Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Blur
 Don't make me go! |
Oh, well...allright.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Blur
It starts with a pre-operation appointment, where you are evaluated and determined a qualified applicant. They carefully look at your eyes, determine your prescription using the traditional eye chart, and take high-tech scans of your eyes. They will tell you that these scans are used to plot the laser points. If memory serves me, they said that the computer will plot about 25,000 data points to create a far more accurate reading of your eyes than reading lines off of a chart. They will give you a prescription for an eye drop that will help prevent infection.
Basically, they prepare you by explaining the procedure. They'll probably give you a hair net and covers for your shoes. I have no idea why I had to cover my shoes because I did not have to cover or replace any of my other clothing. You put on the scrub-like hair net and shoe covers, and they guide you into a dim room with a table and medical equipment.
They next tell you to relax. This is hard to do if you don't have a sedative because no one is used to being laid down and having their head under a huge piece of machinery. Take a few breaths, and they will then numb your eyes with eye drops. They will also add a drop of antibiotic in order to prevent infection. They also give you a drop to keep your eye hydrated for the procedure.
At this point, they place a patch over one eye and tell you to focus on the blinking light. This light is positioned in a circular apparatus above your head. It is used to focus the laser and alight it with the scans taken in your pre-operation appointment. Your eye, now held open, should be focused on the blinking light in the center of the circular thing over your head.
This is where it gets a little strange to describe. They place something over your eye that can only be described as a binocular lens. It does not distort your vision until they turn on the pressure. At this point, your vision shrinks and goes to black. This is terrifying for about 2 seconds, but your vision then returns. Remember that you can only see from this eye because the other eye is covered by a patch. The eye that has just been suctioned now gets peeled. A flap is created using the top layer of your eye. You do not feel this at all. Instead, you are focused on the fact that you are now incapable of seeing the blinking light. Everything is very fuzzy, so you should try to focus on the center of the circle. This is difficult, so focus very hard. Outside of the fuzzy, blinking circle is an array of blue lights that come with a very electrical zapping sound. Those blue lights are the lasers repairing your eye. This lasts for 5 seconds. They then replace the flap. You will not notice any visual improvement yet because you are focused on how they replace the flap. They use a tool that looks like a miniature paint roller. They roll your eye back together, place an eye patch over that eye and start the same procedure on the other eye. In all, it took about 5 seconds of actual laser sculpting, 5 seconds of suction, and a few more seconds of taping your eye open. Expect to spend no more than 1 minute on each eye.
When you sit up, you will see better than before LASIK, but your vision will get very foggy. The doctor describes it like being in a bathroom after a particularly hot shower. This will get worse after the procedure, and that is why you will need a driver after the procedure.
There is a post-operation appointment to evaluate your eyes the next day. There is another appointment after a week.
Apparently, it can help with astigmatism. The information they gave me said that it works for a lot of different eye conditions.
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Wow...they suction your eye?! lmao.
Does that part
feel funny/painful? You mentioned the no vision part...but what about physical pain?
Geez...I had no idea what to expect, but your description is actually worse than I was expecting...still -- I want to do it. I can't put in contacts because I'm a fool and blink too much, but this actually sounds doable. Go figure.
Thanks for the writeup Blur.
EDIT: By the way...if you don't mind me asking, about how much does this procedure cost? Last time I read anything about it, it was ~$600 per eye. I wonder if it's gone down at all...