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[voyagerxv]

Hi,
Has anyone had any eye surgery, specifically Lasik? If so, I am interested in knowing how it has affected your eyes when looking through astronomical instruments. I've heard stories of halos and other eye aberrations resulting from Lasik surgery.

I tried to get Sky & Telescope to do a reader survey on the same topic, but they didn't take the bait.

Greg

[Al Degutis]

I have no experience with LASIK but have lightly considered it when I've gotten frustrated with my glasses. Personally, I'll never do it because I'm chicken. Plus, I'm cautious and reading statements from the FDA that say: "Certain complications are unavoidable in a percentage of patients, and there are no long-term data available for current procedures."

The "no long-term data available" part bothers me most. Plus, did I mention that I was a chicken?

The FDA's info on LASIK where I got the above quote from:
www.fda.gov/cdrh/lasik/

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

I used to be with a woman who had the Lasik surgery, and swore by it's benefits. Perfect vision, but it was $2,500 per eye!

I remember in the early days, that they used to use radial razors and cut the lens of the eye in one step. The healing of the lens is what reshapes the cornea and improves sight. The Russians had one step better. Demand was so great there in the 80"s, that they created a revolving operating table assembly, where 8 or more patients would go into the operation, in an assembly line type manner, cut the eye, and on to the next.

No...I don' think that I will be undergoing the new and improved lasik.

[MaryG]

All your life, have you imagined what it might be like to lie under the stars at night... looking through a window near your bed, or from a sleeping bag, or a lounge chair... and be able to SEE THEM ? ! ?

See them clearly?

It will take your breath away.

Few things have changed my life more. And no, I'm not Joe's ex-girlfriend. (Although one wonders if now she goes around talking about which changed her life more... lasik, or Joe )

Seriously, though. My husband and I took the plunge and went under the laser in June '01. We'd both worn glasses since grade school; his eyes required particularly thick lenses.

For the next few months, we grinned like idiots as we babbled that never before had we noticed such beauty and depth of color as we now saw in clouds... leafy trees... people's faces... and the night sky.

Glare? Yeah... but, really, it wasn't and isn't a big deal. It improves after time. At its worst, it never impaired my night driving, and it still beat the hell out of itchy painful contacts and flat, always-smudgy, non-peripheral glasses. It's like this: no amount of plastic surgery will make me look like Cate Blanchett, but I suppose I could get close enough for a cigar. My eyes were always imperfect and they always will be, one way or another. But some ways are a lot easier to put up with than others.

I'll be frank... I could never truly enjoy viewing through binoculars or a telescope. Nothing ever seemed sharp enough.

It's a whole new world out there now, baby. And it's awesome.

Pain? I've had worse dental procedures, and you should get a day or two of painkiller scrip. My husband didn't take his. Rest on the day of surgery, and you're pretty much good to go. The cost isn't 2500/orb anymore, and we did go to a top-notch outfit. I wouldn't use one of the lowball advertisers, were it me.

3 1/2 years later, we're both still 20/10 and we get to wear cool sunglasses to boot. In an unadvertised, unpromised bonus, husband hasn't used his reading glasses since. All his life, he had minimal interest in astronomy... he actually got angry when people would tell him to look at a "red" star, because he said he could never see any difference.

Now he's a scope-owning fiend who just spent months researching and buying the perfect kickbutt mount for it. And he loves to spend an hour on a summer's night, prone on the picnic table, staring straight up.

I only wished I could have been able to see like this for the previous decades.

Just my experience. Just mine. As with anything involving the human body, your mileage may vary.

[voyagerxv]

Mary,
Thanks for the info on your experience with Lasik. I've been debating (with myself) about having it done. My eyes have been pretty disgusting. The contacts are always cause fuzzy vision even when new. I think it's time to try the new technology, probably sometime after the holidays. I'll let you know the results.
Greg

[MaryG]

Greg,

I'm excited for you! Your contacts are already giving you the fuzzies... so, chances are, the usually-temporary "starburst" glare from lasik will plague you none the worse. Actually, those "starbursts" were like a head trip... I kinda miss them! They lasted about six months for me.

Are your contacts a pain because of allergy/dry eyes? If so, I had the same problem. I was told that therefore, in fact, I wasn't the "perfect" candidate for lasik, as in some rare cases the lasik may exaggerate dry eye. That made me nervous, but my eyes are now as they were previously in that regard... no more moist nor dry, but no more contacts to suck all the air away from the lens! So on the whole, score.

Feel free to contact me here or privately if you have more questions as you edge toward a decision; I'll help if I can!

[MBMPRO]

I'm about to take the LASIK plunge with Wavefront technology and mono-vision correction. I hear mostly good these days. Are there many people out there who think I'm doing the wrong thing and won't be able to see through my scope?

[voyagerxv]

I'll bet you thought this thread was dead.

I made my decision and am having LASIK (specifically the VISX method) performed this week in Oakbrook. I know there is a period of healing and adjustment which I hope is short.

I keep you all posted on my experience (if I'm not blind), in case anyone else is considering taking the plunge.

Greg

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

I'll bet you thought this thread was dead

Lol...

Greg you brave man you.

Great luck on the procedure and having superhuman eyesight when you are done.

[MaryG]

Good luck buddy! Can't wait to hear how it goes! I sincerely hope you will be as thrilled as we have been.