Lasik Enhancement

Tomorrow afternoon I will be undergoing Lasik "enhancement," meaning I need some fine-tuning. It's the exact same procedure as the first time, but this time only for my right eye.

After my first Lasik in January, I was seeing great, 20/15 in both eyes. But as a few months passed, my eyes "settled" into their permanent fixture. For me, my left eye is pretty much 20/20 with a slight (-.25) farsightedness. My right eye however went the other direction where I'm -.50 nearsighted. It's not much, but enough to bug me, especially when I have trouble seeing when driving or playing tennis at night.

I can't say I've been 100% satisfied. I constantly have blurry vision in the office because I stare at the computer too long. And this happens even in my left eye which supposedly has 20/20 vision! After a while, or if I go outside, it usually clears up. In the last few weeks I've gotten used to it but at nights I do wish my vision was better.

I've gone back to see Dr. Dan at least 6 times since. Each time I tell him things are blurry and how I can't see, and each time he says I CAN see and the problem is really minor. Of course I'm comparing my vision to my glasses-days and frankly, I can't. Fortunately my vision on the computer is quite good, that is until I turn 45 when I'll then need reading glasses.

The bottom line is that I'm still much happier without my glasses. I remember how my glasses would constantly fall down my nose and I would always smudge them during the day... Also how Justine would grab them when I hold her and how the boys would knock them off when I wrestle them... But the one thing I do miss is that my glasses had transitional lens so now whenever I go outdoors, I need to bring sunglasses.

So here's a dose of reality that wasn't quite explained to me prior to surgery. Not everything will be as great as you think they will be, or as great as others will tell you. Ten percent of Lasik patients experience problems that require enhancement. Who was I to think I would be exempt? Especially since age was not in my favor. But hopefully after tomorrow, things will be a lot clearer, both in terms of vision and expectations.

Related Links:
Lasik Surgery: When the Fine Print Applies to You
I Can See. I Can See. Part 1
I Can See. I Can See. Part 2

I Can See! I Can See! Part 2

It's been 16 days since my Lasik surgery and my eyes are getting better by the day. My main complaint is that my eyes constantly feel dry so I need drops every hour or so. I either use the drops or watch an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. That show always makes me cry. I was told that my dry eyes will last about 6 months. So if you see me winking at you, try not to get the wrong idea.

Another complaint is the night vision, especially at bright lights. I drove at night four days after the surgery and there were lots of glare (halos/stars) from the headlights and taillights – like when I get too close to Chrissy and her greasy skin smudges my glasses. But nowadays, the glare has been reduced by 75%. This too should continually improve in the next 6 months.

Last week I went to Daniel for my one week follow-up. He tested me and said I now have 20/15 vision and I can now apply for my pilot's license (no, I don't fly). Then he immediately tried to sell me some $300 Armani sunglasses – haha jk. At the same time I decided to take Dustin in for his first eye exam. Two of his schoolmates already wear glasses, and considering the time he spends in front of the tv, computer, gameboy, etc., I was a little concerned. Surprisingly, he passed the test. He has 20/30 vision, which is actually better than the average 7 year-old. Daniel also says sitting too close to the tv does NOTHING to your vision. There is NO scientific proof that too close or too much tv/computer/videogames leads to any deterioration of vision. None at all. Dr. Dan says, "The only warnings we get is from Chinese moms." So forget buying the big screen tv, just move your couch closer! Wow, what a cost-saver!

On the other hand, bad vision is very much hereditary. If both you and your spouse have bad vision, like -6 or worse, sorry, but your kids are screwed! Also, if both of your maternal grandfathers are color blind, all your male children will be color blind too. Yep, it's true.

So how much does Lasik cost?
The one question that EVERYONE wants to know (but sometimes afraid to ask) is the cost. My coworker went through Kaiser last week and paid $4300. I went through VSP and it's $4200. Daniel gave me a $200 discount which lowered it to $4000, payable to the surgeon (Daniel gets his kickbacks later on). Of course I used my favorite Citibank 5% Cashback credit card so immediately I get $200 back. Furthermore, since I knew exactly how much it would cost back in November 2007, I signed up for Flexible Spending through my employer.

Flexible Spending uses pre-tax dollars toward qualified medical and childcare expenses. So if you're in the 25% tax bracket, you're essentially saving 25% off your expenses. You'll get reimbursed immediately and they average out the deduction for the entire year. For us, it would be $153.84 for 26 pay periods. This is even better than interest-free financing! Because of the $2000 max. in flex spending (each company will vary) we split the amount to both Chrissy's and my employer. I faxed in my paperwork on Wednesday and on Saturday I received my check! Woohoo! The beauty is, I still haven't even received my credit card statement yet! So when it's all said and done, it's under $3000. And because of flex spending, you'll hardly miss the money (unless you're living paycheck to paycheck).

My recommendation
Do it... or at the very least, inquire to see if you are a candidate. If you work out the numbers like I did, money should not be an issue, not to mention the money you'll save annually on new glasses and contacts. My previous post may have made it sound more squeamish than it seems, but that's just my perspective. You may be braver than I. You may not even need that teddy bear! Good thing is that over 90% of the patients never require a secondary or touch-up surgery. So chances are, it's a one-time deal. All I know is that my life has improved in so many ways I can't even describe. Just little things like walking in the rain, wrestling with my kids, spying on my neighbors in the middle of the night... I never realized what a hindrance glasses has been to me. Freedom has never been so sweet! Now I just got to look for my binoculars...

I Can See! I Can See! Part 1

I've been fascinated by the amount of inquiries I've gotten about my Lasik surgery. Practically everyone I've encountered has known of someone who's done it, has done it themselves, or are interested in doing it. Here was my experience.

Wavefront vs. Traditional
There are two main types of Lasik, traditional and custom wavefront. Unlike traditional Lasik, Wavefront Lasik further corrects for other "higher-order" imperfections in the cornea which cause glare, halos, stars, contrast, and night vision problems. It makes a map of the cornea and pinpoints particular areas to correct, whereas traditional Lasik just slices off the top. Wavefront Lasik is also about $400 more per eye. So here's a no-brainer: all doctors recommend Wavefront.

Which Doctor?
I originally planned to use one of the guys I hear on the radio. They offered free exams so why not? Problem is that they are so booked up, you'll be lucky to get an appointment within 7 weeks. So in October while I was waiting for my December appointment, I decided to ask my regular optometrist Daniel for a recommendation. To my pleasant surprise, Daniel actually works with a Lasik specialist, Dr. Mandel, who's an excellent doctor (according to Daniel)! Daniel would take care of all the pre-screening and post-op exams, and I only see Dr. Mandel for the actual surgery. Cool beans!

What makes you a "good" candidate?
Of course I'm a good candidate, why wouldn't I be?? I got the money right?! Well first of all you need to be in good general health. Second, you need to have enough thickness in your cornea to accommodate your correction. So someone with a -8 nearsightedness would need twice as much thickness than someone with -4. And finally, if you have an astigmatism, it may disqualify you also depending on the severity. Fortunately for me, I'm ok on all fronts. His only concern that is when I turn 45 I may need reading glasses, so I'll only be completely glasses-free for a few more years. Yeah I wish I had done it sooner too.

The day
I went to the Horizon Vision Center in San Leandro. There was a huge waiting room with about 20 people. I guess people like to come with their families to cheer them on – I can envision these same people at the plastic surgeon's office. In my case, Chrissy just dropped me off and went shopping. She should have stayed because they even have a window where you can witness everything. They perform anywhere from 15 to 25 surgeries every day.

The staff was quite efficient. I was called in and out 3 times to do various measurements at different stations with different doctors. They all gave me assurances that I was a great candidate, and that I had enough thickness for a -8 procedure even though I was only a -3. I'm sure they were all thinking "easy money on this guy." Then they sent me to the receptionist where I had to pay.

The 4th station was the final call where they started to numb my eye and gave me a valium to relax. I sat there for 30 minutes next to this woman who drove all the way from Turlock (wherever the heck that is) just to see Dr. Mandel because she heard he was the best! Unfortunately he would only operate on one of her eyes because the other lacked the thickness required. But he did tell her that some other doctor would probably do it for her. It's just that he wouldn't. You see, he only accepts low-risk patients (in order to maintain his perfect record. – Hmm, sounds like sandbagging to me.)

The moment of truth
I entered the room and laid on the table. There were about 5 doctors there. They made me hold this stuffed teddy bear for comforting reasons. Um, ok... They tape my eyelids open and inserted that thing you see in the first picture which was rather uncomfortable. The machine then moved into place right above my eye. Then they pressed (rather hard) on my eye with something else and I felt something swipe across. That's when they peeled my flap across like a can a Pringles. And that's when I started to freak out a little. The clear ring of light I was staring at got real blurry as the flap was lifted. Then five seconds later everything went dark. I was blind! I'm like "um, excuse me, but I can't see..." They assured me that it was normal and to calm down. Then shortly after I see a dim blurry flashing orange light. They say to look at it. I hear the tapping sounds of the laser for about 10 seconds and then the flap is folded back into place. They brush around the edges of the flap and the machine moves to the next eye and I remember thinking, "Hey that wasn't that bad, it was really fast too!"

As they started to tape the second eye, I started to recall the part of the video where they say the second eye will always hurt more. Not that it does, but because your mind is preparing you for it. And man, boy did that second eye hurt like crazy! And it lasted twice as long too! (Or so it seemed). Good thing I had my teddy bear!!

The actual surgery lasted about 5 minutes per eye and I was in and out of the office in 2 hours. The valium made me real lightheaded and relaxed. I asked them for another one, "you know, for the road..." They said no.

Recovery
The surgery was at 4 and the car ride home was long and uncomfortable. My eyes were starting to burn and itch and there was nothing I could do since I had to wear these protective shields. They recommended I take some Tylenol and to keep my eyes closed until morning. I wanted to go to bed asap but we had to go pick up both boys from daycare, and then we had to pick up my prescription too. With my eyes closed, it's amazing how well you can focus on sound. That's when I realized how loud my kids are! They're also spoiled and bratty too!

That night I slept until 9:30 when I got up to eat dinner. By that time, about 90% of the pain had subsided. But it was still hard to open my eyes. I was only able to squint in order to see. And other than stepping on a few toys, I was even able to make an accurate visit to the bathroom!

The next morning I was able to see fine. Still hazy, but not blurry. I was able to drive the kids to school and myself to Daniel's for my post-op check-up. I left my covers on as I drove just to get some weird looks from other people.

Oops, this post is quickly getting way too long. I'll continue the story on my next post. Thanks.