Some of you who read this forum obsessively know that I have complained about near-sightedness. This has meant that I never see the electronic times at the finish of a race. It also means that I can not get people to swim in my lane when I am leading. I can't see the clock and need to ask for starts. This is what happens on short interval swims -- "gasp! gasp! go! Phil! gasp! gasp!"
The obvious solution is to get prescription goggles. Unfortunately, my nose is such that I can not find prescription goggles that don't dig a trench between my eyes.
So my choice was to either get my nose fixed, or my eyes. Tall Paul and Breastroker encouraged me to do the latter. My wife and daughter pushed for the former. I decided to get my eyes fixed -- the recovery time is shorter.
So I am now 12 days after the LASIK operation. It was unpleasant (my requests for valium went unheeded) but not unreasonably so. I was driving (against doctor's advice) 6 hours after the operation. The worst part was that I could not swim for 10 days - I have been to two workouts since. Two days after the operation I went to the teams summer picnic. "Look at my new eyes!" I said to everyone that would listen (or wouldn't listen.)
My correction before the operation was about -6.5 diopters with about 1.0 diopter astygmatism. So yesterday my vision tests to 20-15 in both eyes. I don't think I have ever seen so well in my life, at least in daylight. Night vision is not so good, but it should get better, and I have no problem driving.
Here are some thoughts about being glassless:
- I can see the clock now. I should get better goggles, and I notice when they get fogged.
- shaving is much easier without fog-control of my glasses.
- I have not noticed any increase in flirting from the women. Maybe it has something to do with my nose. . . .
- people do say "I didn't know you had blue eyes!" which is kind of cool.
- It is a lot easier to run or ride my bike without my glasses sliding down my nose.
- I have wrinkles!
- My sight may be better, but not my insight. I still don't know who guppigirl is.
- I wave my hand in the air, confusing everyone, trying to take my glasses off.
So would I recommend it? You bet! Be sure you get a good doctor that will test you thoroughly and let you honestly know if you are a good candidate. I will provide more technical details to anyone who asks it. Just contact me by email.
Phil
P.S. Many thanks to Paul and Breastroker!
Parents
Former Member
I've also had LASIK surgery, and am very satisfied with the results.
One aspect of my experience that may be worth sharing: unlike many of the people who went through the process at the same time I did, I did not have instantaneous good results. The first few days after the surgery my vision was very blurry (although still much better than my pre-operation vision), and I had the "halo" effect around lights at night severely enough that I didn't feel comfortable driving. I struggled reading my computer screen at work for several weeks after the surgery. I recall that even at my 90 day post-operation checkup I was complaining of intermittent blurriness.
I remember resigning myself to the idea that I would possibly still have to wear glasses (a not-too-uncommon post-surgery result). I wasn't too disappointed by this, as the surgery had achieved my primary goal of enabling me to run w/o strapping glasses to my face (I wasn't swimming at the time), but still I questioned whether my $2K was well-spent.
Happily, however, my eyes finally settled in at 20/20, with no halo effect or intermittent blurriness. I have noticed that my eyes tend to get dried out sometimes; a few drops of artificial tears clears them up. I never had this problem before, but I don't know if it's attributable to the surgery or my move to the Arizona desert.
Certainly as an athlete having my eyes functioning well has been a terrific benefit. I'm happy with the results of the surgery and feel it was well worth the substantial cost.
It's funny though... I don't feel this way now (nearly 2 years post-operation) but in the early days I kind of missed my glasses. I had some funky, kind of arty glasses that I think helped me communicate a message about my personality to the outside world, and in a wierd way they became part of my identity. Not having them was a big adjustment.
Anyway...
Congratulations Phil on your successful experience, and I wish you well in this post-glasses phase of your life!
--Brad
I've also had LASIK surgery, and am very satisfied with the results.
One aspect of my experience that may be worth sharing: unlike many of the people who went through the process at the same time I did, I did not have instantaneous good results. The first few days after the surgery my vision was very blurry (although still much better than my pre-operation vision), and I had the "halo" effect around lights at night severely enough that I didn't feel comfortable driving. I struggled reading my computer screen at work for several weeks after the surgery. I recall that even at my 90 day post-operation checkup I was complaining of intermittent blurriness.
I remember resigning myself to the idea that I would possibly still have to wear glasses (a not-too-uncommon post-surgery result). I wasn't too disappointed by this, as the surgery had achieved my primary goal of enabling me to run w/o strapping glasses to my face (I wasn't swimming at the time), but still I questioned whether my $2K was well-spent.
Happily, however, my eyes finally settled in at 20/20, with no halo effect or intermittent blurriness. I have noticed that my eyes tend to get dried out sometimes; a few drops of artificial tears clears them up. I never had this problem before, but I don't know if it's attributable to the surgery or my move to the Arizona desert.
Certainly as an athlete having my eyes functioning well has been a terrific benefit. I'm happy with the results of the surgery and feel it was well worth the substantial cost.
It's funny though... I don't feel this way now (nearly 2 years post-operation) but in the early days I kind of missed my glasses. I had some funky, kind of arty glasses that I think helped me communicate a message about my personality to the outside world, and in a wierd way they became part of my identity. Not having them was a big adjustment.
Anyway...
Congratulations Phil on your successful experience, and I wish you well in this post-glasses phase of your life!
--Brad
