Lasik anyone?

[Islandcool 0]

I'm getting Lasik surgery tomorrow. I'm not sure what to expect except to see better. I have a moderate astigmatism and near sightedness. I used to jump with glasses but it was a pain handling them on the loads. Also my depth perception was a bit messed up on landings. No glasses and I can't see the wind socks till about 500 feet. (yeah I know) Anyway for those who have had the surgery what is a realistic expectation? Has it helped you in anyway as far as skydiving?

Thanks

Ed

[Shotgun 1]

I had this done 1 1/2 years ago. It has been great, though it took me at least 6 months before my vision started feeling "normal" again. (It was probably not a good idea for me to spend as much time staring into a computer screen as I did.) Actually, I haven't been jumping much since then, but when I do it is so nice not having to mess with contacts. It did change my depth perception, so it took a few jumps (a few crash landings) for me to get comfortable with that.

Anyhow, good luck! I'm sure you'll love it!

• Quote

[mattjw916 2]

I have had numerous coworkers and friends get their eyes "lasered". Everyone is really happy about the results (except for my one crybaby/whiner friend who is now "addicted" to eye-drops).

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[shananay 0]

NICE!!! Fantastic decision!

I got my eyes done last October.

Best money I have
EVER spent.

I got so tired of losing contacts in freefall, getting the shit scared out of me as I had to 'squint' my way back to the DZ...totally life changing.

I actually shed a tear after the first day of surgery.
I woke up and was able to see the time on the alarm clock. I see better now than I did even with glasses. 15/20.

I was pretty darn blind. Have worn glasses and contacts since I was 11. Astigmatism and all that other crap....

Make sure they give you the drops to numb and let it take affect before they proceed.

My personal experience is like that of only a handful of other people's. My eyes weren't 100% deadened and I felt pain that should not really be felt.

If they take the necessary steps then you should be fine. It's freaky being able to see everything that they are doing and then the laser...the laser makes these crazy little buzzing noises and you can smell your eyes being altered. Ok burned. I was going easy... The whole process was about 2 minutes on each eye.

Recovery is good if you follow all doctor's instructions.
The only negative part of recovery is the halo's at night. Lights have the fuzzy halo around them like when you've had too much to drink or better yet, when you wake up after having fallen asleep in your contacts. Those go away in time. I think it took me 3 months to get rid of the halo's...not too bad a payoff to have perfect vision.
NO RUBBING for 4 weeks I think. I think that's what it was..funny thing though..you won't realize how much you miss rubbing your eyes and how much a part of life it is until they tell you that you CAN'T do it.

Kind of like the first thing you do in the mornings when you wake up, if your female of course. Men seem to have the urge to rub other things..

Good luck! You are going to LOOOOVE your new eyes. I sure as hell do.....think of it like this;
You get to jump in Gatorz!! No more airtight goggles.
(It's the important things in life!!)

Do it Again!
P.M.S. #22
LaLa Gang #4

[Jday3 0]

I had it a year ago. I have had great results with mine. I am 20/20 or better now. Before I was nearsighted. I had trouble seeing at night and yes sometimes seeing the wind sock. You may have some rings around lights at night, but that goes away. Good Luck

[chopchop 0]

I got it done about 5 years ago.. before I started jumping.. It is a very liberating, life-changing surgery.. jumping into a pool without a second thought, walking in the rain, skydiving in sunglasses.. I will probably need a touchup in the next few years but it's been great!

Good luck!

chopchop
gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking..

Lotsa Pictures

[peregrinerose 0]

I am an eye doc, and I do pre and post op Lasik work with patients.

BE CAREFUL!! I can't stress that enough. If you can see a wind sock at 600 ft, that isn't too bad of vision even uncorrected, so you don't have a whopping lot to gain from having lasik done, as you are not like some of the others that posted who walk into walls without correction.

Things to consider... when you have lasik done, if your pupils are big, you will have a lot of glare problems at night (if you have an ethical surgeon, this has already been ruled out as a problem).

When the cornea is severed, you sever corneal nerves. Corneal nerves tell the eye how many tears you need to make to stay hydrated. If you are prone to dry eye now, it will be worse after lasik. To the person with the whiny co-worker, this is a very real effect post operatively for some people. A test called a Schirmer test will evaluate how many tears you make and if you have a substantial amount of tears in order to be comfortable post operatively (first couple days excessive dryness is normal).

When lasik is done, they squash the eye to hold it still. More than one study has shown that it perhaps can lead to nerve fiber layer loss in the retina. This could combine with future glaucoma damage (if you ever get glaucoma) and move you farther along the vision loss trail. This is still theory at this point, lasik is too new for long term study to be done.

You will lose contrast sensitivity (gray on gray perception). Everyone has this. The younger you are, the less you will notice it, but when you hit 50+ and have early cataracts, you will have less contrast sensitivity compared to your peers, and may have trouble night driving (again, not many long term studies yet).

Your cornea has no blood supply, it will take about 2 years to completely heal. There have been problems with high altitudes (mt. climbing) and prk, lasik's predicesor, with corneas decompensating and causing permanent blindness. It is extremely rare, I know of only 2 cases, but be aware it happens.

You do NOT want to skydive right away, give the flap time to seal itself down, you don't want altitude changes affecting a very newly sliced cornea.

Check out www.surgicaleyes.com for the horror stories, I make this web page manditory reading for my pre op patients. Research your surgeon well, don't go to a laser mill, they are not known for quality work. I'm picky about the surgeons I refer to.

As I doc, I will always give worst case scenarios, I will always try to talk my px out of getting it. That way, those that do choose to get lasik know exactly what the risks and benefits are and have the education to make an appropriate decision. I only co manage with surgeons that I know do beautiful work (and I have seen a lot of crap lasik from some docs).

If you have questions, let me know.

Jen Galbraith, OD, MS

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[ACMESkydiver 0]

Quote

NICE!!! Fantastic decision!

I got my eyes done last October.

Best money I have
EVER spent.

I got so tired of losing contacts in freefall, getting the shit scared out of me as I had to 'squint' my way back to the DZ...totally life changing.

I actually shed a tear after the first day of surgery.
I woke up and was able to see the time on the alarm clock. I see better now than I did even with glasses. 15/20.

I was pretty darn blind. Have worn glasses and contacts since I was 11. Astigmatism and all that other crap....

Make sure they give you the drops to numb and let it take affect before they proceed.

My personal experience is like that of only a handful of other people's. My eyes weren't 100% deadened and I felt pain that should not really be felt.

If they take the necessary steps then you should be fine. It's freaky being able to see everything that they are doing and then the laser...the laser makes these crazy little buzzing noises and you can smell your eyes being altered. Ok burned. I was going easy... The whole process was about 2 minutes on each eye.

Agree 100%...it was THE BEST MONEY I have EVER spent in my life!!!!

Quote

NO RUBBING for 4 weeks I think. I think that's what it was..funny thing though..you won't realize how much you miss rubbing your eyes and how much a part of life it is until they tell you that you CAN'T do it. Kind of like the first thing you do in the mornings when you wake up, if your female of course. Men seem to have the urge to rub other things..

Now that is too damn funny!!!

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[mattjw916 2]

He is VERY melodramatic though and was freaking out before and after the procedure... I don't even know why he did it since he is so mental about anything medical.

He kept saying that he was going blind afterwards and when I talked to his wife she said he was being a huge baby about it... so in this case, esp w/a DOZEN follow-ups because he is still convinced he is going blind ... it is psychosomatic.

BTW, he goes through the disposable blister-packs of eye-drops like M&Ms.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[peregrinerose 0]

Quote

He is VERY melodramatic though and was freaking out before and after the procedure... I don't even know why he did it since he is so mental about anything medical.

He kept saying that he was going blind afterwards and when I talked to his wife she said he was being a huge baby about it... so in this case, esp w/a DOZEN follow-ups because he is still convinced he is going blind ... it is psychosomatic.

BTW, he goes through the disposable blister-packs of eye-drops like M&Ms.

I'd love to meet his eye doc. Hell would freeze solid before I'd let a patient with that kind of mindset get lasik. Of course, I scare the living shit out of my patients before I'll let them get it, so he probably wouldn't have passed my test

It's kinda like skydiving, it's not right to force someone to jump. Before they jump, they have the potential risk drilled into their head. Knowing the risk, they still decide to do it in anticipation of the results.

Jen

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[atsaubrey 0]

had mine done about 2 1/2 yrs ago and all I can say is wait til you wake up the next morning!!! I still remember that next morning like it was yesterday, it was like seeing in 3D. The only side effect is halos around lights and slight double vision at night (on signs/lights) but hell I had the same problem with contacts. Definately a fair trade off. It will take you a few weeks to get outta the habit of grabbing for your glasses in the mornings though. Oh, and if you have any pain afterwards (major for me) a cool wet rag on your eyes will do wonders. Enjoy!!!

"GOT LEAD?"

[Skycow 0]

I had mine done 2 1/2 years ago as well...it was the best money ever spent!! I'm a bit of an eyeballaphob, so the procedure was a little traumatic, but quick enough to bare. Now life is great with no more contacts glued to the eyeballs...no more glasses! I did have a slight adjustment period regarding skydiving -- I kept flaring too early because I wasn't used to how clear everything was -- thought I was closer to the ground that I actually was .

Congratulations!!

Enjoy here while you're here because there's no here there.

[D22369 0]

I had Lasik in 2001 and it was the best money I ever spent on myself hands down!!! I couldnt see the windsock untill 100' without the glasses, my eyesight is 20-15 in one and 20-20 in the other,

Enjoy!!! its a really neat feeling to realise that you can throw the contacts and glasses away....

Roy

They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

[matthewcline 0]

I had lasik done 1 month prior to attending the RWS Exminor course and 2 months prior to deploying for Iraq. I have never been happier. I still have a bit of slight astigmatsm that is only noticable at night. Do the recovery right and you'll be happy

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[Michele 1]

Quote

Anyway for those who have had the surgery what is a realistic expectation? Has it helped you in anyway as far as skydiving?

With as bad as my eyes were, without Lasik I wouldn't have started skydiving. I had it done something like 5 1/2 years ago (when it was still enormously expensive...), and haven't looked back.

A quick story. In the 94 quake, I couldn't find my glasses after I had been lifted from my bed and tossed around the room (I was over the garage on a 2nd floor apt...no wall under one side of my place. Horrific movement!). Because I couldn't find my glasses, and the bathroom was so disarrayed I couldn't find my contacts, I couldn't safely make it down the hall to a safer place. I eventually did find the specs, but still, the time it took, had there been a fire or collapse, left me at huge disadvantage. I decided on Lasik right then and there. Interestingly enough, the day after I had the procedure, we had a quake, and I lay in bed, completely able to see the clock, the walls, and everything around me move and dance. It wasn't a bad quake, but I felt so much more secure knowing I could see should the need arise for me to move.

I had horrible astigmatism, and was very nearsighted. Anything over 2 feet away was a total blur without my glasses. I am now 20/20, and recently passed my dl vision test with no problem. The only "side effect" was those halos at night for about 4 months afterwards, and a bit of difficulty reading street signs and addresses at night for the same time period. It cleared up, and I am now 100%.

You have made a great choice, and it will be an amazing difference in your life. It took about a year for me to stop pushing my "glasses" back on my nose (a habit which is hard to break...).

Like I said, it opened my world up to the point where I even considered jumping out of a plane. LOLOL!!!!

Follow Dr's orders, and you should be just fine.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[RkyMtnHigh 0]

It's AWESOME! I had it 5+ yrs ago...my script was -12.75 (nearsighted) and an astigmatism of 1.5. I can remember how I couldn't see the blinking light during the procedure; after 52 seconds of the cold laser beam, I could see my mom's face for the first time!
After having contact lenses and how windy days used to affect me. Felt like grit in my eyes...
Couldn't open my eyes under water...etc etc...

That's a great procedure that will give you another taste of freedom.

_________________________________________

[kelpdiver 2]

Everyone has covered the good, and one person did the necessary bad end. So I don't have too much to add beyond if fortune stays with you, you'll be much happier a few weeks down the road. It is a tradeoff of near vision for far, but it's worth it to the outdoor athlete.

One bit of advice - don't be a fool like me and plan to go shopping after the procedure in a foreign city (Vancouver in my case). They kept asking who was driving me home - I had planned to take the elevated train to the ferry to my friends in North Van - and I let them call a cab, which I then rode to the train station.

About 10 minutes after getting onboard my eyes essentially teared shut. Not particularly painful, but I could only open them for brief glimpses at a time. I at least knew where I was going, and even in those short glimpses I could see that my left eye was looking great - turned out 20/15. Needless to say, I didn't shop. My reaction is a bit worse than normal, apparently.

Whenever you get an urge to scratch put on the old person dark glasses immediately.

[Islandcool 0]

Many thanks for all the replys. All I have to say is wow. Everything has such depth and detail. Almost like ...well like 3-D. lol I can see layers like blades of crass and individual rocks on mountains. I'm pretty much stunned with amazement. Anyway It's been just over 24 hrs and everything is great. 20/20 in one eye and 20/25 in the other. It's should get a little better after some healing. I'm jumping next weekend and seeing the dropzone from altitude is going to be a trip.

Thanks

Ed

[unformed 0]

good luck man, i'm having mine done on wednesday

This ad space for sale.

[ne146t9 0]

My mom had it done and one eye did not work so they are having to do a enhancement on it. Has been like 6 months and she still can't see but at least they are going to try and fix it, scary stuff, I was scheduled to go have it done too but canceled when this happened and this is at supposedly the best place in the dfw area....