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Posted by on Jul 9, 2013 in Pat Wong, Social | 0 comments

Lasik: 2 Years Later

eye-photos

Two years ago, I got Lasik, or laser eye surgery. Since the third grade, I have been nearsighted and needed glasses to see properly. As a child, I despised wearing glasses as I thought it meant there was something wrong with me. When I learned about Lasik in the 6th grade, I thought it was great and could not wait to have the surgery so I did not need to wear glasses. However, I had to wait since your eye is still growing at that age and will continue to do so until your early or mid 20s. As such, it does not make sense for you to have it done until your eye stabilizes. Lasik uses a laser to reshape your eye. If you have the surgery down too early, your eye will continue to grow and the shape will change again. As such, you will have to get the surgery done again when the shape of your eye changes again. However, my mom also brought me to my dad’s Lasik procedure. I will not go into the details. When I saw the procedure performed, I was not so excited about it anymore and decided glasses were not so bad. Consequently, I got use to glasses and was not looking to have the surgery anymore.

I really did not mind the look of glasses over the years. However, I did not like that the frame got misaligned at times. When it happened, I got dizzy as the world did not appear straight with crooked glasses. It was very irritating when I participated in sports. When I played basketball, my glasses would inadvertently get knocked off my face at least once a night. In addition, I was forced to take off my glasses for an athletic competition one time and I just could not see at all because of my nearsightedness. Mainly because I loved playing sports and hated the inconvenience of glasses when I played, I finally decided to look into Lasik again and had it performed. After 2 years, I reflect on the surgery and it is one of the best decisions I have made in my life. Luckily for me, the surgery was pretty straightforward and I had no ill side effects. I was given a choice of the doctor using a knife at a cheaper price to cut a slap in the eye or the use of a laser to make the cut. Of course, I went with the precision of the laser. Although I trusted the doctor as he is very well known in New York City, I was taking no chances with my eyes and the extra money was worth the peace of mind. I was freaked out when the doctor told me to simply not move my head while the procedure was performed. My thoughts at the time were, “What do you mean do not move my head? You are not going to put some kind of pillow by my head to make me think I cannot move? Now I am going to be thinking about moving my head the entire time.”  Nevertheless, the procedure was quick. A laser cut a flap in my eye, another laser reshaped it, and the flap was put back on. It was over in the matter of minutes. As soon as I walked out, I had 20/20 vision. After the surgery, the flap needs to heal so you cannot rub your eyes. In addition, you need to apply two types of eye drops. One type is to keep them moisturized as your eyes get dry and the other type is an antibiotic to keep it from getting infected. However, I only needed to do it for a couple of weeks. After a couple of weeks, I was also able to play basketball. When I got home on the night of my surgery and took a shower, my greatest joy was that I was able to see when I was taking a shower for the first time in a long time. A couple days after the surgery, I was also able to watch Transformers: Dark of the Moon in IMAX at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan. While I may have to give my formal analysis of the shortcomings of that movie later, I was just glad I was able to endure the strain of a full IMAX without a problem.

While I have had a great experience with my surgery, it is not without risk. The first issue is that you may need to go through the procedure again. I have heard stories where the shape of someone’s eyes changed even in their 20s and they had to have it done again. Next, your eye is perfectly healthy even if it is nearsighted or farsighted. When you have Lasik done, you are cutting a flap into a healthy eye. Although the flap heals, it will never be nearly as strong again and you are permanently weakening the eye. Moreover, Lasik is a relatively new procedure. No one really knows what effects the procedure will be 40-50 years from now. As I noted above, your eyes also get dry. While I have not had severely dry eyes and do not need eye drops since the initial recovery period, some people do find out they need eye drops the rest of their lives after the procedure. However, it is because they had dry eyes to begin with and the procedure just exacerbated a preexisting condition. Nevertheless, I have not been able to cry since my surgery… not that I really tried or cried before the surgery (That’s my story and I am sticking with it). As such, you should get a consultation before you decide if you want to continue with the operation. Any good doctor will make sure you had one before he performs the procedure. While I have no regrets after 2 years, it is not an easy decision for everyone. Make sure you understand the benefits and the risks of the surgery beforehand. There is also a similar but different process called PRK that you may want to consider as well.

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