posted
As some of you know, I was scheduled to have LASIK three years ago. I’m one of those people who can’t stand wearing glasses, I put my contacts in the instant I get up in the morning. I don’t feel awake until they’re in. I used to wear extended wear contacts, which was wonderful, but because I am high risk for corneal ulcers my eye doctor won’t prescribe them anymore.
Anyway, when I went in for the final pre-op appointment, the eye surgeon told me I couldn’t have the procedure, because of a combination of high correction and extremely large pupils.
In the mail yesterday was an envelope from my eye doctor. Along with the notice of my next appointment he included a brochure on therapeutic contact lenses that you wear at night which re-shape your cornea so you don't have to wear them all day. Wear them for 6-8 hours and have good vision all 24. Wake up able to see!
Fine print: they only work for corrections up to -6.0. My correction is -9.5.
posted
I feel your pain. I'm in much the same boat, but for a different reason. I was going to have LASIK done about 3 years ago as well, but in the preliminary testing, they discovered that my cornea wasn't thick enough for the amount of correction that was needed. At that time, my eye-doctor started teasing me with some new contacts that they insert in your eyes. It sounded cool and all, but the FDA hadn't approved the process yet.
I have a mild astigmatism on top of a pretty strong prescription (correction is in the same -9 - -10 range as yours). As a result, I have to wear Toric lenses which are weighted so they stay in the same position all the time. Once they dry out a bit, they like to start rolling and I can't see squat. They leave me frequently sticking my finger in my eyes to adjust them.
I'm pretty bad with the contacts anyway. I hate taking them out all the time, and will sometimes leave them in for a week at a time, but then once I do take them out, I'll leave them out and wear glasses for a full day in an effort to let me eyes breathe a bit.
I keep hoping they come up with something that will correct my vision permanently that doesn't involve slicing up my eyes.
Posts: 159 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Um, I would be interested in hearing more about these cornea-reshaping lenses . . . *ducks*
I've heard too much about the not-rare-enough bad outcomes with LASIK to be comfortable with trying it.
quote: I'm pretty bad with the contacts anyway. I hate taking them out all the time, and will sometimes leave them in for a week at a time, but then once I do take them out, I'll leave them out and wear glasses for a full day in an effort to let me eyes breathe a bit.
I keep hoping they come up with something that will correct my vision permanently that doesn't involve slicing up my eyes.
O_o You're not me, are you? Because I could have written that.
posted
Yeah, me too. My prescription is in the -12 to -14 range. I could have LASIK, but I'd still be a -6 or so, so why bother?
I have congenital cateracts (very small at this point) so internal contact lenses seem like a bad idea, since they'll have to take out my natural lenses eventually. They do the internal contact lens thing in Canada-- my brother had his surgery when he was relocating ro Alaska.
Also, there is a new thing where they actually replace your lens with a corrective one. That's what I'l do eventually, I guess. My doc suggested I wait until they've done a few hundred thousand of them first.
It is annoying. You hear about all these neat things, but they only work for people who barely need glasses anyway. I feel your pain.
Posts: 1664 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
Thanks. Does it it help at all if I mention that if -6.00 is the cutoff, I just barely make it, and probably won't in a couple years?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Is it possible he thinks it could help you even if your prescription is worse than the normal cutoff? Why not call and ask?
I'm having a miserable eye day myself. I think my eyes got sunburned yesterday at a dog show even though I stayed in the shade. They are all bloodshot and I have a sty, and its hurting.
posted
No, I'm pretty sure he just had his staff stick a brochure in with all the appointment notices.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Though, I feel your pain with the Toric lenses, those are what I wear. And they don't make them like the other cool kinds that you can wear for extended periods of time.
Dana, are you sure your eye doctor doesn't know mine? 'Cause whenever I see him and he does the peripheral vision thing and tells me how many fingers is he holding up, he does one of two things:
Waggles them all. (jerk)
And this conversation:
"How many fingers am I holding up?" "One. And it isn't the index finger! You're flipping me off! You can't DO that!"
He thinks it's soooooooooo funny.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
dkw - So, with the current LASIK techonology, you still can't have it done? I had my eyes done last year and I have very large pupils and had a moderate-high correction factor (-6.5 to -7.25).
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
I wear my glasses every day, and I'm not sure why. I used to wear contacts until I got the current Lisa Loeb glasses, but I like these better. It means I can stretch out on the couch and not have to get up to take out the contacts before falling asleep.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
*wonders if there's anything that can be done to help his eyesight*
I probably wouldn't be a good candidate for Lasik, either. It might work for my left eye, but my right eye is much worse. The right eye is so bad that in order to read this post using my right eye, I have to get so close to the monitor that my hair is touching the glass. Posts: 4569 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Without, but it's not much better with. With my glasses on, I can read this post with my right eye from about 5 inches away from the monitor. Posts: 4569 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Hey, who put that wall there? Ow, I ran into it again. Whoever put that wall in front of me is in big trouble, if I can find you, that is. Having lousy eyesight stinks.
posted
ludosti, How did your eyes turn out...my eyes are around the same as yours...and I have been thinking about the lasik. Though, I would likely have to wait a few years...I think my eyes have gotten a bit worse in the last few years, and they like to make sure you have stabalised first.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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posted
Does anyone know of someone who has had a corneal biopsy and then had LASIK done? Or if that is safe? Frankly, it makes me nervous. Not that I have the money at present anyway.
Most of the time I am satisfied with my contacts, but they make halos around light sources, are sometimes painful, and can be hard to get out.
Posts: 1114 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I just hope my eyes don't get any worse, especially the right one. My lenses are already pretty thick. At Lenscrafters, they told me that if I wanted to get those featherweight lenses it would cost $300 for the lenses alone. Then I'd still have to buy the eyeglass frames.
Alright, who keeps putting that wall in front of me. Posts: 4569 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Lupus - I had mild astigmitism in both eyes that they also took care of at the same time. They turned out well. One eye is 20/20 and the other is 20/15. I do get halos from lights (like when I drive at night), but I had that before the surgery (so it doesn't bug me). They've said that the halos might clear up if I lived somewhere where it wasn't so dry (as it is, I have permanent punctal plugs because of the pre-existing dry eye). Apparently dry eye contributes to halos.
Derrell - I had it done at Laser Vision Institute (it's in Phoenix at Thomas and about 40th St.). My mother-in-law had had it done at their office up in Seattle and arranged to get my suregery done at the same price she had hers done (which was a GREAT deal). There are TONS of different places that offer LASIK, some of which are reputable, others aren't. For starters I'd talk to whomever you get your glasses from. I can understand the pain of trying to buy glasses. Even when I'd buy the midweight lenses (not the super light ones), I'd end up spending about $200 (stupid "high power" chargess). But glasses were uncomfortable for me, so I'd usually wear contacts (I started wearing them when I was 10).
posted
Quit yer whinin'. I could punch ya in the eye, think that'd make it better? Ya know, the best treatment for eyes is to splash a little water in 'em that's been set out under moonlight.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I love my contacts. I'd like perfect vision through surgery, but it's definitely full of its own problems. And my prescription is too high. Contacts are -7.5 and -10 and they still get a tiny bit worse from year to year. I'm trying monthlys, but I think I'm going back to my normal year-long contacts. I was much better about cleaning the yearlies so they kept much better than these do.
Glasses are a pain, though. They pinch my nose to give it funny indentations, and they hurt my ears. I get horrible peripheral vision and friends comment about how thick they are. I have to wear them to read books at night, though, after I take out my contacts. Somewhere around the -7 range is when you start having trouble reading w/o corrected vision. Only one word is in focus and the rest is blurred. Yuck.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote: Somewhere around the -7 range is when you start having trouble reading w/o corrected vision. Only one word is in focus and the rest is blurred. Yuck.
Huh. My prescription is -5.00 in one eye and -6.00 in the other. Until a few years ago, it was -4.00 and -5.00.
I haven't been able to read (not without great discomfort and a LOT of squinting) since I first had glasses (-2.50 and -2.75, IIRC). Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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There is an alternative for folks like you and I. I also have a high correction, -10 and -10.5, but instead of a large pupil, I have a steep cornea. They don't make extended wear contacts that fit me. Only recently did they start making the disposable ones. Either way, I'm limited to 10 hours a day in my contacts because I wore them too much.
Phakic Intraocular Lenses. They are very similar, and of the same material (silicon) as the lenses they use for those who have cataracts. But the doctors don't remove the natural lense. The good news: We are in the low range for this procedure. It is designed for people like us.
I have -1.50 and -1.75 and feel blind as a bat. Legally not allowed to drive without glasses.
I love my contacts - they're the "wear for a month without taking out, then throw" kind. You sleep in them, the works. And because they're more air-porus than normal contacts, your eyes are actually healthier than the ones that you take out at night. I'm toric too, but for some reason these just work like a charm. Most of the time I barely know I'm wearing them...
Posts: 2245 | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Well, I've been sleeping with my glasses on at night so often that sometimes when I wake up and things look all blurry I think something is wrong.
Oh, and this thread is making my eyes hurt.
I'm about -9 in both eyes and I'm too chicken to look into lasik right now.
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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quote:Somewhere around the -7 range is when you start having trouble reading w/o corrected vision. Only one word is in focus and the rest is blurred. Yuck.
YMMV =)
It sucked when I started having to wear glasses to read at night. I used to feel that I could read wonderfully without corrected vision. Everything was in perfect focus, and I was holding the book at a comfortable distance (5 inches maybe?). Sigh.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
Mack - Bausch & Lomb Purevision. Not sure how bad my toric is, but I've got it both eyes and these little babies work like a charm. Personally I don't understand it, since these are an off-the-shelf pre-boxed variety of lens, but in the past I've had to have something a little more specific.
But hey, I'm happy with it. Tho I'd love to get LASIK one day. Despite a close friend's problem - when she got hers done they nicked a blood vessel and she spend about a week looking like an extra from Buffy with one eye completely and utterly full of blood. Very freaky looking.
Posts: 2245 | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Toric lenses correct for astigmatism, and are weighted so they stay in the same position on the eye. See here for more info.
Posts: 159 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
I didn't think it was worth starting a new thread for laser correction. But I've recently starting giving thought about getting it done.
I'm around -6, and I don't think I have astigmatism, I need to talk to my eye doctor (need to get my yearly checkup too). I'm just sick of glasses, and I'd like to be able to go swimming without contacts.
But the horror stories I've read scare the crap out of me, and I don't necessarily think the risks are worth it. Does anyone have any horror stories? or has everyone with the surgery been satisfied? What did you have? Lasik? Laesk? the other variants?
posted
I am looking at HD LASIK now. No knife involved at all, it is all done with lasers, even the first cut.
98% of the complications involve the first cut becoming infected, and with no blade involved in this procedure it has an even lower complication rate.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I've been thinking about this. My correction is only -2.5, but I have astigmatism as well. Can LASIK correct astigmatism? If it doesn't, I shouldn't bother - my is extreme enough that I can't drive without correction.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
I had my yearly appt at the eye doctor last week... Since I moved to a new area, it was with a new eye doctor. For about 15ish years, I've been wearing toric contact lenses. This guy (who's now somewhat of my hero) comes in with some freebee contacts and asks me to try them out. He did the math and taking out the toric adjustment - that's what my script would be. Popped those babies in and had 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other. I guess sometimes just the contact itself can help correct a mild astigmatism. The best part? The contacts are 1/2 the price. Nice.
Just thought I'd throw that tidbit out there...
Posts: 1355 | Registered: Jul 2006
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Does it it help at all if I mention that if -6.00 is the cutoff, I just barely make it, and probably won't in a couple years?
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I had my eyes done last year and I have very large pupils and had a moderate-high correction factor (-6.5 to -7.25).
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