My LASIK happy story & timeline
Written 08-13-2002
The purpose of this message is to document my LASIK experience, which has been a very positive one . If you are considering having the procedure, my story might give you some more insight into the benefits, risks and results.
I'm 35. I absolutely hate wearing glasses and can't stand contacts anymore. My prescription was -0.75 in both eyes in 1991, went up to -1.50 in both eyes by 1997, and has stabilized at -1.25 now.
First, the basics. Our goal is 20/20 vision. If you have 20/40 vision, you see at 20 feet what a person with what-is-considered "perfect" vision sees at 40 feet. You can pass a stats driver's exam eye test with an RX as bad as about 20/40, which is about -2 diopters (RX).
There are three key numbers that LASIK doctors look at: correction (RX), pachymetry (pach, which is corneal thickness and shape), and pupil diameter.
The LASIK doctors say I am an ideal candidate. No history of dryness, no presbyopia, no astigmatism, passed glaucoma test. They prescribe a correction of RX = 16 micrometer abrasion (that's the thickness of cornea to be removed by the laser). I have a PD = 7.5mm pupil diameter, and they said my cornea shape looks normal. They did not bother measuring my exact corneal thickness because my corneal shape suggests no possibility of an abnormally thin cornea, and my RX (correction=16 micrometers) is so small that my corneal thickness doesn't matter. Indeed, my RX is so small that it's a common "enhancement" correction size for second-surgery patients who started at 20/200 or higher.
Since my correction is so small, the doctor quoted $499 per eye. And, being the risk-taking, somewhat masochistic, nothing-better-to-spend-my-money-on fool that I am, I decided to Go For It. Did I mention I really, truly hate wearing glasses?
8/3/2002 Day 1, Saturday. Had LASIK procedure, both eyes. They used a Nidek EC5000 laser and a Moria LSK1 Microkeratome for a nasal flap. They gave me a mild sedative (Zanex ?) and some drops. Immediately following surgery, I walked (slowly) down the street to eat lunch at the shopping mall food court, then I drove home and stayed in bed.
8/4/2002 Day 2, Sunday. Woke up ridiculously early (like 4am, c'mon I slept all yesterday), drove to the beach to lie near the cool, comfortable water and continue letting my eyes heal. Visions seems great. I will be using the anti-inflammatory eye drops, anti-biotic eye drops, and lubricating Bion-tears eye drops for at least the next five days. These transparent plastic eye shields are very uncomfortable, and the adhesive is sticky & nasty on the skin - it even causes some forehead acne and skin tenderness.
8/5/2002 Day 3, Monday. Went to work, eyes feel fine but dry-dry-dry, and a little itchy. Went in for a post-op checkup, doctor says everything's looks OK, 20/20.
8/7/2002 Day 5, Wednesday. I felt ready for a little exercise, so I went rollerblading, which felt absolutely fantastic, especially all that cool breeze in my face and eyes. As far as sleeping with these damned uncomfortable transparent plastic eye shields, I refuse to wear them, as I am positive that I don't rub my eyes in my sleep anyway. I keep a big bottle of Visene at my desk for "emergency dryness and redness", and I'm applying BION Tears from 4 to 8 times a day. The dryness is a real pain in the ass, and I hope this doesn't become a daily ritual for me for the next 3 years. They say it's because nerves in the cornea need time to heal, so that they can signal the brain to produce and release more tears. The punctal tear duct, which allows tears to drain down to the nose, even "feels dry". We (San Diego) are also in a heat-wave, it's over 90 degrees outside, and there are some nearby forest fires burning, which certainly don't help my situation.
8/9/2002 Day 7, Friday. Eyes are definitely feeling dry, dry, dry. This is my last day using the anti-inflammatory eye drops and the anti-biotic eye drops, thank God (they promote dryness too). For the past few days, when I wake up, both eyes feel "seized frozen" dry making it heard to even OPEN them, or MOVE them with the eyelid closed, which is every bit as gross as it sounds. Fortunately, it's an easily solved problem: lubricate them immediately with Bion-tears eye drops. So far I've gone through about 20 of the individually-sealed tubes. I phoned my doctor to talk about dryness, he says it's normal, and to keep using the preservative-free BIOS drops as often as necessary for comfort.
8/13/2002 Day 11, Tuesday. This morning (and yesterday) I woke up and the right eye felt perfectly normal, but the left eye was still partially "frozen" dry, but gradually getting better. I have not needed to use the BION drops hardly at all for the last 2 days, and I get the sense that within the next week the dryness problem will be completely gone.
9/10/2002 1-month checkup. I'm 20/20, and I can read some of the letters on the 20/15 and 2/10 lines too. My eyes feel great, the dryness and itchiness problems are virtually gone, and I'm back to my regular routines. I did ask the doctor to measure my corneal thickness anyway, it was 560 micrometers. That means less than 3% was removed by the laser. Pretty minor!
Lastly...
When people ask me about getting LASIK, I describe the procedure and that usually dissuades them. If they are still interested, I ask them if they are comfortable with their glasses or contacts. If they say yes, I recommend them not having LASIK, because it is still a risky no-guarantees thing to do, and you better really dislike the conventional corrective techniques before you start rolling the dice with your vision. But if they say no, I recommend they get LASIK so they can stop suffering with their uncomfortable glasses or contacts. The overwhelming majority of people have a happy Lasik experience similar to mine.
The irony is, the category of people who are least likely to have any complications (people with an RX < -2.0, no astigmatism, basically like me) are also the category of people who are least likely to be willing to take the risk, since their vision isn't that bad to begin with.
Gary Wachs
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