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Lunch » Tags » Health » Reviews » Custom Wavefront LASIK Eye Surgery » User review

The Gift of Bionic Vision

  • Oct 14, 2011
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Rating:
+5
I got LASIK just a bit over two months ago and I cannot sing the praises of it enough.  The gift of clear, unaided vision is probably one of the best gifts I've ever gotten for myself.  I know this is going to sound cliche, but I really feel like I have a new lease on life.

Ever since I heard about LASIK in my pre-teens, I just knew that it was something that I was eventually going to get.  Having worn glasses since I was in the third grade, I was already pretty blind without the aid of glasses or contacts by the time I hit fifth grade.  Blind, as in, if I wasn't wearing glasses or contacts, I couldn't see past five inches within my sight.  My vision was that bad.  -8.50 in both eyes.

I've been going to the same optometrist since I was 13, and every year that I went in for my routine exam, I would ask him about LASIK and he'd tell me the same thing -- that I should wait for my vision to stabilize for a few years before getting the procedure done, and that that tends to happen at around the mid-late twenties, that around 25 would be a safe bet.  Thus, I always held age 25 as some magical number and decided that I would wait till I was 25-30 to get this done.

....But then, I cut my eye in late July.  Not my eyelid; my actual eyeball (don't worry, it wasn't that bad, you can read all about that fiasco here).  Pink eye, cuts in my eye -- that stuff happens to me about once a year with contact lens.  I was used to it.  This time, though, the cut seemed extra bad -- bad enough for me to seek medical attention and for me to be confined to glasses for over two weeks.  As cute as my rhinestone-encrusted frames are, I absolutely loath wearing glasses, and after two weeks in them, I couldn't take it anymore and started to seriously consider LASIK despite not having reached that magical age. 

That night, I pulled out all of my vision prescriptions from the past few years and noticed that my vision had been really stable for several years now and realized that 25 was just an arbitrary number.  There's nothing stopping me from getting it done at that point.  It was something that I had saved up for long ago, and the one key thing for me was that I had been wearing my glasses for weeks at that point.  If you wear contacts, you need to have been out of them for several days prior to the consultation, and out of them for at least a couple of weeks prior to the actual procedure as contacts do change the shape of the eye.  So this seemed like the perfect time to get it done.

From the time I had my mind made up to when I actually had the procedure done (that's including all the prep work plus consultations with four different doctors, etc) was only a week.  I work fast.  Once I had my mind set on getting it done, here's what I did in preparation for it...
  • Research the heck out of the procedure -- I really wanted to know what I was getting myself into.  I researched all the possible procedures and variations in it, the side effects, how it would be in the long term, traditional versus Wavefront, Intralase versus keratome, etc.  I learned more about the anatomy of the eye than I ever thought I would -- all about myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia, etc.
     
  • Research the heck out of doctors -- Being practically blind, I know the value of vision -- I'm only ever going to have one set of eyes that are suppose to last me a lifetime -- so I want to go to the best that there is.  I ended up going to consultations with four very highly regarded doctors who specialize in LASIK in my area.  It's good to get a second opinion.  Or in my case, a third and fourth.  I learned something new about the treatment or my eyeballs at each appointment.
     
  • Go to consultations -- They're all about an hour or two each.  They numb your eyeballs and run all sorts of test and measurements.  One place even dilated my eyes.  I took the opportunity to ask the gazillion questions that I had and pretty much every doctor and nurse answered them to my satisfaction.  This was also a chance to feel out the office and the doctor and decide which one I felt the most comfortable with.  I ultimately went with the super awesome Dr. Newman of Newman LASIK for a host of different reasons.  I'll write a separate review about him later.
     
  • Ask others about their LASIK experience -- I didn't know this until I mentioned to my friends that I was going to get LASIK, but it turns out that a ton of my friends had gotten this procedure done before and I was able to ask them about their results.  I also cold emailed about two dozen former patients of the four places that I was considering to ask them about their results as well (you gotta love the internet and social media for allowing me to do that!).  About half the people responded and everyone was so nice.  During a skin appointment, I found out that my esthetician had also had LASIK, so I told her, "Well, we're going to be together for an hour -- tell me EVERYTHING!".  Yup, I practically asked everyone I know who had had LASIK.  Not because I was scared of the actual procedure itself, but because I was paranoid about the results.  Every single person who I talked to eased my mind.
     
  • Prepare for my recovery -- I know that they say that you can see and drive and work the next day, but just to play it safe, I had everything in order.  House cleaned, work stuff done in advance, fridge stocked, plus anything else that I needed for a comfortable recovery.  And of course, I picked up all the necessary eye drops, from the antibiotics to the preservative-free ones.

And I have to add -- I probably could have gone to any of the four highly reputable doctors that I had consultations with and had gotten fantastic results.  Surprisingly, quite a few of my friends did just that and went to one consultation and just stuck with that one doctor with no second opinions.  They all had great results.  Heck, some of my friends weren't even aware of what treatment or what tools and machines that their own doctor used on their procedure until they talked to me.  But as it is, I was paranoid about the results and wanted to know everything about the procedure and to make sure that I picked the right doctor.

The Actual Procedure
On the day of, I had arranged for a friend to chauffeur me to and fro the appointment.  I signed some consent forms, paid, took some Vicodin and went in.  I was so tired and woozy from the Vicodin that I barely remember the actual procedure.  The procedure took less than 10 minutes and I only remember the nurse telling me to look at the clock on the wall right before the procedure, and then again right after.  Before, I couldn't make out the time.  After, though fuzzy, I could.  Then I went home, took some sleeping pills and slept the whole day.  By the next day, I was able to drive myself to my followup appointment and was told that I had 20/20 vision. 

All I can say about the actual procedure is that there's nothing to be afraid of at all.  You'll barely feel a thing.  Recovery, on the other hand, sucked. 

Recovery
People talk about eye dryness and seeing starbursts and halos, but out of the dozens of people who I talked to, only one person told me how much recovery truly sucked.  And even though you read about side effects, to really experience them firsthand is a whole other beast.  It's a trip.

The first ten days post-op were hell, especially since I work with computers and small gemstones.  My eyes were dry all the time, it was hard to read, it was hard to drive at night, I saw starbursts and halos everywhere in the dark, and to make matters worse, both of my eyes were recovering at different speeds, so vision in one eye was fuzzier than the other.  At the worst point of my recovery, I was using my preservative-free eye drops every 15 minutes, which my doctor said was excessive, but I thought it was necessary.

Ten days isn't typical recovery time -- it just happened to be it for me.  Though it was really unpleasant, in the grand scheme of things, it was only 10 days.  I followed doctor's orders for what to do and what not to do, and for the most part, I was able to get back to doing all of my regular every day activities, except for vigorous exercise -- I didn't want to risk getting sweat in my eye.

Patterns I Noticed Soon After Post-Op
  • My vision starts off hazy when I wake up, but starts to stabilize more and become clearer throughout the day
  • My eyes needed extra time to readjust from when I go from dark to light settings and vice versa.  It’s like they’re recalibrating.
  • When I’m tired, my vision gets worse.
  • When I’m stressed, my vision gets worse.
  • My eyes were not the biggest fan of dim lighting right now.  Things looked hazy.
  • Driving at night sucked.  The longest I think I could tolerate doing so was half an hour to an hour long at night.
  • That said, my night vision improved slightly each day.  Actually, I made small improvements in general each day.

Milestones in My Recovery
  • Day 1: I actually went back to the doctor the night of my procedure, about nine hours later, because of a slight complication and was told that I was seeing 20/25 already.  Took sleeping pills and slept most of the day.
  • Day 2: Drove to my follow up and was told I had 20/20 vision.  I did a relaxing two mile run on the treadmill then went home and ended up staying up till 5 AM, simply just staring at things and being amazed at my new eyes.  Vision was still pretty blurry though.
  • Day 3: Went for my first outdoor run for four miles.
  • Day 5: Started up my normal, intense workout again with weights and running.
  • Day 7: Went to a really dusty and windy outdoor music festival.  I wore sunglasses for as long as I could.  When Deadmau5 came on, it became the ultimate light show for me what with the halos and starbursts.
  • Day 8: Tried my hand at grading diamonds, but could only get as far as the color.  I could not see into the diamond to check for clarity.
  • Day 12: Bought all new makeup and wore it for the first time since surgery, including eyeliner, eyeshadow and mineral powder.
  • Day 15: Ran my very first race.  A very dusty outdoor one, so I wore sunglasses the whole time.  Brag: I got 1st/2nd place in my age group.
  • Day 16: Did Bikram for the first time since surgery.  Didn't think I would do this for another month or so, but I felt ready.  Tried to avoid getting sweat in my eye, but I ended up doing it anyways and it only stung a little.
  • One month and a half months: I did Tough Mudder.  That's right -- I swam in mud water.  I accidentally drank some of it, too.  I had ask my surgeons beforehand if it was okay and he jokingly said that LASIK or not, no one should be swimming in mud water, but seriously, it was okay.  I actually had planned on not doing any underwater courses, but I accidentally fell into mud water pretty early on, and it was fine, so I ended up doing every obstacle course after that.
  • Two months: I surfed and went swimming in the ocean for the first time since I was 11, when I went swimming in Hawaii and couldn't see anything.  I was so flustered by that experience that I hadn't been back in water since, but now I realize how much I love being in the water and can't wait to do more water sports.  I was always a beach girl.

Things I Wouldn't Miss About Glasses and Contacts
  • Having my glasses fog up when drinking soup
  • Getting water droplets on my glasses and subsequently having them fog up when it rains
  • Being unable to do water sports, which sucks because I used to be an avid swimmer.  Sure, there are goggles, but goggles just aren't meant for some sports and wearing contacts creates opportunities for infections.
  • Having all outdoor activities, like camping, seem like a huge hassle.
  • Having to travel with contact lens solution.  I hate checking in bags when traveling and contact lens solution takes up 1/3 the space of the plastic bags allowed in carry-ons.
  • Having to turn down last minute offers from friends to sleep over even though it probably would have been the smart and/or convenient thing to do -- just because I didn't have a place to store my contacts or a spare pair of contacts or glasses.
  • Cutting my eye with my contacts or getting pink eye on an average of once a year.  The first couple of times it happened, I went to the doctors.  Eventually I just learned to self-treat over the years if it wasn't too serious.
  • And of course, all those inevitable times that I put down my glasses to do something, like put on face cream or look at something up close. ...And then I couldn't locate my glasses again.  Because I can't see sh*t.  To those who have never had such bad vision before -- these things happen.

Ugh, I will not be missing any of that.


Two Months Post-Op
So two months later, where am I at?  Well, my recovery has been remarkable.  I had friends telling me that they were experiencing severe dry eyes and still bothered by night time driving months later.  Of course, results vary from person, by person, but I fared really well.  Past that magical ten day mark that I mentioned earlier, I miraculously felt no need for artificial tears any longer and only use them once in a while because I know I should, but not because I have to.  Two weeks ago, night time driving was still bothering me, but I feel like I can probably drive for several hours before that happens now.  My vision has stabilized and evened out.  Everything's just been great and I'm looking forwarding to my see what my vision measures in at during my two and half month followup.  My vision's suppose to get even better from here.  One concern was that since my eyes were so bad to begin with, my vision might not be that great, but I can see things up close and far away really clear.  Sometimes annoyingly clear.

My life is back to normal.  ...And then some.  I can't wait to go out and do all those things that I had previously felt like I was held back from doing because of my vision.  I so love waking up and being able to see things, and being able to fall asleep when and wherever I want without worrying about waking up with glued on contacts. 

Getting LASIK was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made.  Results differ for everyone, but for the most part, from what I've experienced, I highly recommend it.  If you have any questions about the procedure or the results, please don't hesitate to comment on this post or message me.  I know this is a major life decision and I'd be more than happy to answer your questions.

Now to go off into the world and see with my new bionic eyes :)
The Gift of Bionic Vision

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November 18, 2011
I hate wearing glasses too, but I'm blind as a bat without them. I had my doubts about this procedure, but this review may have just pushed me over the edge. Now all I have to do is get back on my feet and get the money saved and my debts paid!
 
October 22, 2011
Such a bad eyesight at such a young age?! Wow! Yeah, I must admit I had been tempted purely because I'd like to swim seeing things clearly. Swimming is not my favorite sports though so I guess I can get myself those goggles with prescription on them, LOL! Still, contact lenses solution is a hassle! My sister and former colleague got theirs done and so far I don't hear any complaint. It's been some time too. Only thing is my optometrist doesn't advise it so I guess I'm still stuck with lenses!
October 25, 2011
I know, and it was that bad for years! I wore contacts for for a long time and though it was a hassle, I went through with it almost every day for 10 years because I hated glasses so much. So glad I got this done! Why does your optometrist advise against it? Were PRK or lens implants options for you?
 
October 21, 2011
Well done! My eyes are as bad as yours were, I think. I don't know the numbers but to give you an idea, without glasses I can read words an inch from my face! My special lenses are made so they don't look super thick and are made from expensive plastic material. I think I would miss not being able to read an inch from my face, but 20.20 vision would be nice. I know that's not guaranteed. I had a friend with this procedure too and being older is probably why her post op took longer. I've thought about this and have been waiting for the price to drop as it is quite expensive and my insurance won't cover it. Also as I'm getting older I'm not sure if my eyes can handle. I'll need to see my doc this month anyway, so we'll see. You're a "visionary" D! LOL.
October 25, 2011
Ooooh, I paid extra for my glasses lens, too, and I still felt they were too thick! I thought I would miss not being able to read an inch from my face, but I actually don't because why read an inch from my face when I can now see so much further beyond that? :P This is still surgery, so it always carries risks and has no guarantees, but given how long this has been around and how many people have done it, I think it's a good bet that whatever the results are, your vision will be better than it is now. I think that your pre-op vision has more to do with your recovery than age. My doc told me that there are people well into their 60's and 70's getting it done. I personally know some 40 and 50-something year olds who have gotten this done. Yeah, most insurances wouldn't cover this, so I had to pay out of pocket and I have no regrets!
October 25, 2011
I've thought of it. I think my cornea area might be too thin, but I'll ask my eye doc when I see her next month. Thanks!
 
October 21, 2011
EXCELLENT write-up Devora!! For anyone with questions about this surgery, they should surely get their questions answered here. I need reading glasses and my eyes are getting more blurry by the minute and is so frustrating when I'm at the store and I can't read labels if I forgot my reading glasses, so I can only imagine how frustrating it was for you to have such bad sight; this is truly a God send for you!! Thanks for sharing a great experience!!
October 21, 2011
Thanks for your comment, Brenda! That day will come to me in about 20 years -- when I'll need reading glasses. Every single doctor who I went to for LASIK consultations warned me about that and told me that presbyopia is an inevitable thing. Hopefully technology will create a fix for that some day, just like they did for people with my vision problems!
 
October 21, 2011
Great review. You should consider doing commercials for this procedure.
October 21, 2011
Hahaha, so should all of my friends who have had this done! All of my friends sang the praises of it, and that was what got me to look into it more seriously. Thanks for your comment, J!
 
October 15, 2011
Thanks for this terriifc review! You did such a thorough job making us aware of all the things we need to consider. So happy that this has worked out for you.
October 18, 2011
Thanks, Paul! :)
 
October 15, 2011
I didn't experience the things you did, and I only get that hazy feel when I go to bed very late and don't get a good nights sleep. But here are some things to keep in my mind; first of all follow all of the doctor's instructions. Take breaks away from the PC after like every hour or so, especially in these first few months. While you're doing that, try to focus on something far away, like look out the window and try to read those signs at a far distance, or inside of your house, set up a stack of books on top of each other at a far distance, and try to read those words, digital clocks are great for that too. Break the habit of sitting really close to the PC and reading books. From now on just think distance. I do this all the time, and I had the surgery back in like 06 or something and my vision is still fine. In fact, I don't even get dry eye the way I use to.
October 18, 2011
Thanks for your advice, Frank! I also took the advice of a friend, a programmer who spends a lot of time on the computer, who gave me the 20/20 rule, which is to look away from the computer screen for at least 20 seconds every 20 minutes, regardless of whether you've had LASIK or not. I'll have to incorporate reading things at a distance in to this, like looking at my bookshelf across the room.
 
October 14, 2011
My friend's recovery time was 5 days while my aunt's was 10 days too. Glad you got it done....now all I can add is....




O_O you can compete in staredowns much more effectively LOL!
October 16, 2011
Hahahahahaha I had so many stare downs when I first got the treatment. Not with people though; with stuff that I was reading because I swear I could only see clearly if my eyes were practically bugging out!
October 21, 2011
LOL - cute one Will!!!
 
October 14, 2011
I have been thinking about getting it done at some point though i am pretty used to wearing glasses. If you don't mind my asking what does this procedure cost. I hear the cost has gone way down in recent years.
October 16, 2011
You should set up a consultation! The procedure that I got was Wavefront LASIK and a keratome was used to cut my corneal flap. I paid $3200 for both eyes. Another place that I went to was charging $5000 for the same treatment. I also went to two other places that did Wavefront LASIK, but used a "bladeless" Intralase device to cut the corneal flap and one charged $5600 while the other charged $7600. I did a lot of research about keratome vs Intralase and I found that they're both pretty much equally effective and found that both carry a pretty equal set of risks of their own. Intralase costs more because you're paying for two separate licensing fees for the two machines.  Plus, my optometrist said that there really was no difference.  A flap is cut either way and neither way was much riskier or much better than the other. 

These are my eyeballs, so price wasn't really a determining factor. I just went with the doctor who I felt most comfortable with and it was a total bonus that he was the lowest priced, by a landslide. Let me know how your LASIK journey goes! :)
October 19, 2011
Thank you Devora. You have given me a lot of food for thought. I appreciate your very detailed and comprehensive insights on this topic.
October 19, 2011
You're most very welcome! Good luck in whatever decision you make :)
 
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About the reviewer
devora ()
Ranked #5
When I'm not Lunching, I'm a jeweler, and an all around, self-proclaimed web geek. My passions include social media, the interweb, technology, writing, yoga, fitness, photography, jewelry, fashion, … more
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Wiki

Wavefront-guided LASIK is a variation of LASIK surgery in which, rather than applying a simple correction of focusing power to the cornea (as in traditional LASIK), an ophthalmologist applies a spatially varying correction, guiding the computer-controlled excimer laser with measurements from a wavefront sensor. The goal is to achieve a more optically perfect eye, though the final result still depends on the physician's success at predicting changes that occur during healing. In older patients though, scattering from microscopic particles plays a major role and may outweigh any benefit from wavefront correction. Therefore, patients expecting so-called "super vision" from such procedures may be disappointed. Still, surgeons claim patients are generally more satisfied with this technique than with previous methods, particularly regarding lowered incidence of "halos," the visual artifact caused by spherical aberration induced in the eye by earlier methods. Based on their experience, the United States Air Force has described WFG-Lasik as giving "superior vision results".
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