Three years ago I finally decided to get Lasik eye surgery to correct my vision so I would no longer have to use contact lenses or eyeglasses. I found the whole experience to be nerve wracking, exciting and ultimately very worthwhile for me. Anybody thinking of getting Lasik surgery will probably find my experience to be interesting and helpful.
Ever since the 8th grade I had to wear glasses or contact lenses to correct my vision. Not a big problem for me for most of the year but in the Spring when the pollen count would rise my eyes would be become two masses of red and watery pain. Wearing contacts would become almost impossible for me in the Spring as my eyes would water constantly which would dry out my contacts. Even wearing glasses was a pain as I would have to frequently remove them to rub my itchy red eyes.
So 3 years ago I decided to have Lasik surgery on my eyes in January before the start of the pollen season. In order to get the surgery I had to go through a few steps. The first one was meeting with a representative of the Laser Center I would be using for the surgery. This was a simple meeting in which the rep explained the surgery and told me how much it would cost. I had brought in an ad which said the price would be $250 per eye. The rep had me quickly looked at by an Ophthalmologist who determined I had some stigmatism in both eyes and the price therefore rose to $499 per eye. Which included all exams and treatments.
Then I had to meet again with the Ophthalmologist for a thorough exam to determine if I was a good candidate for the surgery. This went fine for me and the most important thing I remember was that I was told to stop wearing my contacts 2 weeks prior to the surgery because wearing contact lenses reshapes the eyeballs to some extent. I was also told and given a list of all the things that could go wrong during and after the surgery. Everything from watery eyes to blindness. After hearing and reading that I did a little research.
Studies have shown that about 2% of all Lasik surgeries have problems. The studies have also shown that the more Lasik surgeries a doctor has performed the less likely you were to have a problem. It’s the doctors who have performed under 1000 of the surgeries, especially under 200, that cause the most problems. As soon as I had the name of the doctor who would be performing my surgery I looked him up online. He had been doing the surgeries for 7 years and must have done over 5,000 of them by my calculations.
When the day arrived for my surgery I had my girlfriend drive me to the place since you cannot drive right after the surgery. I was not in great shape to drive anyway because I hardly slept the night before due to nerves. This was an operation affecting my vision and I found that to be nerve-wracking.
When I directed my girlfriend to pull into the parking lot of a hotel she said, “You’re getting this done in a hotel?” I told her no that I was getting it done in that, and pointed to an 18 wheel semi-truck parked in the lot. I had purposely not told her that the company I was using had a mobile surgery center in a truck and that they traveled around to various locations and did the surgeries in it. I felt she would have tried to talk me out of it. To my surprise she just laughed and said they were my eyes.
The sides of the back of the truck popped out and that was where the surgeries were done. We sat down in the front waiting room and it was packed. We had to sit near the front and near the driver of the truck. He liked to talk and soon we learned he had just had the surgery done a few months before. He kept emphasizing how important it was to keep your eyes lubricated with tear drops for weeks after the surgery. Don’t let your eyes dry out after the surgery, that’s how you get into trouble. Keep putting drops into them every 15 minutes for 2 weeks after the surgery.” It was the best advice anybody in that truck gave me.
When my name was called I went into another room near the back. This was where the doctor would look at each of us and determine that everything was fine for the surgery. He had a machine we all had to look into while he examined our eyes from the other end of the machine. As I was sitting there waiting for the exam, the doctor looked at another patient’s eyes and then told him he was a “lucky guy. He explained to him that only 20 out of 1,000 people have eyes shaped like his. Most human eyes are shaped like an egg but this guy’s eyes were shaped like mountains. Unfortunately for him it also meant the doctor could not do the Lasik surgery on his eyes. He would be refunded all his money. The doctor also rejected another patient while I was there because his cornea’s were too thin to be cut. I took comfort knowing the doctor would turn people away.
When my turn came the doctor looked at my eyes said everything was great and he would see me soon. The nurse put some drops into my eyes and I waited nervously for my Lasik surgery. Finally my turn came and into the back of the truck I went.
I was shown to a chair that was like an easy chair all the way open. My eyelids were taped topped and bottom so I could not blink. The doctor started some cheerful banter about my football Giants shirt and that he wanted it after the surgery as payment. He was just trying to relax me and he did. I asked him how many surgeries he had done and he said “Over 7,000.” I told him that was what I wanted to hear. And then the surgery started.
The doctor moved a piece of equipment over my face. It was like an arm with a small spoon attached to the end of it. He moved the small spoon over one eye and told me I would not be able to see out of the eye for about ten seconds in a moment. Then I heard a whooshing sound and everything went black in my left eye. And then I was able to see light again in it. The doctor explained he had just cut my cornea. He then proceeded to lift my cornea flap back with a pair of tweezers. Then he brought forth another hanging piece of equipment over the eye. He said I’d see red lights and not to be alarmed it was just the laser reshaping my eyeball.
Soon I saw red lasers all over like you see from a supermarket scanner when they scan your food. I could also smell something burning. After about ten seconds the doctor moved the machine away and then replaced my cornea flap. Then he brushed the flap back into its proper place using a brush with large plastic bristles. That hurt a bit. And the whole procedure was done again on my other eye.
When that was done I sat up and through the haze and blurriness I could actually see what time it was on a small clock mounted on the wall about 10 feet away. I could never have seen the time on that clock before the surgery. But I was also in some pain and it hurt to keep my eyes open. I was led into the recovery room and given drops to keep putting in my eyes. The pain was like when you got poked or scratched your eye.
Eventually the doctor came and looked at my eyes again through his machine. He said everything looked good and he would see me in the morning. My girlfriend drove me home and it was painful and very hard to open my eyes for long periods of time. I kept putting the drops in. When we got home I went right to bed. They give you a pair of goggles, similar to swimming goggles, that you must wear to bed for two weeks after the surgery. The purpose of the goggles is to prevent you from rubbing your eyes at night and possibly knocking your cornea flap out of place. It was a rough night with lots of pain and I kept getting up and putting the wet drops and anti-biotic drops they gave me into my eyes.
The next morning my eyes were almost 100% better. I drove myself back to the after-exam where the doctor pronounced me fine. The nurse checked my eyes and I had 20-15 vision! It was incredible, like looking through binoculars all the time for me. I kept using the wetting drops for a month and have never had any problems with my eyes since. Three years later my vision is still 20-15 and pollen season has no effect on my vision anymore. That was the best $1000 I have ever spent!
If you are thinking of getting your eyes done I would recommend it but do your homework first.
