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gar1976 · 09-15-2004, 05:55 PM

Well, napped for a while, here's how it went down.

One eye was -4.00, other was -4.25. Been wearing glasses since the 3rd grade, contacts since the 5th (was heavily into sports).

So, you go in for a regular eye exam with your regular eye doctor (in the case of this clinic), after not wearing contacts for at least a week or so. You get your eyes re-measured, since even soft contacts will distort your cornea. Once that was done, an appointment was made at the laser center for once week later (which was today). Again, no contacts for a week.

Well, I got to the center around 9:30, with my wife as the DD and also to get any instructions. I went through another eye exam and cornea measurement, to check the "topography" of my eyes for astigmatism, and to see if I had enough cornea thickness for the surgery. Eyes were fine, and I was ready to go.

Got ushered back and given some mild sedatives to relax. Wheee! They then started to numb my eyes, and those drops hurt like hell. Good news - you definately know when your eyes are numb, since you can't feel the drops anymore. Once properly relaxed with numb eyes, I laid back in this fancy chair.

Then, starting with the left eye, a metal cylinder was placed on my eye itself, and you could see a few things bruching across my eye. They then moved to the other eye and did the same thing. This evidently was when they sliced off the corneal flap. Didn't feel anything but pressure.

Once the flaps were cut, the nurse mentioned the doctor was moving the flap, and my vision would disappear. And it did - very, very freaky, even sedated. All of a sudden, your vision goes dark, since I was staring at a light as a target and poof! away it goes.

Then some "zapping" occurs, and slowly you start to see some light and colors again. After a couple minutes, the corneal flap is laid back down, and you can see again. The doctor then adjusted the flap to make sure it was back in place, which was disconcerting to see your world start to shift about while you're not moving at all. Then, he uses a small spong-like thingy to get rid of any air bubbles, and that's it! All done. It then is repeated on the other eye, and off I went!

The lubricating drops they gave me are very thick, so once I use them my vision gets hazy, but other than that I see awesome. Crystal clear. Utterly amazing. Only discomfort is that it feels like I have a loose eyelash in my eyes right now (you are NOT to touch your eyes for any reason, the flap won't be fully sealed for 48 hours) but no pain at all.

Amount of pain = 2, on a scale of 1-10, and that's from the eye drops.

Freakiness = about a 6, once your vision goes out when they move the flap it freaked me out. Plus, my wife was watching the whole thing on a monitor, and said it was really gross.

Total cost was around $3,200 for both eyes, $2,800 to the clinic (includes any lifetime adjustments/enhancements I might need) and $400 to my eye doctor. Figure the thing will pay for itself in around 20 years or so.

I'm 28, so it looks as if I'm not going to need reading glasses until I hit 40-50, so yay!

09-15-2004, 05:55 PM	#12 (permalink)
gar1976 Custom User Title Location: Lurking. Under the desk.	Well, napped for a while, here's how it went down. One eye was -4.00, other was -4.25. Been wearing glasses since the 3rd grade, contacts since the 5th (was heavily into sports). So, you go in for a regular eye exam with your regular eye doctor (in the case of this clinic), after not wearing contacts for at least a week or so. You get your eyes re-measured, since even soft contacts will distort your cornea. Once that was done, an appointment was made at the laser center for once week later (which was today). Again, no contacts for a week. Well, I got to the center around 9:30, with my wife as the DD and also to get any instructions. I went through another eye exam and cornea measurement, to check the "topography" of my eyes for astigmatism, and to see if I had enough cornea thickness for the surgery. Eyes were fine, and I was ready to go. Got ushered back and given some mild sedatives to relax. Wheee! They then started to numb my eyes, and those drops hurt like hell. Good news - you definately know when your eyes are numb, since you can't feel the drops anymore. Once properly relaxed with numb eyes, I laid back in this fancy chair. Then, starting with the left eye, a metal cylinder was placed on my eye itself, and you could see a few things bruching across my eye. They then moved to the other eye and did the same thing. This evidently was when they sliced off the corneal flap. Didn't feel anything but pressure. Once the flaps were cut, the nurse mentioned the doctor was moving the flap, and my vision would disappear. And it did - very, very freaky, even sedated. All of a sudden, your vision goes dark, since I was staring at a light as a target and poof! away it goes. Then some "zapping" occurs, and slowly you start to see some light and colors again. After a couple minutes, the corneal flap is laid back down, and you can see again. The doctor then adjusted the flap to make sure it was back in place, which was disconcerting to see your world start to shift about while you're not moving at all. Then, he uses a small spong-like thingy to get rid of any air bubbles, and that's it! All done. It then is repeated on the other eye, and off I went! The lubricating drops they gave me are very thick, so once I use them my vision gets hazy, but other than that I see awesome. Crystal clear. Utterly amazing. Only discomfort is that it feels like I have a loose eyelash in my eyes right now (you are NOT to touch your eyes for any reason, the flap won't be fully sealed for 48 hours) but no pain at all. Amount of pain = 2, on a scale of 1-10, and that's from the eye drops. Freakiness = about a 6, once your vision goes out when they move the flap it freaked me out. Plus, my wife was watching the whole thing on a monitor, and said it was really gross. Total cost was around $3,200 for both eyes, $2,800 to the clinic (includes any lifetime adjustments/enhancements I might need) and $400 to my eye doctor. Figure the thing will pay for itself in around 20 years or so. I'm 28, so it looks as if I'm not going to need reading glasses until I hit 40-50, so yay!