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-   -   I've just had LASEK eye surgery (https://pirate.planetarion.com/showthread.php?t=196929)

Gate 7 Sep 2008 18:19

I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
To correct mild short sightedness, went with Optical Express and added Wavefront after looking at some clinical trial results.

The surgery is surreal, but painless. You can't see shit (except for a flashing orange light), but I knew the surgeon was scooping the front of my eye out with a tiny spoon. You can smell burning flesh (which goes away almost the instant the laser's turned off), but otherwise it's fine.

About an hour later, and for the next 20 hours I was in discomfort and pain. For about 36 hours I couldn't really see because if I opened my eyes I started crying like a baby. Also, I couldn't have the bandage contact lenses out after 3 days because my eyes still needed to man up, hopefully they get taken out tomorrow.

With LASEK, your eyes should continue to improve for weeks, and my sight's already legal to drive (For the first time since I was 12).

If anyone's thinking of having it done, the pain's not too bad and if you're weak you get sleeping pills or anaesthetic drops. I think it's totally worth it if my eyes don't **** up. Optical Express' Rosen Eye Clinic in Manchester has good results and I'd recommend them. I'd also recommend shelling out for wavefront (which has better results in clinical trials).



Also, I got an audiobook called 'The Prometheus Deception' by Robert Ludlum to entertain me during the blind days. The lead character, supposedly an American super-spy dumbly strolls from one self-inflicted problem to the next. I kept hoping he'd be killed for his stupidity, but unfortunately he's given an Israeli sidekick who keeps saving his ass. Maybe it'd be ok to read quickly, but as an audiobook I thought it was a bit shit.

Opi 7 Sep 2008 19:07

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
How much was it?

Gate 7 Sep 2008 20:20

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Just under £1.6k. £395 for LASIK or LASEK, wavefront (optional!) adds another £395 or so.

If I'd put that cash I'd saved in the bank, the interest would have been swallowed up by glasses and contact lenses anyway, so decided to go for it now rather than waste a few years.

Tomkat 7 Sep 2008 21:18

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
no, how much was the audiobook?

Mzyxptlk 7 Sep 2008 21:19

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
How bad were your eyes, and how much better will they become? Did they give an estimate?

Tomkat 7 Sep 2008 21:24

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
You're the third of people I know who have got this done in the last few months.

I've thought about it, but:
1. I don't mind wearing contact lenses enough to fork out £2000 or so (I'd pay more to be assured of decent aftercare etc) to get them done. Contact lenses are a minor inconvenience and I've got used to wearing them now.
2. We don't really know what the long term effects (20 years plus) are of doing this. For all we know, it could make people blind! That's scary!

Yahwe 7 Sep 2008 21:27

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomkat (Post 3154817)
You're the third of people I know who have got this done in the last few months.

OH LOOK ... appalling use of English ... yet again ...

STOP TEACHING INNOCENT CHILDREN!!!

Tomkat 7 Sep 2008 21:35

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
i'm busy downing gruul innit

Gate 8 Sep 2008 08:19

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomkat (Post 3154815)
no, how much was the audiobook?

£1.30 for 3 weeks from the library. I'm more pissed off about that than the surgery money.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mzyxptlk (Post 3154816)
How bad were your eyes, and how much better will they become? Did they give an estimate?

Without glasses or contacts I could only read a license plate from a couple of metres away.

My recovery so far is average, and clinical trials report that 96%+ of wavefront patients (that's me!) receive 20/20, 71% get better. Wthout wavefront about 70% of people get 20/20 and there's a higher incidence of night vision problems like glare & haloes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomkat (Post 3154817)
1. I don't mind wearing contact lenses enough to fork out £2000 or so (I'd pay more to be assured of decent aftercare etc) to get them done.

Most places offer lifetime aftercare until they discharge you and reports I've heard are good. Iirc Optical Express retreatment rates were 0.9% and the risk of serious complications under 1 in 10,000, so it's pretty safe.

If you're fine with contacts then that's cool. I hated glasses, and even with the extra breathable contact lenses my eyes hurt like a bitch after a night out. Particularly if the club uses smoke machines. And I travel & camp quite a bit and not having to **** around with bottles of contact lens fluid is ftw.

Quote:

2. We don't really know what the long term effects (20 years plus) are of doing this. For all we know, it could make people blind! That's scary!
That's fair. I assume they'll invent something to fix the problem if one develops (& I don't see a theoretical reason for it, LASEK is non-invasive) and in 20 years I'll be rich enough to afford a solution. They'll be able to implant eyes stolen from a third world child or something. Hope they do fair trade so I don't feel bad.

Tietäjä 8 Sep 2008 11:46

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomkat (Post 3154819)
i'm busy downing gruul innit


You've been on it for whatnot ten months now?

:<

Get to the choppa.

Gate 8 Sep 2008 14:04

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Also, I now have better than 20/20 vision & haven't finished healing yet.

An improvement over glasses/contacts. If you want to perv on your students from a safer distance, tomkat, you should probably consider this.

Yahwe 8 Sep 2008 21:08

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
ban the adbot

Mighteh 10 Sep 2008 02:40

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomkat (Post 3154818)
i'm busy downing gruul innit [/u][/b]

l2spread ;)

as to the topic. I know numerous peoples with lasik done and each and every one of them are raving about it, much like gate does. the tag was anywhere from 500$ to 1000$ per eye in one of the best clinics in manhattan

Tomkat 10 Sep 2008 15:32

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Isn't this how Day of the Triffids started off...?

Yahwe 10 Sep 2008 19:30

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomkat (Post 3154932)
Isn't this how Day of the Triffids started off...?

you're perfectly safe

the triffids only abducted interesting people

Tomkat 10 Sep 2008 22:02

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
They didn't abduct anyone you mong, they killed them with big poisonous viney things!

Mistwraith 11 Sep 2008 02:05

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
The Triffids stung you with a neuro toxin that made you blind so you were easy prey, then somehow ingested you i think, its never really explained properly why they did it and if it was for food or merely to wipe out the race so they could live on the planet in the book.

Tomkat 11 Sep 2008 15:38

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
That also isn't what happened :(

There were bright flashing lights in the sky which everyone came outside to watch. Then the next day everyone who had seen them became blind. The hero was in hospital with bandages over his eyes and the heroine was completely drunk and had passed out, so they missed the lights and could see!

DUH

Yahwe 11 Sep 2008 18:27

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
oh look a nerdfight

Baron Morte 12 Sep 2008 02:13

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Gate (Post 3154808)

Also, I got an audiobook called 'The Prometheus Deception' by Robert Ludlum to entertain me during the blind days. The lead character, supposedly an American super-spy dumbly strolls from one self-inflicted problem to the next. I kept hoping he'd be killed for his stupidity, but unfortunately he's given an Israeli sidekick who keeps saving his ass. Maybe it'd be ok to read quickly, but as an audiobook I thought it was a bit shit.


wow what a coincidence
i was listening to that rufus fears series on greats books - books that made history, books that can change yout life, and the book i read today was prometheus by aschylus, it was pretty good, rufus fears kicks ass!

Mistwraith 12 Sep 2008 10:43

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomkat (Post 3155026)
That also isn't what happened :(

There were bright flashing lights in the sky which everyone came outside to watch. Then the next day everyone who had seen them became blind. The hero was in hospital with bandages over his eyes and the heroine was completely drunk and had passed out, so they missed the lights and could see!

DUH

hrm i'm gonna have to read the damned thing again, i did read it after i watched the tv series a very long time ago.

but they did sting with neuro toxins .. or something ..

Baron Morte 12 Sep 2008 13:03

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomkat (Post 3154817)
.
2. We don't really know what the long term effects (20 years plus) are of doing this. For all we know, it could make people blind! That's scary!



lol this was on the simpsons, in the future episode where ned flanders eyes fell off due to having had the laser surgery decades before:salute:

Barrow|Pony 16 Sep 2008 18:09

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
I've always been scared of this. It's an operation that reshapes the lens? Or messes with the reception of light on the back of your eye?

Gate 17 Sep 2008 12:22

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Barrow|Pony (Post 3155412)
I've always been scared of this. It's an operation that reshapes the lens? Or messes with the reception of light on the back of your eye?

They move the cells that cover your eye out of the way and then they reshape the lens with a laser. Then they put the cells back. It's not that invasive.

Afaik the only way it messes with the reception of light on the back of your eye is through the indirect effect of the lens shape change.

LukeyLove 18 Sep 2008 11:30

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Ive considered getting eye surgery for awhile but Id heard worrying reports that your eyes start to deteriorate again once theyve been 'healed'?

Im eternally looking at a screen and when im not im reading, hence i have faith id ruin my eyesight again in afew years and need surgery again (but i think you can only get it once?)

Math just doesnt quite work out for me, i wear monthly all day all night contact lenses so i barely notice im wearing them the majority of the time and they cost £20 a month (roughly) so 80 months to get payback on them is 6 and a half years, im bound to have ruined my eyes again by that point. When it gets cheaper/safer its something id certainly consider but im sitting with sitting on my contact lens fence for now.

Gate 19 Sep 2008 10:20

Re: I've just had LASEK eye surgery
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeyLove (Post 3155470)
Ive considered getting eye surgery for awhile but Id heard worrying reports that your eyes start to deteriorate again once theyve been 'healed'?

The surgery has been around for about 15-20 years or so and afaik it lasts at least that long. Some people relapse, but most appear to be permanent.

Quote:

Im eternally looking at a screen and when im not im reading, hence i have faith id ruin my eyesight again in afew years and need surgery again (but i think you can only get it once?)
Afaik it depends on the thickness of your cornea and which surgery you go for. I've got fat eyes so was told I can have it done 'many' times. My aunt had LASIK done 3 times (she was one of the ~1% needing retreatment. Now she's fine!)

Quote:

Math just doesnt quite work out for me, i wear monthly all day all night contact lenses so i barely notice im wearing them the majority of the time and they cost £20 a month (roughly) so 80 months to get payback on them is 6 and a half years, im bound to have ruined my eyes again by that point. When it gets cheaper/safer its something id certainly consider but im sitting with sitting on my contact lens fence for now.
Something like 1 in 10,000 have 'serious' complications, which is pretty safe, and afaik no-one's ever been blinded by LASEK.

If you're fine with contacts though, I'd probably stick with them. Contacts hurt me and that was a real bitch.

Also, payback time is bigger than 80 months: if you put the £1600 in the bank now, and averaged 5% interest, you'd get £80/year which you wouldn't if you spent the cash on surgery.


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