Even a Chicken Can Get Lasik Surgery

If you take the time to read any of the message boards or chat rooms on the Internet about Lasik surgery, you will wonder how anyone could get the courage to schedule a Lasik procedure, and why on earth they would want it. The various Lasik clinics sound anywhere from impersonal to something similar to Dr. Frankenstein's lab, and the Lasik procedure itself sounds, well, surreal. It seems like the only people that would get Lasik are those with such bad vision that they cannot get out of bed without their glasses on.

Well, let me give you my story of how I chose Lasik. First of all, my vision is not good, but not terrible either. I can actually go to movies and see well enough to enjoy the film without glasses, but I need glasses to drive in order to read the street signs far enough away to act on the information. So for me, Lasik was not necessary, but I figured would simplify my life. I am outdoors very frequently, backpacking, climbing hills, and mountain biking. Glasses do not last long with me, and I am frequently grinding into the dirt which is not the best situation for contact lenses. For these reasons, Lasik looked very appealing.

The paragraph above might make you think I am a "manly guy" (hope so, think so!), so why on earth would I be afraid of a little Lasik scalpel? OK, technically Lasik does NOT use a scalpel but rather a "microkeratome blade", but it is still a sharp object approaching my eye as part of the Lasik procedure. Nowadays Lasik physicians can get a laser to cut the flap in the eye, which is more than a little better than a sharp blade. But anyway, I had too many spills in my life to think any sharp object nearing my eye was a good idea, even under the skilled hands of a Lasik physician.

After talking with three (yes, three!) independent Lasik physicians, they each assured me that a 28 year old guy in nearly perfect health (OK, I exaggerate a bit) with moderate nearsightedness was one of the very best candidates for a successful Lasik procedure. I decided to schedule my Lasik procedure with the one that had the best track record, and coincidentally took the most time to explain everything about Lasik to me.

The Lasik surgery was not painful, though I accepted nearly everything they offered to give me comfort, including a sedative and a teddy bear. (I even went back to take a picture of me and the Lasik comforting teddy bear.) The only strange thing I remember about the Lasik procedure itself was a smell, something vaguely like hair burning. I suppose that was my eye. I am kind of glad they didn't tell me to expect that before the Lasik procedure, I am not sure I would have gone in.

After a few years, I guess I was a nearly perfect Lasik client, as my eyes now have 20/20 vision and have remained stable long after the Lasik operation. I say that if you are a good candidate for a Lasik vision correction procedure, grab that teddy bear and go on in.

My Day for Lasik Surgery

This story is for my family and friends who wonder what it is like to go through a Lasik vision correction procedure. I've shared my experiences with one or two colleagues at work that have also had Lasik done, and there are enough variations to give insight to those who are trying to choose between different Lasik physicians or different Lasik centers.

First, my Lasik procedure was scheduled for 4 PM in the afternoon, which was fine with me. One of the directions for patient that has just had a Lasik procedure was to go to sleep as soon as possible, in order for the healing process to begin as quickly as possible. And usually by the end of the afternoon I am too tired after working all day to be very nervous. Well, usually anyway.

I had only been there a few minutes when I was called into a room to prepare me for the Lasik procedure, and to get instructions (again!) on how to care for my eyes once the Lasik vision correction has been done. They offered me some Ativan, which is a mild sedative just to keep me calm during the Lasik process. The lasers themselves monitor any head or eye movement and turn themselves off when it occurs, so it isn't that the sedative is for anything other than psychological reasons. I took it anyway. All of my colleagues at work also took it, though none of us really felt any different than we did before. Apparently it is a VERY mild sedative.

My eyes were prepared for the Lasik procedure by being dosed with eye numbing drops and some kind of medication. I cannot be sure of the other pre-operative steps, as I think I was trying very hard not to think about either Lasik or my eyes. Perhaps the sedative was a bit stronger than I imagined it was.

At this point I was escorted into another room for some time, where I sat back, listened to the piped-in music, and awaited my turn in the Lasik operating room. There were two other people waiting with me in this room, so apparently my doctor different setup for his Lasik patients than my colleagues. Both were alone in their pre-op rooms until they were escorted into the room where the Lasik procedure was actually performed.

As to the Lasik procedure itself, all of us have similar memories from this procedure. Each of us felt some pressure when the various Lasik implements were used on our eyes, though there wasn't any real discomfort or pain. There was a blurring of vision for the eye being worked on, but the real sensation was mainly audio - the whirring and clicks of the machine. One of my colleagues also remembers a distinct smell, somewhat reminiscent of hair burning. There may have been a slight smell during my Lasik procedure, but it wasn't significant enough for my attention to be focused on it.

After a short amount of time, my Lasik physician said he was done and that I had been a good patient. In all of our Lasik experiences, the operation itself was much easier than all of our worries about it beforehand. I hope this helps those of you considering having a Lasik procedure done.