MEDICAL QUESTION (eyes)

[P_fuzz]

hey, didnt know where to post this so here it goes:

has anyone here done the laser eye corrective surgery?

my question is how does it feel after? are there any difference in the way you use to see with glasses? I say this because I've heard of people saying all wonders about it but they can see some strange halos at night????

Me: I hate wearing glasses, I hate wearing contact lenses but I am primarly a photographer and I get a bit suspicious about going through the "knife" regarding my eyes!!!!

ok... I am all ears now...
let me know your experiences..

[tekermiller]

Hi P_fuzz,

Can only speak from experience as I had mine done a couple of years ago in Izmir, Turkey. I too was told that there could be problems at night or in the dark (as a retoucher I should be used to that)! The op itself was pretty uncomplicated and despite the fact the surgeon spoke good English I wanted to really see how my Turkish had improved.

Post op had 2 days where I did not open my eyes and was in a darkened room with sunglasses on. This was 24 hours over and above what they had recommended and the first time that I squinted in to the light so to speak I could see although a little blurry at first ALL the writing on the medicine bottles in the bathroom. I did exactly as they said and wore sunglasses outside and regularly put drops in my eyes and continued when I returned home.

I had wore glasses all my life and had tried to get on with contact lenses without success. My prescription was extremely high in both eyes and up until a few years ago they would not accept me for that kind of surgery as I was acutely astigmatic as well as short sighted.

Without a doubt it is the best decision I have made and touch wood have had no problems since and would highly recommend it to anyone. My caution would be to do your homework as you only have one pair of eyes and the surgeon who operated on me was the most highly regarded in all of Turkey.

Good luck and keep me posted how you get on.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Miller
Creative Director,
e-touch creative services limited

[P_fuzz]

hey, thanks for your reply!

I will keep looking into this and try to get more opinions of people in the area...

cheers,
f

btw, my gf has family in Izmir...small world!

[tekermiller]

Hi P-Fuzz,

You can never have enough advice with regard to the op. Though the final decision will always rest with the individual.

What field of photography is your specialism?

Small world indeed. Have you visited Izmir before as there are some beautiful places in and around that area?

Good luck

Paul Miller
Creative Director
e-touch creative services limited

[P_fuzz]

hi paul,

yes I a bit scared of doing it... I really only have -2,75 on both eyes but it is still a drag!

I have been changing fields in photo... back in early 2000 I used to work mostly on still photos for Ads and magazines, then I had a break and went out touring on a band and recording some stuff, now I am back to photos and have been finding myself again... Portraits and Fashion is what I have been enjoying the most lately!

I have only been to Istambul to play on a Jazz Festival back in 2004... I even got a pic on the front page of a paper because I had a tshirt with some saying about the Izmir mayor that had died a week before (mysteriously)... and the guy was my gf's uncle!
sad sad!

[katiecat]

Hi P-Fuzz,
I used to have astigmatism and things were blurry far away since I was a kid, but I hardly wore glasses till I started working on a computer 6 years ago and then was dependant on them. (I HATED them and contacts too) Anyhow 2 years ago I got Lasik and its the best money I ever spent. I got the all lazor kind. (NOT the razor cutting the flap type- ick!) They gave em a valium but only like 4 minutes before hand so I doubt it was in effect yet... One machine (takes like a min each) makes perfurated dots on your cornea in a crescent shape (the pressure on your eye there makes your vision go dark shortly) then the doc uses a mini spatula to move the flap over (kinda freaky- but fast enough) then the 2nd machine resculpts the back of the eye (or whatever they do) to make it the right angle as you try to watch a green light. and its over fast. It didn't hurt, but I am freaky about my eye touched, so that was hard in a way. Then they put milky drops in your eye and tape silly plastic things around your face and someone else drives you home. The rest of that day there were bright hazes around objects and it was blurry (maybe from the drops too) but the next morning I was able to drive myself to the doc for the check up and the haziness subsided in like 2 days all the way, drops for 10 days. I dont have a problem with night vision now. led's are odd looking -but maybe they are to everyone? The only one downfall I wasn't expecting is my super closeup vision is gone. It's hard to thread a needle and if your lying on the the pillow looking at your significant other- they are blurry- which is the worst part of it to me. =( When I asked the day after the surgery (couldn't read the eye drop bottle) they said that was the trade off and I could have (a tad late!) gotten one eye done weaker and it would have a different depth of field. Anyhow hope that helps. I got it done in Sarasota Fl at the 'Center for Sight" .

[P_fuzz]

hi katiecat,
thanks for sharing your experience.
p