Hey Julie,

Thank G-d I'm not the only one who has heard about the risk of night blindness. I have mentioned it to others before and they look at me like I am crazy. My guess is that the techniques are advancing so quickly that hopefully there is less risk. Either that or US doctors are keeping quiet about it.

In any case I am holding off on the procedure for a little while longer, just to let things get refined that much more. That holographic imaging thing sound really interesting.

Dave,

I have heard that too. Maybe if you aren't flying fixed wing aircraft you can get Lasik.

It sure would be nice to wake up in the morning and not have to reach for glasses.

 

As far as pilots go - if you DO get it done, you will not be flying for at least a year. The surgery invalidates your medical certificate for a year. As well, the method of surgery that involves cutting the layer of your eye to make a "flap" that rests on your cornea, would be highly dangerous for pilots because if you pull any kind of heavy "G" it would rip the flap right off your eyeball. From experience, at around 5-6 "G" I can tell you my contact lenses get a little "jiggy with it" I would hate to try 9 or 11 G with anything near my eyes.

 

Lasik is the way to go. I had it done 2 years ago. I now have 20/15 vision. I have never seen this well. No more contacts, glasses. I can do whatever I want, it is great. My wife had RK done 7 years ago, before Lasik, she still has no problems and her sight is perfect. She did go to the best surgeon in the state though. And farsightedness is not a side effect. You get that from getting older. Lasik just does not keep you from ever needing glasses again because you will get older and usually get farsightedness and need the glasses for this. Lasik just fixes the nearsightedness so you can see at a distance without correction. It has worked great for me.

 

Yeah, that is probably a better description, Lasik doesn't correct for farsightedness.

I do, however, know three people who had it done over the past 4 years and all three now require reading glasses. One of them is only 23 and didn't require them before.

 

My friend had corrective surgery. He described a slightly different version to me that sounded safer. Instead of creating a flap they use a procedure to "scrub" off the outer layers of your eye. Then they perform the same laser correction. Afterwards, you have to wait until your eye regrows the outer portion.

The downside is that the recovery time is longer. You need to wear a patch on your eye for about a week. And you can only do one eye at a time unless you feel like being bedridden and blind for a week. To me it sounds like a much safer procedure than the "flap" one. I don't have any more detail about what it's called though. Maybe someone who knows better can jump in?

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by ThE sPaCeCoWbOy:
<strong>boy, what I would do for 20/6 vision....that would be nice, but I don't know if the Morgantown, WV area has anything that up to date....

I tried searching for place in this area, but cant come up with no more then 1 place....anyone want to help?

thanks,
space</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">There's a fantastic lasik doctor in Richmond, VA. He did some work on my father after he had the surgery and hes generally considered the best in the area. I forget his name right now, but I'll try to remember to check with my dad. He shouldn't be hard to find anyway - hes the most recommended lasik doctor in the VA/WVA/MD/DC area.

 

You should make an appointment to determine if you can have the Lasik surgery. There are a few situations that preclude the procedure. Some people have corneas that are too thin, etc. And your eyes need to be stable.

 

yeah...im going to check for if i can have lasik or not...and my options

Tadi...get me that name if you can...I would appreicate it..

thanks,
space

 

Not that much OT. There is an issue about driving and eyesight. I had Lasik done a little more than 2 years ago as I was very nearsighted, almost legally blind. For the first 3 months, I had 20/20 vision without glasses. Awesome! Oddly enough, I can see better in the dark now than I ever could before. Like a cat. But the tradeoff is that I can't focus worth a damn in low light conditions. Which means that I can't drive safety after dark, so I don't. Can't readily tell distance from me to the brake lights of the car ahead, plus all car lights are now super bright, in fact almost blinding. Have difficutly reading highway signs. And like everybody else who was previously nearsighted, I have to wear reading glasses. Plus, astigmatism is slowly creeping back in so I wear the graded lenses to correct for loss distance vision.

I think you also have to consider age in this equation. If you get lasik done early in life, the results seem to last much longer than if you wait until middle age like I did. I know a few 20-somethings that have had perfect vision for years. But I did mine at 47, and now I have to fight with my progressive lenses which I wear half the time. Impossible to get used to. Dammit!

So like everyone has said, realize there is no perfect solution. Even with lasik, you take risks. And once its done, it can't be undone. So, talk with a bunch of people first.

 

The folks that have had Lasik, would you do it again knowing what you know now? and don't count I have to wear reading glasses, because with or without Lasik we ALL will need help reading.

 

I was in the guinea pig program for FDA approval on a laser a couple of years back. They did E-PRK not Flap and Zap. My doc prefers removing the top layer of cells then reshaping over cutting the flap. You can get some scar tissue build-up when the flap heals. I am 20/20 and 20/15 three years later. Of course, eventually I will need reading glasses. I was basically blind w/o glasses before my surgery. But definately do the research. There are non-surgical procedures out there now as well.