<p>Just an update… she is doing great. Her 3PM appt. turned into more like 4:30, so it was 5PM when we left the doctor’s office. She slept most of the way home, but then couldn’t go back to sleep once we got home. We joked that I should have just kept driving the car for a few hours so she would’ve kept sleeping, like when she was a baby. We watched TV most of the night… she said she can see the TV fine, but reading the text messages on her phone are a bit blurry. </p>
<p>On a side note, I don’t know about any of the rest of you, but this office provided a live video feed to the waiting area so I could watch the procedure. The camera was zoomed in so closely that I really couldn’t even see her eyelids once they propped the lids open. It was quite fascinating to watch; I just couldn’t believe that, as blind as she was before the surgery, when she walked out, her first words were, “Mom, I can see you.” </p>
<p>When the doctor called around 8PM to check up on her, she told him that it just feels like she has an eyelash or displaced contact in her eye. She’s been diligent with her drops, and has just headed up to bed with her fashionable protective eyewear that she has to wear tonight during sleep.</p>
<p>ingerp - to answer your question… the fee for today was $5000 for both eyes, I think fairly typical for this area. Also, regarding the newness of the procedure, this doctor alone has done over 40,000 of them - that’s one doctor, so I feel the procedure is well-tested. He told her at the consultation that, even if everything that could go wrong went wrong during the procedure, the worse that could happen was that she’d need a cornea transplant. He said none of his 40,000 patients have ever needed one.</p>
<p>“On a side note, I don’t know about any of the rest of you, but this office provided a live video feed to the waiting area so I could watch the procedure.”</p>
<p>Younger S, 21, was fascinated by that when I had my procedure.</p>
<p>With few exceptions (surprisingly I am one), one still has to use reading glasses after Lasik. However, the advantages are great of not having to use glasses otherwise. Everyone I know who is still using reading glasses after Lasik is still very happy that they had the surgery. I had the surgery even though I had expected to still need reading glasses.</p>
<p>To my knowledge, there aren’t procedures that will take care of nearsightedness and presbyopia.</p>
<p>When I was about 38, I had my weaker eye Lasik corrected for distance. My stronger eye was not bad for distance and could read close up, so for a number of years I didn’t need glasses at all - the right eye took over when I was driving and the left eye took over when I was reading. Now I need reading glasses but I still am still legal to drive with no glasses, and have pretty darn good distance vision dominated by the Lasik treated eye. No regrets. It was nearly a week before I was happy though; I had some blurred vision and definitely halos at night. (Went on an overnight business trip a couple of days after the procedure and I remember that when I came back from the business trip it was REALLY hard to drive home from the airport in the dark. The blurred vision was gone but the halo things were still there.)</p>
<p>OK… a question. D is a bit frustrated with all the gunk that’s building up on her eyelashes due to all the drops she’s using. She was told not to let tap water get in her eyes for a certain number of days, so she can’t really ‘wash’ her eyelids/lashes. She said it feels like her eyelashes are glued together. Any suggestions? I was wondering about using distilled water to wipe her eyelashes with.</p>
<p>I’d call the doctor’s office and ask. Someone is on call. You just paid them $5,000 :)</p>
<p>Regarding reading glasses, I had the procedure done when I was in my late 30s (did not need reading glasses yet, just for distance). When I was in my early forties, as expected, I started to need reading glasses. I ask my eye doctor when I see them (which isn’t too often any more, but I did go in for an eye infection about a year ago) whether there is any “lasik equivalent” to get rid of the reading glasses, but nothing yet. Too bad! But the Lasik was still definitely worth it for me!</p>
<p>Reading glasses are required because the muscle that adjusts the depth of the eye gets “tired” as it ages and the eye then becomes less responsive in shaping itself. There is no cure. (And I discourage the “treatment,” which is to cut the muscle in one eye so that eye is permanently focused nearer.) </p>
<p>Most people have an eye that adjusts better for reading. If they read with reading glasses, the odds are that over time - a few years or so - that eye will lose some of its distance correction. This is due to the muscle adapting to your needs. </p>
<p>Lasik and the other similar procedures only shape the cornea. You’ll only develop the need for reading glasses over time, just like any adult with uncorrected eyes.</p>
<p>teriwtt, Glad your D is doing well. DS wants to have Lasik and lives in your area. If you don’t mind, could you share the name of your D’s doctor.</p>
<p>I had to wear glasses for everything but reading and eating so my glasses were constantly on and off, especially when I watched tv and read. Up, down, up, down . . . very annoying.</p>
<p>I had Lasik 6 years ago. They only did one eye so one now handles far visions and the other, close vision. They told me I might need reading glasses, which was a fine trade-off to me.</p>
<p>I did need reading glasses for the first few months after the surgery as my eyes adjusted. And then, only when my eyes were especially tired.</p>
<p>After about 4 years, I found I needed glasses for driving at night . . . again, a fine trade-off to having to wear glasses pretty much all the time. </p>
<p>Lasik was the best thing I ever did! (Well, maybe not THE best!!)</p>