My LASIK experience (AKA the best $5k ever spent)

[Lilac]

I went in for LASIK on Friday morning and I am so so happy with it thus far. I had a consultation last month where they checked my prescription, measured cornea thickness, pupil size, tear production, etc. I had a pretty strong prescription (both distance and astigmatism), but the surgeon was confident that I could be fully treated.

Friday morning I showed up at the facility and they did a quick check of my eyes then gave me some eye drops (antibiotics and anesthesia) and valium. I waited about 30 minutes for the valium to kick in (it basic felt like my motor functions were slowed down). They took me into the surgical area and put a little suction ring on my eye and that machine cut the flap of the cornea. It only took ~15 secconds/eye and did not hurt at all. I could still see, but it was a bit blurry.

They then walked me 10 feet over to the machine that zaps your cornea and had me lie down. They taped my eye lashes back and inserted a small contraption that forced my eyelids to stay open. The surgeon pulled the cornea flap back and I focused on a green blinking light with red lights in the background while the computer corrected my eye. This part only took about 30 seconds/eye, but it did smell a little like burning flesh. It did not hurt at all.

They put the flap back down, lots of drops, taped a clear shield over my eye and then sent me back to the waiting room once the second eye was complete. I could see enough to walk down the hall, but it was a bit blurry. I rested in the waiting room for 30 minutes with my eyes closed to allow the flap to heal. After 30 min, the doctor checked my eyes and said I was good to go home. My vision was not perfect at this point, but I could read signs on the walls that I couldn't with my uncorrected eyes an hour earlier. It was pretty amazing.

My husband drove me home and I took a nap for 3 hours. When I woke up my vision was SO clear. I felt perfect. No pain, no irritation, nothing! I love it!! You're not allowed to read anything or watch TV the first day since those activities keep you from blinking as much. Eye drops every hour the first day (while awake), every four hours the next two weeks.

I went for my day after checkup on Saturday (I drove myself). I have 20/20 vision! My flaps look good. My right eye is perfect, my left eye is about a quarter diopter off (my left eye was always a lot worse than my right). I do see halos around point lights (a very common side effect for the first few weeks), but it's not bad enough to negatively affect my life. I was driving last night with no issues. I can't really focus well on the computer text, but I think that's due to the light issue. I'm obviously well enough to type this post My distance vision is way better than it ever was with glasses. I'll have to see how the light sensitivity plays out, but that is the only negative right now. Oh, I do have a red spot on my left eye that will go away in a few days due to some blood vessels breaking during the suction portion. It's not painful, just looks a bit funny.

I'm amazed at how fast and painless this whole procedure was. Honestly, the only painful moment was pulling the medical tape off my face in the morning when removing the eye guards that you are supposed to wear at night the first two weeks.

Bottom line: Best $5k I've ever spent. Just make sure you go to a good doctor. For those in the Boston area, I went to Mass Eye and Ear (the #4 ophthalmology hospital in the entire US) and saw the most highly recommended doctor there, Dr. Pineda. He does about 20 patients a week and is very nice, very professional and has an excellent record. I wouldn't plan on doing computer work for an extended period of time for at least a few days, but other than that I am 100% functional.

If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer based on my personal experience.

ETA: The $5k includes all follow-up appts for a year and an enhancement procedure if one is needed. People with high astigmatism are more likely to have their vision regress within the first few months and a little more likely to need an enhancement. I've also heard that people who need very high distance correction (~8+ diopters) may be purposefully undercorrected by a slight amount during the first procedure (to ensure they don't over-correct) and then need an enhancement to finish fully correcting. My prescription wasn't that severe on that aspect, so I'm not 100% sure if all doctors do it that way.

[Deleted]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did this a few years ago using my FSA account and I could not agree with you more. CONGRATS. It is a total freaking MIRACLE....nice!!

[grey56]

Wonderful review! I also am from the Boston area. Was the $5K after insurance? Or is that just the cost? Is it dependent on the severity of your vision? I have astigmatism.

Thanks for sharing!

[Lilac]

Oct 14, 2012 17:15:35 GMT -5 grey56 said:

Wonderful review! I also am from the Boston area. Was the $5K after insurance? Or is that just the cost? Is it dependent on the severity of your vision? I have astigmatism.

Thanks for sharing!

The set cost is $100 for the consult and $5050 for the LASIK procedure. PRK is $300 less I believe. Same cost no matter what your prescription is. Insurance doesn't offer any discount unless you happen to have the one specific insurance plan that is offered to employees of the eye hospital -- they get a 20% discount. I put $4k into an FSA account this year, so that part of it is tax free at least.

[mrsd2006]

I had PRK almost 4 years ago, and it was the greatest thing ever. It's worth every penny.

[Lilac]

An amusing anecdote... Several of the people in the procedure room were wearing glasses and I made a comment about how that was a little disconcerting. One of the nurses whispers to me "We'd all love to have it, we just can't afford it!"

At my follow-up appt on Saturday, the patient before me asked the doctor why he was wearing glasses and hadn't had LASIK. "Oh, I'm a fellow... I'd love to have it, but it costs about a quarter of my salary at the moment."

They really need to give better discounts to their own employees!

[tripleshot]

I had it about 4 years ago and it has been great. I have nighttime dryness and have to put ointment in my eyes before bed. Even with that I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

[Deleted]

Yeah!
I was going to ask you how this went. It must of been amazing to wake up and be able to see perfectly!

[minniebee]

Oct 14, 2012 17:15:35 GMT -5 grey56 said:

Wonderful review! I also am from the Boston area. Was the $5K after insurance? Or is that just the cost? Is it dependent on the severity of your vision? I have astigmatism.

Thanks for sharing!

I'm not in Boston, my procedure was less expensive. My consultation was free, and the procedure itself was $2600. Pretty much all the eye clinics in my city that do lasik offer free consutations. I had astigmatism and moderate near-sightedness (-.200 in one eye, -.175 in the other). Insurance didn't cover any of it, but I used money from my FSA account to pay for it, so it was at least tax-free money.

For very mild correction, it's much less expensive. I think it was $975 for corrections under -.050.

I agree that it's the best money I've ever spent. I now see better than 20/20. I wore glasses/contacts for 26 years, I can't tell you how awesome it was to throw out the contacts and donate the glasses I didn't need anymore!

[mrsw101109]

Are your eyes numb during the procedure? I would love to get this done, but I cant handle people touching my eyes or even putting mascara on me. I think I would have a heart attack. Though, perhaps the valium would take care of that anxiety?

[lishie]

Congratulations. I paid cash 8 years ago when I was in law school, and it's still the best money I've ever spent. I'd encourage everyone to do it. Glad you had a great experience.

[sh10]

Thanks for sharing, I'm glad to hear your experience! My procedure is November 15 and I am so excited! I would live to hear updates about the halos, etc.

[Deleted]

I was convinced in the next few yrs I wanted to get Lasik but after the OP gave that detailed experince I really dont think I could handled it. I am not sure I could deal with smelling buring flesh and having someone cut the flap of my cornea.

I have also never been on valium so maybe valium is so strong that I wouldnt care... I dont know. Maybe Lasik just isnt for chickens.

[rikki]

Oct 15, 2012 7:50:14 GMT -5 vigurl said:

I was convinced in the next few yrs I wanted to get Lasik but after the OP gave that detailed experince I really dont think I could handled it. I am not sure I could deal with smelling buring flesh and having someone cut the flap of my cornea.

I have also never been on valium so maybe valium is so strong that I wouldnt care... I dont know. Maybe Lasik just isnt for chickens.

I agree. I would love to do it but think I would need to be totally sedated.

[Kore]

Oct 14, 2012 21:31:31 GMT -5 minniebee said:

Oct 14, 2012 17:15:35 GMT -5 grey56 said:

Wonderful review! I also am from the Boston area. Was the $5K after insurance? Or is that just the cost? Is it dependent on the severity of your vision? I have astigmatism.

Thanks for sharing!

I'm not in Boston, my procedure was less expensive. My consultation was free, and the procedure itself was $2600. Pretty much all the eye clinics in my city that do lasik offer free consutations. I had astigmatism and moderate near-sightedness (-.200 in one eye, -.175 in the other). Insurance didn't cover any of it, but I used money from my FSA account to pay for it, so it was at least tax-free money.

For very mild correction, it's much less expensive. I think it was $975 for corrections under -.050.

I agree that it's the best money I've ever spent. I now see better than 20/20. I wore glasses/contacts for 26 years, I can't tell you how awesome it was to throw out the contacts and donate the glasses I didn't need anymore!

This is interesting! My vision is pretty identical to what you posted. I didn't realize places may charge less for less significant corrections.

[aspentosh]

I cannot wait to have it done. I spend so much on my contacts and glasses each year (stupid astigmatism) so I know I'll recoup the cost quickly.

I do agree, that it might be hard for me to deal with the smell of burning flesh. Ick.

[bunnysmom]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

I'd love to do it, but several doctors told me that before doing Lasik your prescription has to remain stable for at least one year. In my case, my prescriptions are constantly going stronger and stronger each year so I guess I'll have to wait. They told me the prescription usually stabilizes around age 25-26 and I'm 24 so I guess I won't have to wait that long!

[boston340]

Thank you so much for writing all of this information out! I had my LASIK consultation 2 weeks ago and have surgery scheduled for January 3. I so excited!

I'm only having 1 eye done and the extensive consultation was $150 and then the procedure is $2150 (one eye only) and that price includes all the follow up appointments. Thanks again for this information, it definitely calmed my nerves a bit!

[Lilac]

The put lots of numbing drops in your eyes, so you can't feel anything. It really wasn't a big deal. I couldn't even tell they were touching my eye. I suppose the valium probably helped too. I honestly couldn't tell when they were cutting the flap. I just sat there at the machine and the doctor told me "ok, 12 more seconds... 5 seconds... done" but I didn't see or feel anything out of the ordinary. The smell of burning flesh during the 2nd part of the procedure was very faint. I bet you could wear a nose plug if you are worried about that. I've had laser hair removal before and the smell from that was much much worse. All in all, it really wasn't nerve-wrecking. I was very calm the whole time. I hate other people putting eye make-up on me (I flinch a ton), but the combo of drugs makes it all better

Yes, you do want your prescription to be stable before undergoing the procedure. I'm 28 and my prescription has barely changed over the past 5 years. Both my eyes needed about 5 diopters of distance correction (moderate) and 2 diopters/3.75 diopters of astigmatism correction (moderate/severe).

A lot of the "LASIK factories" (they only do LASIK/PRK, no other services) have free consultations, whereas the all-around eye surgeons tend to have a small consultation fee. I was weary of going to a LASIK only clinic because you don't know if the surgeon is truly a good all-around doctor or if he/she decided to specialize in LASIK because they weren't good enough to do the other aspects of eye surgery. That's all personal preference though. The doctor I went to is the one that other doctors refer patients to when something goes wrong and they need a specialist to fix it. I figured that's the person I'd rather have doing my initial procedure!

[Deleted]

I didn't read the entire thing since I've done it, but wanted to chime in that other than money spent on my adoption, that Lasik was the best money I've ever spent. I had it done about five years ago and love, love, love always being able to see. What pushed me into getting it was after many years of wearing contacts, I was unable to tolerate them for more than a couple of hours without them getting extremely scratchy.