What’s Your LASIK Story?

What’s Your LASIK Story?

I originally planned on posting this on Facebook but since there are more of you here on the blog, I thought I’d ask you for your opinion here instead. I’ve been wanting to get LASIK done on my eyes for a while now and was hoping I’d get it done this year. If you’ve had laser eye surgery before, I’d love to hear your story.

I’m short-sighted and am pretty much blind as a bat without my glasses. I’ve been wearing them since I was 13 years old. I started wearing contact lenses when I went to college and all through uni but when I started working, I was in front of the computer a lot, so I had to revert to glasses. I can’t wear contact lenses for more than a few hours anymore as I find them terribly drying on my eyes.

I never thought I’d consider LASIK since I didn’t mind wearing glasses for so many years. However, ever since I started running and exercising more regularly, glasses has become somewhat of a pain in the ass. They bounce up and down when I run and they slide off my face when I sweat profusely. I’ve tried wearing contact lenses to run but it became a dangerous endeavour when the low humidity air made my eyes so dry that when I blinked, the contact lenses contracted and fell off my eyes. Luckily this happened near my house so I was able to walk home in a blur. This would not be good if I’d driven somewhere to run.

So the time has come for me to get my eyes zapped. I’ve done my research and pretty much know which clinic I’m going to go to. I’ve checked with family and friends who have had their eyes LASIK-ed but I’d love to know more. If you have had LASIK done, would you mind sharing your story, or at least, how it was for you? Was it a good experience or a bad one? I’d particularly like to know about the not-so-good experiences so that I know what questions to ask the doctor. In fact, my mum had hers done years ago and unfortunately, her LASIK experience wasn’t a good one. Her doctor over-corrected her eyes and didn’t know he made a mistake until a month later. My mum thought she was going bonkers when she wasn’t seeing things clearly as so many people claimed to have after their procedure.

So, if you’ve had LASIK done, please share your story with me. How old were you when you had yours done? Did you regret it? Did you have any down time? Did you do yours overseas (if you did, did you do your follow-up in that country or back home?)?

Your opinions and help are greatly appreciated! 🙂

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11 comments… add one
  1. Paris B

    I’ve had LASIK for at least 10 years now and I have to say, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. It was also the scariest thing I’d ever done, because my eyes and sight are very precious to me. Being a voracious reader, it freaked me out to think that I might make things worse. But at the same time, being clinically blind it could be for the better. In the end, I took the plunge.

    10 years down the road, a lot of side effects I used to experience before has lessened. I don’t really get dry eyes anymore. But my night vision isn’t great (I never had great night vision to start with), I still see starbursts, in dim lighting, my sight isn’t very clear and by now, my sight has definitely deteriorated somewhat. But it’s not so bad that I need glasses (or so I tell myself) as I can still see well enough. I just don’t have 20/20 vision. I never used so since I was 8 or 9 years old so it’s not something I miss.

    I wrote about my experience a while ago. Procedures have changed and there are technological advances of course, but I hope my experience will help you 🙂

    http://www.mywomenstuff.com/2010/06/lasik-or-epi-lasik-my-experience-my-story/
    Paris B recently posted..Let May Lindstrom Blue Cocoon envelop your skin in its intoxicating iconic balmMy Profile

  2. Amorette

    Hi Tine! Congratulations on making this big decision! Here’s my story: I recently went for a consultation but it turned out that I wasn’t eligible. My optical nerve is damaged beyond repair in one eye (technically I’m one eyed) and while the other eye could have been operated on, the doctors felt it was too much of a risk because if they were to operate on the better eye and mess it up, the other bad eye would have been the only eye I would have been able to see with and that would have been a pretty sticky situation … I do hope that both your eyes are operable though. Have you had your consultation yet?

  3. Daphne Tan

    I was in a similar situation as you – wearing contacts but I had super dry eyes after wearing contacts for close to 10 years (my eyes would start tearing within an hour of wearing contacts). Glasses were cool for me, but not so when I wanted to be active. So I had my eyes Lasik-ed before my wedding. It’s been 2 years now, I wouldn’t say I have 6/6 vision now but I can think I’m a 5/6?

    The after-surgery care is very important… of course, if one is to continue to read in the dark, play with the phone on the bed etc, then the bad vision is bound to return.
    Daphne Tan recently posted..Recipe: not-so-authentic bibimbapMy Profile

  4. Jane

    I’m following this with great interest as getting my eyes done has always been my dream but something I haven’t yet pursued. My glasses drive me nuts and ruin the effect of my eye make up. Good luck on this journey Tine and keep us informed!

  5. rinnah

    I just had my final all clear check one year on from doing Lasik and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself! I just wish I’d done it earlier.

    Pros : perfect vision now and not having to fuss with contacts in the morning or remember to have to remove them at night. Freedom for everything especially for active stuff like roller coasters and bungee jumping.

    Cons : I do have starbursts at night (which I never used to have) but they’ve improved over the past year but won’t go away. Driving at night for the first few months was challenging to say the least. Dry eyes are common and I had to use eye drops for the first few months but don’t need to anymore.

    Don’t expect 20/20 vision right off the bat – it took me a while to really get to clear vision. Even then, I think it took me close to 6 months before my vision really settled.

    Other than that, I have no regrets doing Lasik. 🙂

  6. MonicaP

    I’ve had lasik as well for the same reason ~ sports 🙂

    Unfortunately, my eyes are on the dry side and I couldn’t wear contact lenses as the lens would literally adhere to my eyeball and I couldn’t get them out.

    While I’m fine now and I love that I can see, my eyes had a hard time recovering from the procedure (due to my dry eyes). It really took a year for me to recover, but now I’m fine and it’s great to see distance.

    I was also deathly scared of the procedure and when they called my name, I almost bolted out of the office .. lol. However, the procedure was so easy .. it’s really quick and you don’t feel a thing.

    So yeah, I say go for it !!!

    Monica.
    MonicaP recently posted..Small Nordstrom Anniversary Sale PurchaseMy Profile

    1. Dev

      Hi. I did my Epi-Lasik 8 months ago and i still have blury vision when it comes to PC use and signages. I can see them if i squint. I also suffer from dry eyes and Just wondering if 12 months is what it takes to see an improvement. Very tempted to get glasses done for the interim.

  7. Swati

    Hey tine. My eye sight is almost -10 above. And I went for lasik opinion just last month. They completely ruled it out saying that at max they can decrease my power to -3 or such so I would have to keep on wearing glasses for the reduced power which made no sense. So, no lasik for me!! It is said that very high myopia patients are not advised to undergo lasik. Do let us know what you are advised.
    Swati recently posted..Vitamin Deficiency and Chronic FatigueMy Profile

  8. Kathryn

    Hi Tine, I had Lasik about 6 years ago. Scary, yes. But the best thing ever. I woke up the next day and could see everything, so clearly! I was sick of wearing glasses, one eye was a lot worse than the other so that lens was really thick like my Nana. The freedom of not carrying glasses and headaches from the way glasses sat on my nose. Good luck, Kathryn x

  9. Bee Chin

    Hey, I remembered you told the story of your mum and your uncle I think, what a scary experience.

    As for myself I did it in 2008, 8 years plus ago. It is my best investment ever. In my case it was a good case to start with. Firstly my eyesight was around 3.0 to 3.5 for both eyes. Apparently it is one of the easiest range to correct. Anything less than 2 you might not bother to because you could still see to a certain extend. Also I was told that my cornea thickness are in a good range in respective to my eyesight. I was actually told on my first visit that in my case, if there is a need, they could easily rework since there is enough thickness. Guess what? That very sentence caused me to chicken out and only went back 2 years later, same hospital but different doctor. I lost confidence with that doctor when he casually told me about recorrection/rework.

    I did the lasik in Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC). SNEC does have very high reputation compare to the private clinics in Sg that time, although it is slightly more expensive. The doctor I finally go with was a doctor that 2 of my colleagues and one’s brother did their operation, and all gave very good feedback. That increased my confidence and that’s why I went back to SNEC and asked for that doctor.

    Now, one thing that SNEC did different compare to other clinics (and compare to the one my sister did in Pg), SNEC will only do an eye each day. They will choose one eye (I can’t remember the dominant or the other eye) first, and 24 hours or so later I went back, they have the operated eye checked out, ensure everything is ok, then start on the 2nd eye. SNEC is the only one I heard that did it on 2 separate day.

    I learned something on the 2nd day of the operation. In the waiting room, including me there were 3 patients. All had one eye operated on the day before and waiting for the next eye. We compare notes and realized I had already gain almost 100% eyesight back (despite still feeling the grittiness in the eye due to the surgery). While the lady with her eyesight about 5 although is not doing as well compare to me but better than the lady with 8 to start with. I guess the original eyesight really do make a difference, whether is for the recovery process or the correction, that I don’t know.

    My eyesight after that stays almost 20/20 (one eye with 0.25 left of astigmatism) until late last year. I start having some challenge on a couple of far away texts, and once in a while a blur on my phone. I have my eyesight tested out and found one eye with low astigmatism (0.5 now). I also start to show early signs of old age. Sigh. I ended up getting bifocal glasses although I wore them less than 5 times thus far 🙂

    So lasik gave me 8 perfect years. It is still very good now, and other than the usual halo effect (last about 6 months for me) and dryness of the eye – maybe 6 months to a year, which I consider them as the known side effect. After those, I no longer have any issue and someday I almost forget I used to wear glasses for 19 years of my life!

    You mentioned about follow up in another country. My sister had hers did in Pg, because it is so much more expensive in Sydney. The doctor she went in Pg (attached to Adventist hospital) seems have done it before for those that fly into Pg for the surgery. They have the process all arranged, surgery, check up after a week than fly off. She went home for only a week or so for the surgery. I think she did her 6 months follow up in Sydney, not sure what information she provide. I can ask her if you are interested. She seems to have not much problem with hers either. Then again her eyesight pre surgery was almost like mine. Whether is that one of the strong factor, or we are just lucky I don’t know.

    So we have 2 success stories to tell. I actually highly recommend it but I do think at the end it comes down to whether you have the confidence and also you understand and accept the potential risk, plus pray a lot? All the best, let me know if you ever did it how it goes!

  10. katie

    How much does it cost time ? And good luck.

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