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LASIK advice
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Steerpike
Subtropical Southeastern Michigan
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November 4, 2010 - 3:41 pm
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Has anyone gotten it done? I spent the afternoon getting evaluated. I like the idea of never losing my glasses again; of being able to see the alarm clock and faraway signs, of coming in from the cold without fogging up.

 

I dislike the price and the possibility that my eyes might melt and run out of their sockets like jelly.

 

Thoughts?

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

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Helmut
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November 4, 2010 - 4:24 pm
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I am not terribly short sighted so my glasses aren't very strong. I am of an age when I can't see anything near on account of my increasing nearpoint and I am glad I can take my glasses off. A critical question IMO, is whether this will make it seem like you've got glasses on all the time and thus will need even stronger glasses for near work. I've never heard anyone complain of this, and there may be factors that moot this, but not being able to see to do fine work close up is far more irritating than wearing glasses ever was.

My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude

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xtal
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November 4, 2010 - 4:25 pm
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Personally, I really need glasses (haven't been to an eye doctor in years) but never bothered. Laser eye surgery would be a great solution, but I won't lie: I'm flat out afraid of it.

 

I've never touched my own eyeballs. Seriously. Not once. I can't imagine allowing knives or lasers or whatever to touch it. That's kind of sad, but eh… leopards… you know.

If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever

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Toger
Somewhere, out there...
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November 4, 2010 - 5:07 pm
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Good friend of mine had it done a few years ago. She loves it. She had no problems to speak of. Another friend had the first eye done and all sorts of issues. Enough that he didn't go back for the second eye.

Me: I'm near-sighted and my astigmatism is pretty bad. I tried contacts, but that was way more work than I wanted. Plus that whole contact-stuck-in-my-upper-eyelid episode the first few days I had them almost made me lose my mind. I've worn glasses since I was the third or fourth grade so I've gotten used to the fogging-up thing. I considered LASIK, but it's my eyes, man! I only have two of them.

Okay, I'm chicken. So what? [Image Can Not Be Found]

And your eyes won't melt... they'll turn into peppercorns.

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Spike
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November 4, 2010 - 5:20 pm
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My daughter had it done on both eyes several years ago.  Except for extra-dry eyes for several months, her's was a total success.  She used prescription eye drops until the dryness went away.  She is so glad she had it done.

I've read horror stories, but that's just it - they were stories, not testamonials from people I know.  Only you can assess the risk for your eyes, your lifestyle, your Ick Factor.

"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."

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Steerpike
Subtropical Southeastern Michigan
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November 4, 2010 - 5:22 pm
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I'm flat out afraid of it.

 

but it's my eyes, man! I only have two of them.

You and me, ah, throth, brother and sister. My eyes are bad, but not, like, coke-bottle bad. I'm helpless without my glasses but I'm not the guy laying on his stomach, patting the floor, looking for them. If they're within three feet I can see them.

I wore contacts for many years, and loved 'em, but it was in my Invincible College Days, so every now and then I'd sleep with them in. One day I woke with my eyes sealed shut. It was a minor (if gooey) infection, but even though it was fully cured I've never been able to wear contacts again. Within ten minutes my eyes feel like they're filled with grease; they itch madly, and I see everything through a pus sheen.

Interestingly, these people at UM's Kellogg Eye Center didn't try and sell me. They said I was a good candidate with one small concern.

I have nothing to live for, really, so I'm willing to take the plunge, though losing my eyes is second only to losing my hands in terms of phobias (spiders is third) but $2100 an eye is harsh.

One of the more commercially places offers the same procedure (there are many flavors of LASIK) for $999 an eye. And yet… I don't know if I'm willing to have my eyes done in a strip mall to save two grand.

Because this is America, insurance covers none of it. Thank god for flex plans.

 

Helmut: They say that after 40, even LASIK survivors will need reading glasses for close work. I can live with that. I've always found reading glasses kind of cool. All the time glasses are just sucky, because they fog, and there's the green shit on the nose guards, and they get lopsided, and if you open the dishwasher you're blinded, and…

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

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Spike
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November 4, 2010 - 5:26 pm
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Those are good prices, Steerpike.  My daughter paid over $5000 (for both) out of her own pocket, but then, she lives in Arlington VA.

"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."

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Steerpike
Subtropical Southeastern Michigan
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November 4, 2010 - 5:38 pm
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Yowza.

 

That's a lot of money.

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

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xtal
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November 4, 2010 - 5:49 pm
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The forums are a'happenin' right now. I'm waiting for them to break.

 

I'm the same as Toger, near-sighted with a nasty astigmatism. The only thing I ever truly need glasses for is driving; I can't see street names until I'm driving past it; luckily I don't drive much anymore, and when I do I try to have a spotter in the car with me.

 

Even if someone were to pay me to do it, I'd still have a difficult decision. I think secretly I'm holding out until they finally say "laser eye surgery is magical, works 100% of the time, has zero side effects, and on top of all that, it's not even laser eye surgery anymore! It's done through, uh... sonar! Nothing touches your eyes, except the sweet cooing of dolphins!"

 

I hope that happens.

If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever

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Helmut
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November 4, 2010 - 6:02 pm
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They say that after 40, even LASIK survivors will need reading glasses for close work.

 

That's what I mean. You're shortsighted, but your nearpoint is reasonable, you're young yet. You get corrective surgery, effectively making you more farsighted. It's the same as wearing glasses and glasses change my nearpoint behaviour because I can't read anything close. I can take them off though, and still see without bifocals or reading glasses (I expressed my dislike for the notion of bifocals to the optometrist and she agreed, and then said, 'don't worry, you'll come to me'). Once you get the surgery though, it seems to me that should be like wearing glasses, forever and permanently moving your nearpoint away, which seems to me that it would make reading hard to do, when you reach my age, that is. Again, I've never heard of this. If it doesn't bother you, go for it, your eyes man like whatever. Nooothing says one time shot - don't drop the ball like coherent wavefronts of stimulated radiation being bandied about around (pus-y) sacks of protoplasmic gel.

My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude

Finkbug
Maine
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November 4, 2010 - 6:41 pm
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I wonder if crappy vision ten, twenty years years ago before games were more popular correlates highly to love of them. Sports out or impractical....

You're all scaring the poo out of me by the way. Always had decent-to-good vision and teeth (genetically made up for blowing out my back at sixteen and terrible skin) but recently realized it was going. Staring at monitors all these years has taken its toll on my distance but when I thought the ingredient list on a can of fermented gluten was misprinted until I accidentally moved it away from my eyes and it snapped into focus: yipes. The text was tiny, maybe five point, but I now know where I'm headed. Gray in my beard, making the old man noise when I stand up, those I didn't care about and was amused by, but not digging this particular reminder of mortality.

Tried glasses for the distance but I'm with xtal. Having my eyeballs touched isn't a particular fear but feeling the glasses on my head freaked me the heck out. Anxiety redlined. I had a headcrab as a hat and wondered when it'd bite and zombify.

 

My uncle had the procedure at sixty and wishes he'd done it long ago. Praises it to the sky. He still needs reading glasses but had a rocking catered party named The Crushing of the Bifocals. Probably want to skip the barely trained mall folk though. Mall ear piercing isn't properly done (wrong method, wrong equipment) and they are your eyes.

grooowrrrr! [menace menace] rrrrowwwr!

Auditrix
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November 17, 2010 - 12:48 am
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I've known a handful of people that had this procedure.  Out of the handful, one did not go well at all.  With odds like that, I'd not do it but that is me and I am afraid of doctors.  I mean it is your eyesight you are messing with.  Just my leetle old thoughts.

Scout
Portland, Oregon
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November 22, 2010 - 8:27 pm
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Both my parents had it done. My dad was getting cataracts so he had no choice and since they are old timey double dippers insurance-wise, he went for it. The first time I saw him reading a book without glasses blew me away. He said the same as other people above…wishes he had it done ten years earlier. Later my mom had it done for the same reason and it too was a total success.

The only thing keeping me from doing it is the money. Plus I will soon need knee replacements. My parents and my brother have had them as well and I'm about ready to go for it. I keep threatening to get both knees and both eyes all done at the same time and then have myself shipped to Argentina while I'm still  under anesthesia and change my name to skip on the bills. [Image Can Not Be Found]

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Steerpike
Subtropical Southeastern Michigan
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November 23, 2010 - 11:48 am
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Well, I had it done yesterday and am recovering pretty well, according to this morning's follow-up. Yesterday it felt like my eyes were being simmered in vinegar. Today they're much better. And I can see! Which is a new experience for me.

 

Scout, my mom had a knee done. It really sucks during the early recovery, but the difference is amazing once it's all healed up. She used to be practically hobbled (rheumatoid arthritis), and now she totally regained her freedom of movement.

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

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Toger
Somewhere, out there...
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November 23, 2010 - 5:18 pm
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You, Steerpike, are a brave, brave man. Glad to hear it's working for you!

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Finkbug
Maine
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November 25, 2010 - 6:01 am
Member Since: August 9, 2010
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[Image Can Not Be Found][Image Can Not Be Found][Image Can Not Be Found]

grooowrrrr! [menace menace] rrrrowwwr!

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Helmut
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November 25, 2010 - 6:26 pm
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Yo Steerpike, how's it working so far?

My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude

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Spike
Memphis
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November 26, 2010 - 2:45 am
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Helmut said:

Yo Steerpike, how's it working so far?


Nice one, Helmut.  [Image Can Not Be Found]

"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."

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Steerpike
Subtropical Southeastern Michigan
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November 26, 2010 - 2:32 pm
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That was excellent, Helmut. 🙂

 

So far so good. I had it Monday and now it's Friday, so at 4-ish days out I'm still a little blurry, still seeing very slight halos around lights and stuff. As of right now I could still see more clearly with my glasses, but things are getting a little clearer every day. And I can definitely see - I couldn't read text even 3-4 feet away unless it was fairly huge before. Now I can make out license plates and all kinds of stuff. The fact that I can sit here and type this (and read it) 20 inches from my monitor is amazing.

 

It's still too early for me to recommend it to anyone since my vision is still awfully blurry at times. But I'm assured this is just part of the healing. If it's not, I'll need one of our Crack Tap Legal Team to help me make it the University of Michigan Matt "Steerpike" Sakey Center for Refractive Eye Surgery instead of whatever it is now. 

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

Finkbug
Maine
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December 8, 2010 - 1:40 am
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Got the operation in my future, assuming I can ever scrape the scratch. Had my first eye exam in a decade. I knew things had gone bad but here's how it played out. Characters: Fink w/wildly unkempt hobo beard and Dental Hygienist (you know, those women middle aged with far too much tanning and far too much bleach doing med-support jobs).

Dental Hygienist: Please read the first letter of the third line.

Hobo Fink: I know there's a third line. I mean, I know it exists. Don't doubt that.

Dental Hygienist: Let's try the first line

Hobo Fink: It is an E-shaped substance

Dental Hygienist: [silence]

Hobo Fink: Or F-shaped. F-shaped is E-shaped.

Dental Hygienist: Let's try the second line, first letter.

Hobo Fink: Calamari?

Dental Hygienist: [the weary sigh only a Dental Hygienist on third husband, one ex in prison, with two kids, one in prison, can give]

Hobo Fink: I bet it's a B. Yup, definitely B. Or W. Alphanumeric, darn sure of that.

Dental Hygienist: Hon, you need glasses and you need them now. You remind me of my son. He's in prison.

Hobo Fink: Not calamari?

Dental Hygienist: Take this form to the receptionist.

Hobo Fink: [interior: damn good thing I can't focus to ogle, because these medical receptionists are always adoreably age inappropriate]

Hobo Fink: Hi. I have a form.

grooowrrrr! [menace menace] rrrrowwwr!

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