Tylenol 3 which helped mitigate the pain a bit, but never seemed to do enough for my liking. Oh and they gave me a pair of sunglasses that I had to wear in bed, to stop myself from rubbing my eyes in my sleep....they were terrible. After 3 days of wearing them almost constantly(I was, and still am, extremely light sensitive) they began to pinch my head and I was getting headaches, the stupid drops were irritating my eyes terribly, I wasnt allowed to rub or in any way touch my eyes and my lack or proper sleep and constant discomfort was destroying me. I still couldnt watch tv, read, or use the computer... I was nearing the end of my rope.
But, as they say, time heals all wounds. On the 5th day I was off the drops and pain killers, I could even use the computer for brief periods; although I really couldnt read anything without my eyes tearing up, which was a problem. Over the next few days there was great improvement and now, uh...11days?(ish) after surgery my only problem is being fairly light sensitive. My vision has improved, not dramatically, but there is a noticeable improvement with more improvement yet to come(dont have to wear glasses while driving!yay!). I've gone through a years worth of kleenex since surgery what with my eyes tearing up, and that somehow spontaneously causes my nose to run...annoying.
I guess in summary I would say it was worth it...or at least, it will be worth it over the years. If you do it, and you have to get the PRK, just be prepared for about 2 days of blind hell, then slow but steady improvement, I've heard that the lasik procedure is much less painful and recovery is much quicker, but who wants that anyway? Real men get PRK.
but I'm sure glad its over.
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hahaha crap man. sounds intense. Think I'm gonna stick with contacts for a little while longer (even if they are expensive). Speaking of which, how much does having the eye surgery cost you?
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You say your vision has improved, but not dramatically. Isnt the surgery supposed to make your eyesight perfect or has that just not happened yet? Also lol at the lasik add above the blog.
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On November 03 2010 05:17 blabber wrote:
hahaha crap man. sounds intense. Think I'm gonna stick with contacts for a little while longer (even if they are expensive). Speaking of which, how much does having the eye surgery cost you?
Oh yea..forgot to meantion that.
Cost me a bit over 3k... i get lifetime guarantee and free checkups and stuff like that.
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On November 03 2010 05:21 ragingfungus wrote:
You say your vision has improved, but not dramatically. Isnt the surgery supposed to make your eyesight perfect or has that just not happened yet? Also lol at the lasik add above the blog.
It hasnt happened yet, they said it will continue to improve for up to 6 months, but the eyes do most of the healing/improving in the first 3 weeks, which is when the light sensitivity should get back to normal ^^
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intrigue
Washington, D.C9934 Posts
they scrub your eyeball with a toothbrush?!?!?rwkfopasd fjosdi omg that gives me the heebie jeebies to think about. was the eyebrush(?) curved like a toothbrush? how far back on your eyeball did he scrub?
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After reading this i am quite happy with my glasses
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On November 03 2010 05:26 intrigue wrote:
they scrub your eyeball with a toothbrush?!?!?rwkfopasd fjosdi omg that gives me the heebie jeebies to think about. was the eyebrush(?) curved like a toothbrush? how far back on your eyeball did he scrub?
He just ran it over the front of my eye, like the pupil area.
Also it hopefully wasnt an actual toothbrush, but i just saw the head of it, which looked like a toothbrush, and when he turned it on it sounded a hell of a lot like a toothbrush lol.
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they said that the eyes has the fastest healing factor in our body.. and it looks like it does. Wow, all I think of lasik surgery is the positive results.. never new you'd be like a circumcised child for a week. (on the eye, of course)
I'm planning to get this at around 30.. still five more years to abuse these eyes hehehehe
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Hyrule19150 Posts
I want lasik because I don't like my glasses (limited field of clear vision? noty), but I saw a show on TLC a few years ago about lasik, and they went through the whole process....on camera! Holy shit that turned me off.
Anyway, if you thought the toothbrush was bad, be glad they didn't go at your eyes with an x-acto knife. Jesus christ. I still have nightmares about that show ><
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I've done it as well (6 months ago). I was able to see hours after the surgery, and next day my eyes were a bit sensitive but fine. As for vision omg, they said i was above 20/20 after the surgery and it really felt like it.
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On November 03 2010 05:21 Guilty wrote:Show nested quote +On November 03 2010 05:17 blabber wrote:
hahaha crap man. sounds intense. Think I'm gonna stick with contacts for a little while longer (even if they are expensive). Speaking of which, how much does having the eye surgery cost you? Oh yea..forgot to meantion that. Cost me a bit over 3k... i get lifetime guarantee and free checkups and stuff like that.
Do you ever have to go back in and "redo" the procedure? I'm under the impression that Lasik only last for a few years and afterwards you have to do it again.
Personally I don't think I'll ever get lasik. My eyes are kinda fucked already. I see this slight double/blurry vision (I describe it double, doctor say it's technically blurry vision) and I've been to several eye doctors and they all think I'm crazy because they say my eyes are perfectly fine.
I just got contacts recently and I must say that it strains my eye a lot and its definitely not as clear as glasses. If I wear it like 2-3 days in a row, my eyes get even more blurry
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On November 03 2010 06:10 crazeman wrote:Show nested quote +On November 03 2010 05:21 Guilty wrote:On November 03 2010 05:17 blabber wrote:
hahaha crap man. sounds intense. Think I'm gonna stick with contacts for a little while longer (even if they are expensive). Speaking of which, how much does having the eye surgery cost you? Oh yea..forgot to meantion that. Cost me a bit over 3k... i get lifetime guarantee and free checkups and stuff like that. Do you ever have to go back in and "redo" the procedure? I'm under the impression that Lasik only last for a few years and afterwards you have to do it again. Personally I don't think I'll ever get lasik. My eyes are kinda fucked already. I see this slight double/blurry vision (I describe it double, doctor say it's technically blurry vision) and I've been to several eye doctors and they all think I'm crazy because they say my eyes are perfectly fine. I just got contacts recently and I must say that it strains my eye a lot and its definitely not as clear as glasses. If I wear it like 2-3 days in a row, my eyes get even more blurry
It should last for life, but it is possible to have some regression, in which case they can do another operation. They said a percentage of PRK patients do need a second surgery but i forget the exact figure, it was low is all i can remember...below 15% anyway.
Part of the 3k I paid is a free second surgery if necessary, which it might be considering how hard I am on my eyes lol... too much computer ^^
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Very interesting read. I think I'll be sticking with my good ol contacts and glasses combination for like, the rest of my life. I'd say you're pretty lucky to have gotten the latter option in those two methods you mentioned. Slitting a flap of your eye open sounds pretty hideous, even if it is like a very small width.
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Very interesting. I'm going to get the procedure done myself, but I'm going to keep putting it off.
Just wondering: Could you provide some data, ie original vision and vision after lasik? My eyes are 20/400 and 20/200 right now >___>
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So how much dioptrin did you have? And how much do you have now?
I have ~ -1.5 and i think about getting an eye surgery. However im yet too young, since the eyes can grow up to 25 years, so i (should) wait another 4 years.
I know people might say -1.5 isnt too bad, but yes it is. I need glasses to drive a car, although i could do without them, i just cant read direction signs. But the worst thing is i cant recognizes faces if they are a bit far away. And i dont feel like wearing glasses or lenses all the time.
Btw, are your eyes fixed during the process? What if you have to sneeze and thus move your head?
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On November 03 2010 07:10 .Aar wrote:
Very interesting. I'm going to get the procedure done myself, but I'm going to keep putting it off.
Just wondering: Could you provide some data, ie original vision and vision after lasik? My eyes are 20/400 and 20/200 right now >___>
I have no idea wat they were before sry, and I havent found out wat they are right now, although they still arent fully healed. When they are done healing they should be 20/20 or better though
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On November 03 2010 07:16 Warri wrote:
So how much dioptrin did you have? And how much do you have now?
I have ~ -1.5 and i think about getting an eye surgery. However im yet too young, since the eyes can grow up to 25 years, so i (should) wait another 4 years.
I know people might say -1.5 isnt too bad, but yes it is. I need glasses to drive a car, although i could do without them, i just cant read direction signs. But the worst thing is i cant recognizes faces if they are a bit far away. And i dont feel like wearing glasses or lenses all the time.
Btw, are your eyes fixed during the process? What if you have to sneeze and thus move your head?
I had no idea wat dioptrin was, had to look it up lol. It isnt used in canada so i have no idea wat mine was/is. sry  I did have to wear glasses to drive which was annoying, but didnt find much trouble recognizing faces.
I'm 21 btw
Your eyes are not fixed during the lasering. I guess i neglected to mention that the little red light is actually quite important. There is a special camera that watches your eyes during the procedure. That camera will turn off the laser the second you look away from the little red light and turn it back on when you are looking at the red light. I was quite comforted when I learned of that
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Nice read, really lays out what to expect IF I were to do something like that. I'm glad my vision isn't that bad though.. My beautiful Eyes! I can't let anybody mess with those!
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Sounds like (hopefully only) 2-3 weeks of hell for great eyes
I have poor eyesight, and I use contact lenses. Considering laser eye surgery eventually, though I really don't mind wearing contacts.
Congratulations Please update over the next week to let us know if your eyes really do become *perfect*!
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This almost sound exactly like when I got some corrosive stuff on my eyes this summer. They didn't polish my eyes though, just put some watery lences on them for a few hours. And might I add, I'm just like you when it comes to stuff on/regarding my eyes, so it was not pleasant at all indeed. :p
And yes, eyes heal very quickly, took me around 3 days to get back to around normal vision. Glad to see you came out of it with no scars or damage in general!
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I had aesthetic eye surgery about 4 years ago, because I don't have an "auto" dominant eye. If you don't know about the idea that one of your eyes is dominant, a good method to find which of your eyes is dominant (used by riflemen) can be found here: http://www.archeryweb.com/archery/eyedom.htm
Most people have very little conscious influence on which of their eyes is dominant. I, however, can change between left-eye dominance and right-eye dominance at will. This has the unfortunate side effect of not being able to see depth, and the also unfortunate side effect of my non-dominant eye turning inward. It looks like I'm only looking at something with one eye (the one I've consciously chosen to be dominant), while the other stares at someone awkwardly.
The aesthetic surgery I had largely fixed this. It involved cutting some of my eye muscles and moving them around on my eyeball and reattaching them, so that the "pull" of the muscles that was causing the "other eye" to turn in wouldn't be as noticeable.
When I woke up from surgery my eyes were bled shut for 2-3 days, like when you have really bad pink eye, and the liquids that are trying to heal you ooze out and harden your eyes shut. When I could open my eyes again, everything was super bright for a few days and it was somewhat painful to have them open for any decent length of time, like 2 seconds. To eat lunch with my mom and grandma on the 4th day or so after surgery, I basically blinked open my eyes, got a flash of the food, stabbed the food blindly with a fork, blinked again, etc. It's amazing how sensitive your eyes are, and it's a lot more noticeable after having them closed for 70-80 hours straight.
Have any of you had your eyes closed that long (no breaks, period) for any reason? I really value that experience, though reaching for the toilet bowl and sitting on it all the time (though I graduated to blind standing excretion by the 2nd day) was kind of awkward.
Edit: Also, after I could open my eyes, my vision was actually slanted. My left eye's vision seemed turned about 10 degrees clockwise, and my right eye's vision seemed turned about 10 degrees counterclockwise. I think my brain eventually corrected this so I wouldn't go insane, but it was cool while it lasted. I think it might have appeared that way because I probably get better depth perception now. Anyway. 
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EPT
