Laser Eye Surgery

RedPlanet

If i were to have it done...
I'd go to Cuba, you'll probably get a far cheaper price, and can make a holiday of it as well.
BTW, corrective eye surgery was invented in Cuba (for those harbouring negative propagandized views of that country).

onemanband

I got it done 6 months ago in the Blackrock clinic. cannot remember whether it was 3k of 4k. In and out in 3 hours. No pain whatsoever, slight discomfort during the procedure (10 mins). Eyesight 20/20 after 3 days. No after effects. Could not recommend it highgly enough.

chamlis

RedPlanet wrote:

If i were to have it done...
I'd go to Cuba, you'll probably get a far cheaper price, and can make a holiday of it as well.
BTW, corrective eye surgery was invented in Cuba (for those harbouring negative propagandized views of that country).

That's right, people. Cuba has probably the best healthcare system on the planet. Free too, afaik....

EDIT: To the Cubans, like....

onemanband

have either of you been to Cuba? I would and my fxxk have elective surgery there. Great heathcare system I'm sure but 3rd world country all the same. Plus the cost of getting there would have to be a factor.

RedPlanet

onemanband wrote:

have either of you been to Cuba? I would and my fxxk have elective surgery there. Great heathcare system I'm sure but 3rd world country all the same. Plus the cost of getting there would have to be a factor.

Haven't been there myself but several mates have.
Cost to get there would be a factor absolutely.
However once there it's cheap, really cheap.
That's why i was suggesting making a holiday of it, and hopefully have the surgery booked so when you're set to leave, have your eyes done and there u go.

FX Meister

Yeah that sounds great. I'm sure it would work out far cheaper to spend a few months in Cuba than to have the surgery done here in Ireland. OR maybe you could just make four seperate trips if you can't get the time off work.

New_Departure06

Be careful. I read a few years ago about this American woman who had laser surgery and something went wrong absolutely destroying her looks.

Fajitas!

There are rumours of after a certain amount of time, it reversing again. That'd be my only fear.

I'm a photographer and artist...Can't have that happening to my eyes...

CombatCow

New_Departure06 wrote:

Be careful. I read a few years ago about this American woman who had laser surgery and something went wrong absolutely destroying her looks.

worst post ever, could you be more vaigue ?! ,everyone knows theres dangers but saying stuff like that is pointless imho.

CC

Sarky

How could anything involving lasers NOT be a good idea?

A friend went for it recently, no complaints.

monkeyfudge

I've spoken to 3 people over the years who said it was the worst mistake they ever made in their lives.

But I have also spoken to many people who were happy with it.

Not worth the risk if you ask me though.

There's a good website;

www.surgicaleyes.org with lots of information on the problems that might occur.

the_syco

monkeyfudge wrote:

I've spoken to 3 people over the years who said it was the worst mistake they ever made in their lives.

Could you say why? I'm going for it myself once my SSIA finishes (In March: I started late, I end late), and I'd like to know of any possible downfalls.

JohnK

I hope its a good idea. I'm getting it done in 5 hours :eek:

JohnK

I'm off now to get it done. I'll let ye know how I got on when I can see again

Eoin

JohnK wrote:

I hope its a good idea. I'm getting it done in 5 hours :eek:

If you can read this, then it probably went well.

whizzbang

eoin_s wrote:

If you can read this, then it probably went well.

how about this?

Eoin

whizzbang wrote:

how about this?

even better

monkeyfudge

the_syco wrote:

Could you say why? I'm going for it myself once my SSIA finishes (In March: I started late, I end late), and I'd like to know of any possible downfalls.

Well it mostly students of mine. I teach people how to use computers. And the ones who have had complications with the surgery have a good deal of trouble using the computer screen, makes it a lot harder to train them actually. I know they had a lot of other discomfort and problems, but I tend not to like to pry into the medical history of my students.

A lot of the problems that can occur are detailed on that website I linked to.

FX Meister

Fajitas! wrote:

There are rumours of after a certain amount of time, it reversing again. That'd be my only fear.

I'm a photographer and artist...Can't have that happening to my eyes...

That's just a commom misconception held by people who don't know much about the procedure. The operation over corrects you sight, then after a couple of months it reduces back to 20/20 or close enough. Another reason for people thinking this is because people need glasses when they get older. This happens to most people, regardless of whether they have had the operation or not.

incisor71

FX Meister wrote:

The operation over corrects you sight, then after a couple of months it reduces back to 20/20 or close enough.

Yes and no. For my left eye, no, for my right, yes. In the case of my left, that was 20/15 or better from day 1 after the operation and has never varied since.

The complication with my right eye was that it had mixed astigmatism, and so its defect had to be overcorrected, and needed to regress towards an optimal position over the course of a few months. Almost eight months later it has regressed, but still with a small astigmatism (-1.00) that's enough to cause a difference between the two eyes. I'm due to get enhancement surgery in August, when I can get time off work.

FX Meister

They do say that it's harder to correct eyes with astigmatism don't they? It's been a few years so I don't remember the details that well. I won't forget the smell of the burning cornea though.

gandalf

I will be getting mine done in September.

_Whimsical_

I might be straying off topic here but I was just wondering if anyone has tried Ortho K lenses as a treatment for Myopia . It involves wearing specially made contact lenses at night time that flatten out any small bulges in the cornea. That supposedly corrects short sightedness to the point where its not necessary to wear glasses or regular daytime contacts. Its not a cure because if you stop wearing the OrthoK lenses at night your vision will return to normal and you will need your glasses again .I've read a few articles in magazines/papers that say its sucessful and works very quickly. Its not too expensive either and it looks like a decent and safe alternative to laser surgery for squeemish people like myself . Has anyone heard of it or tried it ? As far as I can see only a small number of opticians do it in Ireland but there seems to be alot in the UK. The link for it is http://www.ortho-k.net/

incisor71

FX Meister wrote:

They do say that it's harder to correct eyes with astigmatism don't they? It's been a few years so I don't remember the details that well. I won't forget the smell of the burning cornea though.

Both my eyes had astigmatism, but at different angles (hence the source of severe eyestrain). I'll find out soon enough why they evolved differently.

You had it done a few years ago you say - how's your eyesight now?

FX Meister

My eyesight is perfect. I've had no problems and it's hard to remember ever having worn glasses.

bspoke

Didnt read the last six pages so you will have to excuse me if im going over something already posted.

The wife got it done 3 years a go up north (will find out name of clinic later) at the time it cost the guts of 5k down here and she got it done for less than 3k.

She felt no pain more discomfort than anything else. I sat in thw aiting room for less than twenty minutes while she had it done. We had to pull over afew times on the way back to administer the eye drops but were still back to Dublin in just over two hours.

ABout six hours after she got it done she took off her protective googles and could read the licence plate on a car across the road - something she could not have done before without glasses and to be honest i struggled to do and I have great vision.

She had to travel back up a few times to have her eyes checked and to get more eye drops but she still says it is the best decision she ever made. sometimes i forget that she used to wear glasses.

She was also able to claim back some of the fee on her taxes which is a nice bonus

JohnK

Apologies if any of this sounds disjointed but I typed it in a few instalments.

Well, here’s what happened last Wednesday. My appointment was for 11.30am but even arriving at 10.50am I was still 3rd of my timeslot to arrive.

We spent a few minutes in reception before 3 of us were brought down to the waiting room outside the laser room. It was here that we were each given a name tag, told to take off our glasses and had the area around our eyes washed with disinfectant. We were also given shoe covers and a hat to put on. Of the 3 of us there were 2 EKs and 1 IK. The IK was offered vallium but myself and the other EK person weren’t, I assume that’s because we were having a different procedure.

We were brought in one by one, first the other EK then the IK and finally myself. It was averaging about 35 minutes per person so it was around 12.30 before I was actually brought in.

Inside I was asked to sit in the chair and they put a shield over my left eye. I was given the stress ball and the chair was lowered into a horizontal position. The technician (doctor?) at the laser asked me a few questions to ensure I was the right person and he had the right chart. I was asked my full name, date of birth and the exact procedure I was getting (in my case EK wavefront). Once this was sorted Dr. Jain came in and the chair was pushed under the machine.

All I could really see was a circle of light just over my eye. I’m guessing the inside of the circle was where Dr. Jains scope was looking down at me from . Then slightly more towards my feet direction there was small red light that I was asked to focus on for the whole procedure.

I cant remember the exact sequence of events from here but I think it went like this: Dr. Jain started by putting the numbing drops into my right eye and attaching the clamp to keep my eye open. He then proceeded to wash my eye, I’m assuming to remove any grit and suchlike. A cup like thing was put on to the front of my eye and filled with some sort of liquid. As this happened Dr. Jain ordered an audible count (at 5 sec intervals) of exactly how long this was attached. He then started moving some sort of tool in the cup like thing (very technical I know ). What I could see at this point was a sort of rippling effect in front of my eye and when he finally moved the tool towards the top of my eye (to collect the front of it I think) everything in front of me got very very clear. I think he might have rinsed my eye again at this point but I’m not sure. I was now told again to focus on the red light in front of me as the laser was about to be turned on. The laser itself was quite loud when it was operating so there was no question of “is it happening yet?” As this was happening everything went black but I could see a few blue flickers and I could smell something from the laser (or was it my eye?) but this is normal and was mentioned in the documents they give you. The laser was turned off again and I think there was more rinsing of my eye (in fact, I think it was more like a tap had been turned on over my eye). What ever had been moved earlier was put back in place and a contact was put in. Some more drops were put in but I cant remember if that happened before or after the contact was put in. I think after. The chair was then moved out from under the machine and the shield on my left eye was moved to the right eye and I was swung back under. Everything for my left eye was pretty much the same as my right but I seem to remember him drying my left eye before the procedure. I think. I was trying not to think about it really :eek:.

Once my left eye was done, the chair was spun out and moved back into a chair position and the shield was removed from my right eye. At this point pretty much everything was a blur but the blurs were further away than usual. I was taken into another room to lie down. In there another nurse was asking me if I was OK or was I feeling a bit dizzy etc. She then talked to me about all the drops I must take (painkillers, antibiotics, steroids and lubricants) and showed me the shields I have to wear in bed for about 2 weeks. She then went through what to do if the contact fell out or if I felt a LOT of pain (basically, open the sealed envelope with the ultra painkiller drops and ring the emergency numbers they provided). By now a lot of the blurriness was clearing up and I nipped into the toilet to take a quick look at my eyes. The whites of both eyes were red but I’ve seen worse after a night on the beer. I followed the nurse up the stairs to book my next appointment for 4 days later. And that’s it. It was around 1.10pm and the whole thing was over. I felt no pain throughout the whole procedure so I was very happy with that. The redness of my eyes cleared up very quickly. I think it was completely gone within an hour.

Once I got home (about 4 hours later) I started putting in the antibiotics and artificial tears every few hours. They said to only use the painkillers if I felt I needed them during the first 48 hours but I didn’t feel any pain then or since (touchwood!) so I didn’t need them.

I spent from Wednesday evening to Sunday morning lying in my room with the curtains closed listening to the radio & my CD collection with my eyes closed. I didn’t try to watch tv, read or use the computer. During that time my vision fluctuated quite a bit. What I was using as a rough guide was a small sign on my bedroom wall that had 3 lines of text of different sizes. Up to and including Thursday night I could read the 2 bigger lines with both eyes. When I woke on Friday I could read both those lines with my left eye but could only read the biggest line with my right eye and even then it was very blurred. That mostly swapped on Saturday when I woke up and could only read the bigger text with my left eye but the right had cleared up a bit meaning I could see the second biggest line but that was quite blurred. Sunday morning both eyes were a good bit better and the right eye could read the 2 lines properly but the left was still blurred.

I had the first follow up appointment on Sunday morning so it was back up to Dublin where I was asked how I was doing. I had to read a few of the sight charts and had the contacts removed after a look at my eyes. I was told the fluctuation was normal and that it could continue for a few weeks. By the time I got home I could read all 3 lines with my right eye but the left is still blurred on the 2 bigger of the 3 lines. The left eye has gotten a bit better today but its still not as strong as the right eye so I’m hoping it will continue to improve. Before the procedure, my left eye would have been the stronger of the two.

That’s basically where I am right now. I’m trying to avoid watching TV or using the pc as it makes my eyes very tired. Just 30 minutes on the pc yesterday gave me a real bitch of a headache so I’m being very careful at the moment (hence why this was written in about 5 sittings). I think that really covers just about everything but if anyone has any questions just fire away. I cant guarantee a quick answer but I’ll try my best.

John.

Dave!

Great post, fair play!

faceman

FX Meister wrote:

They do say that it's harder to correct eyes with astigmatism don't they? It's been a few years so I don't remember the details that well. I won't forget the smell of the burning cornea though.

thats not the smell of the cornea dude, thats the smell of the chemicals used in the laser.

There are just so many threads on this....is there any consensus on which might be the best clinic? I'm in Limerick ....there's only one clinic here called the Wavefront Eye Laser Clinic

On threads here I've seen Wellington, Optilase and Blackrock clinics all mentioned.....hows JohnK's eyesight getting on?