On Friday afternoon I did something I’ve wanted to do since I was seven years old and got my first pair of glasses: I got LASIK! People keep asking me to describe what it was like, and the closest comparison I can make is that it was a lot like how people describe having been abducted by aliens. After getting one last eye scan and approval from the surgeon, I was given my choice of one or two Valium (two!), signed a bunch of paperwork, and, already feeling a little stupefied by the drugs, was led into the dim procedure room. It was pretty dark, and throughout the process there were drops and drops and more drops, so I couldn’t feel much. I was dimly aware that something was inside my eyelid, forcing my eye open, but it was totally chill and the doctor and his assistant were really caring and attentive. Then it felt like they ran a swab or something over my eye, and then they stuck me under a box. There was a clicking sound and a slightly sulfuric smell, but the only thing I could see looked a little bit like this:
Afterward my vision was foggy and I was sleepy, so they slapped some sunglasses on me and sent me home (Ahem, note to potential escorts of people who have just had LASIK: Save your errands for later. No, you can’t stop at the fucking liquor store on the way home. Jesus.). By the time we got there, I was mostly asleep but the numbing drops were wearing off and my eyes felt stingy and were tearing a bit. I slept for about five hours on the couch, and when I woke up my first split-second thought was that I had slept in my contacts, but no. I could just see. Really, really well. Courtney Ferguson (and anyone else with ocular squeamishness), do not hit this jump!
I went in for a follow up Saturday morning, and—feel free to be impressed here—tested 20/15 vision, pretty amazing for someone who basically never, ever read the chalkboard in school without an assist. Even better: my eyesight is only going to get better and sharper over the coming weeks. Once I’ve gotten through the next week of many many eye drops (Seriously I’m down to every half hour now, and it feels like a new lease on life. Saturday’s every-15-minutes regimen was intense. I never thought I would need to leave a party because I ran out of eye drops, but I did.), and a very un-sexy and only probably sorta necessary pair of goggles to wear while sleeping, I’m good to go. Sure, I might need reading glasses when I’m older, just like anyone born with perfect vision, but the playing field is level now, motherfuckers.
Oh, and turns out that what actually happened during surgery wasn’t just a really groovy alien abduction, but probably went more like this. (Not actually my eye. Also, I’m kind of glad I didn’t see this before having it done, so if you think you might be a candidate, use caution before viewing.)
It’s only been a few days, but I’m pretty ecstatic that I decided to bit the bullet on this one. And although I only “selected” LasikPlus because of my insurance options, I have to give them props. I had a great, positive experience with them from start to finish in all aspects. Highly recommended.
Cool story – thanks for sharing.
(I’m still too terrified, but I keep thinking I might go for it one o’ these days…)
How much did it end up costing you? I’m tempted but last time i checked it was around 2 grand an eye which is too much for me.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s a good idea to shoot lasers into my eyes to make them see better, but every time I keep wondering about it, the price holds me back. The contacts I wear now I can sleep in and keep in for about 2-4 weeks at a time (doctor recommended 2-3, but I push it out an extra week or so usually) and I only pay $40 or so every three months for them. I don’t know how much LASIK is, but it’s about equivalent to at least several years of wearing contacts for me.
Yeah, it does cost almost $2k per eye, which held me back from doing it for a long time too. The company’s insurance doesn’t exactly cover it, but it got me a discount that took it down to about $3,300. I decided to go for it because A) my eyes were starting to reject my contact lenses, or at least that’s what it felt like. They were getting more and more irritated easily, and really uncomfortable when I had to spend a lot of time in front of computer and/or film screens, which is pretty frequently. Also B) a sweet, er… “silent partner” got tired of watching it bother me so much, and kicked in $1,000 to help pay for it. LasikPlus does no-interest financing for up to two years, so while I’m definitely going to notice the nearly $100/mo addition to my overhead to make the minimum payments, it’s doable, needed to be done, and the time was right.
Yup… shouldn’t have watched that second video. Think I’ll go back and watch the first one again.
Some people are not candidates for Lasik because they have thin corneas, large pupils, or severe myopia. Some people just don’t want to do Lasik.
There is another option many people don’t know about : Ortho-k (Orthokeratology) or CRT (Corneal Refractive Therapy).
With Ortho-k you wear special contact lenses while you sleep that reshape your cornea and correct your vision. You take them out in the morning and you can see. The technology has been around since the 60s but the FDA only approved it in 2003.