Lasiks revisited

[H.Frank Beshear]

Well monday morning at 11:00 am I went in for lasiks. I had both eyes done for distance. I don't need reading glasses (yet). I got home around 12:30 took a longish nap woke up and the alarm clock read 5:00. First time in 35 years I could see the alarm clock :D . Went for my first checkup yesterday 20/15 vision :banana: I haven't driven at night yet but I don't have a problem with light sensitivity. Doctor says to go ahead and exercise but don't go to hard for the first week. I can't wait to get out on the road. Maybe this weekend for a short ride. It truly is amazing. Take care Frank

[Spicoli]

I got the "LASER" three years ago and it is the best thing I ever did. You will love it. The best part is when you pass out snot hangin drunk you dont have bent glasses or contacts fused to your eyeballs when you wake up. Ahh the miracle of science!

Good to see ya, Jeff :cool:

[weisan]

Frank, enjoy your newfound freedom.

[coylifut]

I got the "LASER" three years ago and it is the best thing I ever did. You will love it. The best part is when you pass out snot hangin drunk you dont have bent glasses or contacts fused to your eyeballs when you wake up. Ahh the miracle of science!

Good to see ya, Jeff :cool:

I always thought Spicoli favored a hemp based libation

[Spicoli]

I always thought Spicoli favored a hemp based libation
Spicoli is reformed after spending all his money on bike parts and paying Van Halen to play his last 25 birthday parties. :p

[Ahneida Ride]

Frank,

Please don't ride without protective lenses !!!!

[M_A_Martin]

Ditto, especially if you wander in to the woods at all...protect your peepers! Even buzzing along the road, stuff happens. Protective lenses help keep it from happening to you.

[KKevin]

that have gotten Lasik, what sort of cost were you looking at? Also did your insurance programs cover it or a portion of it?

[Spicoli]

that have gotten Lasik, what sort of cost were you looking at? Also did your insurance programs cover it or a portion of it?

Most go by amount of proceedures done. If an office that has ten Dr's doing it the priceiest guy usually has the most experience. At least thats the way my place was. I have about seven friends that went there and we all had different prices with diff. Dr's. Dont be afraid of the lower to middle pack guy either because my guy was #2 from the top and a buddy of mine had the new guy and we have the exact same outcome ie;all positive. He paid a grand and I paid about $1600 and we both used Diamond vision in NYC. Insurance at the time did not cover but now I think they kick in a little bit depending. Best thing I ever did and my eye's were not even that bad. :cool:

PS I think the price has come down since i went

[RichMc]

Best thing I ever did for myself! How do you like sleeping at night with the goggles taped on? That will pass. Ditto on the protective lens while riding. I use darker lens now for anything sunny and light yellows on overcast days or close to sunset. Enjoy!

[Skrawny]

I allways said that as soon as I can afford it, I would get lasix. My eyes don't like contacts and the majority of the sports I do don't work well with glasses. This year I finally had enough cash, but I bought a Legend Ti instead. Guess I'll have to wait a little longer.
-s

[Dekonick]

paid about 2500 - but that was to have the newer software. For traditional lasik it was 1K an eye. you could go cheaper, but I wanted a Doc that had done at least 5k + procedures.

whatever you do: use the drops - keep your eye moist - and wear glasses for the first 6 months. It takes that long before the flap is truly secure again.

I would do it again....and again....and again.... to see is a wonderful gift!

[spiderman]

as you can imagine i have vision like peter parker...
...i've had an offer to do mine for free
or at least a comp price...
...i can't bring myself to the point of doing it...
not willing to take the risk...
you're making it sound so good
i might not be able to resist!
congratulations on your sight
and thanks for your insights
(especially the six sigma comments!).

obtw,
i appreciate the invitation to the tomrv...
i'm taking kids to music camp that weekend,
but look forward to riding with you at ragbrai!

[H.Frank Beshear]

I always wear lenses on the bike its the only time oakleys look cool. :D I was worried about the "halo's " when driving at night. Tonight on the way home it wasn't any worse than when my eyes were tired after a day of contacts. A slight soft glow around headlights and the yard lights. I had the wavefront lasiks done slight astigmatism in the left eye, and my doc includes all checkups and touchups for the first two years in his price. Lets put it this way I'm not the cheapest contractor in town but I promise to do the the job to the best of my ability and your expectations. I expect the same from my doctors. I've fired one or two before :D Ask hard questions and for something like this referals. Eyesight is way more important than putting on a new roof or siding. I like the new vision I never knew/forgot what it was like to see without help. Take care Frank I forgot to add that after dinner tonight I told my wife that I needed to clean my contacts, got halfway down the hall and realized I didn't :banana:

[medici]

After 40 years of putting glasses on first thing in the morning, and taking them off when I hit the pillow at night, I had it done 5 years ago. Amazing! I used to ask "What big E?" on the eye tests. Now I'm 20/25 and 20/40. Can't recommend it enough. Not to mention the joy of owning 10 pair of sunglasses and none of them are prescription!

Cost about $3000, but that was awhile ago. Much cheaper now.

I was much more sensitive to sunlight for quite awhile, including a bout with snow blindness after a week in the snow Sierra with photochromatic sunglasses (that's a no-no), but that has lessened over time.

Pete

[BumpyintheBurgh]

Considering lasik surgery, I'm nearsighted. Wear bifocal glasses for indoor activities and regular contacts for outdoor activities, biking, skiing, hiking, etc. Without the contacts I can read the ride cue sheet but can't see what's down the road 100 yards clearly. With contacts, distance is sharp but I can't read the trail map. Wearing my bifocals everything is in focus but I would love to ditch the specs.
My optometrist tells me that if I get lasik, there will be a trade-off, I will gain the distance vision but probably lose my near vision and will have to wear glasses for reading, office paperwork and anything close-up. I prefer not to wear glasses but it seems that with or without lasik surgery, I will still need glasses part of the time.
Comments from anyone who has the same problem.

[Ray]

Same situation. I wear glasses with progressive lenses (like bi-focals, but with a more gradual transition from distance to closeup, rather than all in one jump like with bifocals). With Lasik, my understanding is that you get one focal length, like with normal glasses. Since I'd wear glasses for riding anyway and I'd still have to wear them for reading or computer work, I'd still have something on my face most of the time. Not worth the risk, however small, given the limited benefit.

-Ray

[BumpyintheBurgh]

Another option my doctor mentioned was to get only one eye done with the lasik procedure. That way I would have one eye with near and one with far distance. He suggested wearing one contact for a while to see if I would be comfortable. It's a little weird at first and works fine outdoors on the bike. My one eye picks up the distance vision and the other eye focuses on things close, so I can read my cyclecomputer but it gets more difficult inside watching tv or reading the paper with the dual focus battle going on. Don't know if I like it that way yet but until I finally decide on lasik, I'll go with the mono contact. At least I can take the contact out and go back to specs.

[Ken Robb]

I think I'm too old for the benefits because, as others have said, I still need my tri focals or progressive lenses. Even bi-focals became not enough in my mid-50s. My Bro-in-law had Lasik a year ago in his late 50s. One eye for near and one for far and is very happy. Since I spend some time motorcycling and teach high-performance driving on racetracks I could not sacrifice my depth perception with that procedure so I'm stuck with glasses for another 50 years.

[Michael Katz]

I have the same dilemna of being very nearsighted but needing correction for reading. I found the best solution for me was bi-focal contacts. I am able to ride, play other sports, read, drive, watch a movie all with 1 set of lenses and have peripheral vision that I wouldn't have with bi-focal glasses. Also, the transition from distance to close up vision is seamless and transparent. Unlike bi-focal or progressive glasses, I am always looking through the entire lense with the contacts. The only downside is that contacts are a bit of a nuisance ( I use soft 2 week lenses that get taken out every night) and that my vision is not quite as crisp at either extreme as it would be if I were wearing single purpose lenses. For example, I can't read highway signs from quite as far away as I could with distance contacts nor can I read really tiny print or as clearly see specs of dirt with my nose 6 inches from my bike. For every day work and play functioning, however, they work just fine.

[Dekonick]

another option for those who are concerned with lasik is a reversable procedure - they insert a ring into the eye and achieve 90% of what you can get with lasik. Also for far sighted folks there is another technique that tightens the eye and thus helps correct this condition. All newer options and not all FDA approved ... yet.

Mmmm love sierra nevada... :beer: and love my eyes!

[medici]

Another option my doctor mentioned was to get only one eye done with the lasik procedure. That way I would have one eye with near and one with far distance. He suggested wearing one contact for a while to see if I would be comfortable. It's a little weird at first and works fine outdoors on the bike. My one eye picks up the distance vision and the other eye focuses on things close, so I can read my cyclecomputer but it gets more difficult inside watching tv or reading the paper with the dual focus battle going on. Don't know if I like it that way yet but until I finally decide on lasik, I'll go with the mono contact. At least I can take the contact out and go back to specs.

That process was available when I had my lasik, but, frankly, the thought kind of freaked me out. Ken appears to know someone who had good results though.

I wear progressive lenses (clear top/reading prescription bottom) when I working on the PC or reading. Otherwise, I don't need glasses. I can make out a map when I'm backpacking without glasses (well, forget those elevation values on the contours, but otherwise).

Pete

[Smiley]

My fear with Lasiks is the long term effects on the eye balls , I don't think this proceedure has been done for more than 10 years 15 tops , so I don't think they know the effects of future cataracks will have on the eye . Frank have you asked this question of your eye doc , please let me know as my mother has had 3 catarack surgeries and I fear what will happen if I need a catarack proceedure one day having had Lasiks before . Thanks

[H.Frank Beshear]

One of the guys I ride with has good distance vision but needs help for reading. He found some of the small half round magnifying stickers someplace and puts them on the bottom part of his sunglasses so he can read his heart monitor and cyclo computer. He keeps a couple spares in his bag in case he looses one. Not a perfect solution but he claims it works well. Frank

[H.Frank Beshear]

Smiley I didn't ask him that question but I will when I see him on mon. I don't have a family history of cataracts so didn't think about that. At the rate of medical advances sometimes what is a worry today is a simple procedure a few years down the road. I'll let you know what I find out Frank

[Marco]

but I always hear that if you go to an opthomologist convention you will see a room full of docs that still wear glasses and have not opted for Lasik. True? Don't know but it makes you wonder.

[Skrawny]

I did a rotation with an ophthalmologist, and I was curious about lasiks. I asked him to his unbespectacled face if he needed Lasiks would he have it done?

He answered: "I have."

That being said, ophthalmologists are surgeons and many are worried about "taking a risk" with their eyesight and thereby their career. However, you would have to ask an ophthalmologist what the true risks are. I would GUESS that the majority of concerns about loss of eyesight are overblown. Tiger Woods is an intelligent man whose career relies on his eyesight and he has had Lasiks (yes, I know it is anecdotal evidence).
-s