LASIK surgery

[Biennial]

1 minute ago, Biennial said:

Thanks, Taylor! Maybe I will do it.

How old were you? (I'm 65) How many diopters was your prescription?

[bbbz]

Had it done about 15 years ago.  Went through glasses, then contacts and now nothing except occasionally reading glasses if perusing a long piece.  Was 3800 USD for both eyes then and much cheaper now. 

 Probably the best medical decision I ever made.  Best part is not the dicking around looking for glasses or mucking around with solutions and cleaning.  Its seeing her lickable pussy parts clearly with one eye while the other watches her facial expressions.  

[taylor1975]

1 hour ago, Biennial said:

How old were you? (I'm 65) How many diopters was your prescription?

About age 33. Prescription was about -2 i think. Not very bad but still needed glasses.

[Biennial]

2 hours ago, bbbz said:

Its seeing her lickable pussy parts clearly with one eye while the other watches her facial expressions.  

That's actually my main motivation for monovision  Don't need glasses in bed!

 

[Biennial]

I had the Lasik yesterday, and I am typing and reading this without glasses right now. I am SO glad I went with the monovision!!! I can see great up close, mid range and far. I practiced for about a week with a pair of glasses with one far lens and one close, and after a few hours you can see fine with them, but now my eyes are like that, it is much more natural.

I could not find advise like I have received here from Taylor and bbz available elsewhere online. I think a lot of people make the mistake of having both eyes corrected for distance then needing reading glasses.

Thanks Taylor and bbz!!!!

 

[taylor1975]

5 minutes ago, Biennial said:

I had the Lasik yesterday, and I am typing and reading this without glasses right now. I am SO glad I went with the monovision!!! I can see great up close, mid range and far. I practiced for about a week with a pair of glasses with one far lens and one close, and after a few hours you can see fine with them, but now my eyes are like that, it is much more natural.

I could not find advise like I have received here from Taylor and bbz available elsewhere online. I think a lot of people make the mistake of having both eyes corrected for distance then needing reading glasses.

Thanks Taylor and bbz!!!!

 

Well done pal, superb. Hey nice planning with the glasses, thats a cracking idea.

Yeh folks don't do the research, get both done ...and then need glasses in the future.

Did you have the one where they slice your eye and do the flap peeling thing? I had that and boy was i apprehensive 555

[Biennial]

48 minutes ago, taylor1975 said:

Well done pal, superb. Hey nice planning with the glasses, thats a cracking idea.

Yeh folks don't do the research, get both done ...and then need glasses in the future.

Did you have the one where they slice your eye and do the flap peeling thing? I had that and boy was i apprehensive 555

I had "all laser lasik" They use what's called a "femto-second" laser to cut the flap, then the latest "wavefront" laser for the shaping.

I was OK through the prep, and it's a good idea they put you in a room with other people who are getting prepped (Getting hair netted and booties, and drops, and instructions.) I was in there chatting with a couple of younger patients.

But the actual surgery was probably the scariest procedure I have ever had. I don't want to discourage anyone, because it is definitely well worth it. You know how you feel helpless while a dentist is working on your teeth? This was much worse than that for me, because it's my eyes, and I am naturally very protective of them.

Despite what I said about the latest laser technology, it's the same thing. You lie down in one room full of equipment, and they put a suction cup on your eye, tell you its extremely important that you keep looking at the green light and don't move, and poke your eye here and there and push something down really hard that hurts but keep telling you not to close your eye and how important it is not to move. I could kind of see the laser cutting across my cornea. Then same thing for the other eye. The doc did also repeat I was doing very well, and "20 seconds left, 10 seconds left.." They also gave me a teddy bear to hang on to

Then had me get up and walk to another room full of equipment and lie down there. Same kind of thing, immobilizing your eye, then the doc has to manually grab the flap and open and lay it aside. This took several attempts, having me lay perfectly still again. Once the flap was open, everything was a blur, but he had me focus on the center of the green light (diffuse green blob) while the laser did its thing. Again warning me that is was extremely important not to move. The laser was not bright, surprisingly. (Maybe outside the visible light spectrum?) A loud blower came on during this step, and I could smell my cornea burning away. 

Flap back down, and you can see him massaging the flap with an instrument to get out the wrinkles and bubbles, and same for the other eye, and I was done. I gave a thumbs up to the people in the prep room as I has being led back to the post-op briefing.

Every night for 2 weeks I have to tape clear plastic guards to my eyes to prevent me from rubbing them during the night. (They taped them on in the office before I left) Had my wife there to drive me home. I was told to keep my eyes closed for the rest of the day, and go home and take a nap for as long as I could. My eyes were stinging before the maybe 4 hour nap, but were pain free when I woke up. 

After I took the guards off this morning, I was very happy with the results. I can see near, medium and far.  Seamlessly, and very naturally. Monovision works! The far is not as sharp as I was hoping for, for good reason...

I had my first post-op appointment with my optometrist this morning, and he said they over-corrected both eyes, probably intentionally, because the correction will tend to relax over the next few days/weeks. So I have 0.5 diopters over-correction in the far eye, explaining the slight far distance issue.

I'm really glad I had it done, and highly recommend mono-vision for older people like me who can't change their lens focus much any more. It really is like magic.

One thing I would recommend.. Make sure your surgeon and staff speak/understand your language well, because good communication is crucial in this procedure. I'm glad I paid $5200 here rather than try to save money abroad.

 

 

 

 

 

[taylor1975]

Mine wasn't cut with a laser, it was done manually, with some sliding mechanism, like what you use for cigars 

I forgot about the burning, but at least you had a teddy bear 

 

 

[dickygozinya]

On 30/09/2018 at 04:53, Biennial said:

I had "all laser lasik" They use what's called a "femto-second" laser to cut the flap, then the latest "wavefront" laser for the shaping.

I was OK through the prep, and it's a good idea they put you in a room with other people who are getting prepped (Getting hair netted and booties, and drops, and instructions.) I was in there chatting with a couple of younger patients.

But the actual surgery was probably the scariest procedure I have ever had. I don't want to discourage anyone, because it is definitely well worth it. You know how you feel helpless while a dentist is working on your teeth? This was much worse than that for me, because it's my eyes, and I am naturally very protective of them.

Despite what I said about the latest laser technology, it's the same thing. You lie down in one room full of equipment, and they put a suction cup on your eye, tell you its extremely important that you keep looking at the green light and don't move, and poke your eye here and there and push something down really hard that hurts but keep telling you not to close your eye and how important it is not to move. I could kind of see the laser cutting across my cornea. Then same thing for the other eye. The doc did also repeat I was doing very well, and "20 seconds left, 10 seconds left.." They also gave me a teddy bear to hang on to

Then had me get up and walk to another room full of equipment and lie down there. Same kind of thing, immobilizing your eye, then the doc has to manually grab the flap and open and lay it aside. This took several attempts, having me lay perfectly still again. Once the flap was open, everything was a blur, but he had me focus on the center of the green light (diffuse green blob) while the laser did its thing. Again warning me that is was extremely important not to move. The laser was not bright, surprisingly. (Maybe outside the visible light spectrum?) A loud blower came on during this step, and I could smell my cornea burning away. 

Flap back down, and you can see him massaging the flap with an instrument to get out the wrinkles and bubbles, and same for the other eye, and I was done. I gave a thumbs up to the people in the prep room as I has being led back to the post-op briefing.

Every night for 2 weeks I have to tape clear plastic guards to my eyes to prevent me from rubbing them during the night. (They taped them on in the office before I left) Had my wife there to drive me home. I was told to keep my eyes closed for the rest of the day, and go home and take a nap for as long as I could. My eyes were stinging before the maybe 4 hour nap, but were pain free when I woke up. 

After I took the guards off this morning, I was very happy with the results. I can see near, medium and far.  Seamlessly, and very naturally. Monovision works! The far is not as sharp as I was hoping for, for good reason...

I had my first post-op appointment with my optometrist this morning, and he said they over-corrected both eyes, probably intentionally, because the correction will tend to relax over the next few days/weeks. So I have 0.5 diopters over-correction in the far eye, explaining the slight far distance issue.

I'm really glad I had it done, and highly recommend mono-vision for older people like me who can't change their lens focus much any more. It really is like magic.

One thing I would recommend.. Make sure your surgeon and staff speak/understand your language well, because good communication is crucial in this procedure. I'm glad I paid $5200 here rather than try to save money abroad.

 

 

 

 

 

Where is “here?”  City name of place etc...

[Biennial]

2 hours ago, dickygozinya said:

Where is “here?”  City name of place etc...

San Jose, California

[dickygozinya]

1 hour ago, Biennial said:

San Jose, California

I USED TO LIVE there Cambrian area meridian and branham.   Did not know they had a good lassie place there.

How many total days to recovery 

[Biennial]

11 hours ago, dickygozinya said:

I USED TO LIVE there Cambrian area meridian and branham.   Did not know they had a good lassie place there.

How many total days to recovery 

Wow! Small world!!!

I went to Dr Mark Mandell, on O' Connor drive in San Jose. He also has offices in Concord, Dublin and Castro Valley. https://optimaeye.com/

My Optometrist recommended him, and the $5200 I paid also covered 4 follow up visits with my optometrist.

Eyes were sore the first night, (Friday) Was back at work on Monday.

The first few weeks, you have to be careful not to rub your eyes, or it may dislodge the flaps.

The feeling of dry eyes and of something in your eye gradually decreases, and is treated with saline drops.

I took 3 kinds of drops. Antibiotics 3 days before and 2 days after surgery. Steroid drops 2 weeks after surgery. And saline drops before and after as long and as often as I need them. Now, 4.5 months later, I seldom use them (less than once a day) but carry them in my pocket.

My Kaiser membership reduced the bill by $200. If I had had the foresight, I could have used a medical savings account to pay for it tax free.

 

[taylor1975]

26 minutes ago, Biennial said:

Wow! Small world!!!

I went to Dr Mark Mandell, on O' Connor drive in San Jose. He also has offices in Concord, Dublin and Castro Valley. https://optimaeye.com/

My Optometrist recommended him, and the $5200 I paid also covered 4 follow up visits with my optometrist.

Eyes were sore the first night, (Friday) Was back at work on Monday.

The first few weeks, you have to be careful not to rub your eyes, or it may dislodge the flaps.

The feeling of dry eyes and of something in your eye gradually decreases, and is treated with saline drops.

I took 3 kinds of drops. Antibiotics 3 days before and 2 days after surgery. Steroid drops 2 weeks after surgery. And saline drops before and after as long and as often as I need them. Now, 4.5 months later, I seldom use them (less than once a day) but carry them in my pocket.

My Kaiser membership reduced the bill by $200. If I had had the foresight, I could have used a medical savings account to pay for it tax free.

 

How have you been finding the monovision? Did it take you long to get used to it?

[Biennial]

1 hour ago, taylor1975 said:

How have you been finding the monovision? Did it take you long to get used to it?

I liked it right away, because I could see sharply near, mid-range and far. Especially in good light.

Before, I could not see clearly at any distance. 

Sometimes, in dim light, it can feel a little weird, still.

For working on the computer, which I do all day, I have a pair of glasses with 1.75 in one lens and 1.0 in the other. Works perfectly. 

My sunglasses have 0.5 diopter on one side, and 0 on the other. (The 0.5 is for the "far" eye - it finished up 0.5 under-corrected) This way, I can see read the highway signs and also the instruments and phone. Perfect!

 

[Hin]

I had Lasik done in 1999 at Rutnin Eye Hospital in Bangkok. At that time they were affiliated with the Gimbal Eye Clinic out of Canada. I have no idea if they are affiliated with them now. I was 39 at the time.

I had worn glasses since 1973 until 1999. The surgery was quick and easy. I had both eyes done at the same time. I have been in Thailand since then and all was well until about 6 years ago ~2013 when I started to need glasses for reading. My distance vision (which was the problem since 1973 is still fine), but I was getting old and glasses were always on the table once I got older.

I would consider super sight surgery (I have a friend who had it done here and he is very happy with the results), but the cost is a bit high for my budget at present. This is not something I want to save money on, so I will wait for now.

But as the OP original question, yes I had it done here and I do not regret it.

[taylor1975]

2 hours ago, Hin said:

 I have been in Thailand since then and all was well until about 6 years ago ~2013 when I started to need glasses for reading. My distance vision (which was the problem since 1973 is still fine), but I was getting old and glasses were always on the table once I got older.

Had you had just gotten one eye done and used monovision, the need for glasses could have been prevented.

[thinkingallowed]

1 hour ago, taylor1975 said:

Had you had just gotten one eye done and used monovision, the need for glasses could have been prevented.

Getting old caused him to need reading glasses. Unless you think he could be saving money by just having one eye done then and wearing a monocle to read once he needed to.

[taylor1975]

1 hour ago, thinkingallowed said:

Getting old caused him to need reading glasses. Unless you think he could be saving money by just having one eye done then and wearing a monocle to read once he needed to.

You don't understand monovision. Google it.

[taylor1975]

1 hour ago, thinkingallowed said:

Getting old caused him to need reading glasses. Unless you think he could be saving money by just having one eye done then and wearing a monocle to read once he needed to.

In 1973 he had a distance problem and therefore not a reading problem. In 1999 both eyes were done to correct distance vision. Had only one eye been done in 1999, he would then use monovision, therefore highly negating the need for glasses when you get old.

You don't need glasses just because you're old, you need glasses because your eye lense can't move the full distance between near and far. With monovision, they don't need too.

[thinkingallowed]

3 hours ago, taylor1975 said:

In 1973 he had a distance problem and therefore not a reading problem. In 1999 both eyes were done to correct distance vision. Had only one eye been done in 1999, he would then use monovision, therefore highly negating the need for glasses when you get old.

You don't need glasses just because you're old, you need glasses because your eye lense can't move the full distance between near and far. With monovision, they don't need too.

Your first paragraph contradicts your second? I for one am confused.

Re yourother posts, I do not need to Google monovision as I lived it. I used to wear a single contact lens in my left eye for "short sight" but left the right naked! I lived like this for over ten years but as I aged, and of course I've been corrected that this has not to do with age, my eyes could no longer manage to read. Then I tried monovision with the usual lens for distance vision plus the new one for reading and the difference between them was so great it scrambled my brain no matter which lenses I tried.

One size does not fit all.

And I'll ignore you're request for me to Google it and the DOH! you sent.

[taylor1975]

1 hour ago, thinkingallowed said:

Your first paragraph contradicts your second? I for one am confused.

Re yourother posts, I do not need to Google monovision as I lived it. I used to wear a single contact lens in my left eye for "short sight" but left the right naked! I lived like this for over ten years but as I aged, and of course I've been corrected that this has not to do with age, my eyes could no longer manage to read. Then I tried monovision with the usual lens for distance vision plus the new one for reading and the difference between them was so great it scrambled my brain no matter which lenses I tried.

One size does not fit all.

And I'll ignore you're request for me to Google it and the DOH! you sent.

It didn't work for you. But you've never actually had your eyes zapped, you used contact lenses lol. Fake monovision? 

I am +10 years with real monovision, its brilliant. I should definitely not recommend something that works really well for me because..........?? someone may think I'm guaranteeing it will work for them too?

Dear god, you're the fourth one today. Must be a friday thing.

[thinkingallowed]

8 hours ago, taylor1975 said:

It didn't work for you. But you've never actually had your eyes zapped, you used contact lenses lol. Fake monovision? 

I am +10 years with real monovision, its brilliant. I should definitely not recommend something that works really well for me because..........?? someone may think I'm guaranteeing it will work for them too?

Dear god, you're the fourth one today. Must be a friday thing.

Do you talk to people like this in real life? If you do I bet you haven't got many teeth left.

[deano4598]

@thinkingallowed @taylor1975 Guys, drop it and move on please. N2BN remember?

[Whalley]

On September 6, 2019 at 02:09, Hin said:

I had Lasik done in 1999 at Rutnin Eye Hospital in Bangkok. At that time they were affiliated with the Gimbal Eye Clinic out of Canada. I have no idea if they are affiliated with them now. I was 39 at the time.

I had worn glasses since 1973 until 1999. The surgery was quick and easy. I had both eyes done at the same time. I have been in Thailand since then and all was well until about 6 years ago ~2013 when I started to need glasses for reading. My distance vision (which was the problem since 1973 is still fine), but I was getting old and glasses were always on the table once I got older.

I would consider super sight surgery (I have a friend who had it done here and he is very happy with the results), but the cost is a bit high for my budget at present. This is not something I want to save money on, so I will wait for now.

But as the OP original question, yes I had it done here and I do not regret it.

 

Have you considered getting the procedure done in Canada?

Back home, BC province the cost is $0 for the standard IOC lenses replacement, now covered in full by midicare.  I opted for single vision upgraded lense to correct for astigmatism.  

A small cost was added for the upgraded Bausch and Lomb lenses, which my private retirment medical plan covered in full.  

20/20 both eyes now.  Brilliant vivid colours restored is a mind bender.

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

[Jes_92]

Personally I would not recommend it. I had -7.5 in both eyes and needed to get LASIK (femtosecond) for the military. It's definitely easier living without glasses or contact lenses, but my vision isn't 100% the same. I tested 20/20 with the check-ups, but there are some disadvantages:

My left eye sees a bit darker than my right eye, this wasn't the case before the surgery.
Dry eyes. I still need to use eyedrops twice a day (I could do without, but prefer for comfort).
At night (outside) I experience starbursts when looking at (sharp) lights.

Kinda like this:

There's also the possibility that they won't get your vision at exactly 0 and that you'll end up with one eye at -0.5 or even +0.5 for example.
Anyway, for me it was necessary but if you can do without I'd say it's not worth the risk.