The Great Lasik Debate
I started the Great Lasik Debate here yesterday. I had just gotten back from a consult appointment, and I started having a lot of doubts about actually going through with the surgery. My eyesight is a precious thing, and even if it doesn't work very well without a great deal of help, it's still functional. I talked about the fears I had yesterday. Today, the flip side.
Some of my best childhood memories are set in the water. I learned to swim when I was a toddler, not because I was some superstar, but because I had a teenage mother who wanted to spend her summers at the pool. I was a little fish, who couldn't bear the thought of being trapped on dry land for very long. Unfortunately, we lived in the northern part of the country when I was young, so it was only warm enough to swim outdoors a few months out of the year. Logistics aside, I loved everything that had to do with water: pools, lakes, beaches, bathtubs.
My eyesight started to get bad about the time we moved south for the first time. We moved to Houston, Texas, where I could swim most of the year. I think I was in the fourth grade or so when I started wearing glasses. In the beginning, I didn't have to wear them all the time, really just to see the chalkboard at school. As I grew, my eyesight got worse and worse. When I became a teenager, I started wearing contacts all the time. It certainly cramped my style for swimming, but I could still manage on the swim team without them.
By the time I was in college, I could barely see a few feet in front of my face without contacts or glasses. Working in TV news, I spent a good part of my day in front of a computer, and my eyesight got even worse. Now, I'm pretty blind. Without my glasses or contacts, I can't even read my laptop screen a few inches in front of my face. Unless, of course, I'm reading a 54 font size or something, but most web sites don't cater to the visually impaired.
I've considered Lasik for a couple of years now. My husband has always supported the idea and was willing to take the money out of our family budget to pay for it. I've always been the one who wasn't sure I really needed it. The surgery is expensive. Yesterday, they quoted me about $3,400. I spend about three-to-four hundred dollars a year on glasses and contacts and all that jazz, so I would spend that much over a ten year period anyway. However, it's not the same as spending it all in one chunk. And, there's no guarantee that in ten years I won't need another adjustment or have to start wearing reading glasses. That just seems silly after having surgery to correct my vision. Ten years isn't that long.
Somehow I started back into the "con" argument again...
Back to the reasons I think I am "pro" Lasik...
I spent this summer in the sun with My Little Sunshine. We were in the water a lot at our neighborhood pool and the beach. My new contacts for astigmatism are shaped like footballs and often fall out or get all kinked up in the shower. That pisses me off. But what really ticked me off this summer is that I couldn't fully enjoy the water with my kid. It was a big growing time for him. He started going under the water and holding his breath. He started doggie paddling a little bit. He started playing shark in the water. All that stuff is so fun. I couldn't even go under the water to get my hair wet without the very real possibility that I would lose one or both contacts. I certainly couldn't go underwater with him and swim around or play games. That's just a really big bummer. I want to be able to really enjoy this time with my kid. I don't want to sit in a pool chair on the side and WATCH him. I want to get in and play. I want to share the joy that the water brings him, and I want to be able to see while doing it.
I tried just leaving my contacts out when Soul Mate returned from his summer in Las Vegas. I didn't want to try it when I was alone with Sunshine, because I couldn't drive without glasses, and I didn't want to drown my kid because I couldn't see. When Soul Mate got back, I tried the pool sans glasses and contacts, and, frankly, it was almost as disconcerting as the fear of losing contacts in the water. I'm a control freak. I just don't like not being able to see, especially when I need to be vigilant to make sure my kid is safe.
That's it in a nutshell. I want to SEE all the cool things my kid is doing. I think the money is probably worth it. I just don't want to do it if the reward is not worth the risk.
Please feel free to share your thoughts, positive or negative. I just need something to tip the scales one way or the other. I hate limbo land.
Some of my best childhood memories are set in the water. I learned to swim when I was a toddler, not because I was some superstar, but because I had a teenage mother who wanted to spend her summers at the pool. I was a little fish, who couldn't bear the thought of being trapped on dry land for very long. Unfortunately, we lived in the northern part of the country when I was young, so it was only warm enough to swim outdoors a few months out of the year. Logistics aside, I loved everything that had to do with water: pools, lakes, beaches, bathtubs.
My eyesight started to get bad about the time we moved south for the first time. We moved to Houston, Texas, where I could swim most of the year. I think I was in the fourth grade or so when I started wearing glasses. In the beginning, I didn't have to wear them all the time, really just to see the chalkboard at school. As I grew, my eyesight got worse and worse. When I became a teenager, I started wearing contacts all the time. It certainly cramped my style for swimming, but I could still manage on the swim team without them.
By the time I was in college, I could barely see a few feet in front of my face without contacts or glasses. Working in TV news, I spent a good part of my day in front of a computer, and my eyesight got even worse. Now, I'm pretty blind. Without my glasses or contacts, I can't even read my laptop screen a few inches in front of my face. Unless, of course, I'm reading a 54 font size or something, but most web sites don't cater to the visually impaired.
I've considered Lasik for a couple of years now. My husband has always supported the idea and was willing to take the money out of our family budget to pay for it. I've always been the one who wasn't sure I really needed it. The surgery is expensive. Yesterday, they quoted me about $3,400. I spend about three-to-four hundred dollars a year on glasses and contacts and all that jazz, so I would spend that much over a ten year period anyway. However, it's not the same as spending it all in one chunk. And, there's no guarantee that in ten years I won't need another adjustment or have to start wearing reading glasses. That just seems silly after having surgery to correct my vision. Ten years isn't that long.
Somehow I started back into the "con" argument again...
Back to the reasons I think I am "pro" Lasik...
I spent this summer in the sun with My Little Sunshine. We were in the water a lot at our neighborhood pool and the beach. My new contacts for astigmatism are shaped like footballs and often fall out or get all kinked up in the shower. That pisses me off. But what really ticked me off this summer is that I couldn't fully enjoy the water with my kid. It was a big growing time for him. He started going under the water and holding his breath. He started doggie paddling a little bit. He started playing shark in the water. All that stuff is so fun. I couldn't even go under the water to get my hair wet without the very real possibility that I would lose one or both contacts. I certainly couldn't go underwater with him and swim around or play games. That's just a really big bummer. I want to be able to really enjoy this time with my kid. I don't want to sit in a pool chair on the side and WATCH him. I want to get in and play. I want to share the joy that the water brings him, and I want to be able to see while doing it.
I tried just leaving my contacts out when Soul Mate returned from his summer in Las Vegas. I didn't want to try it when I was alone with Sunshine, because I couldn't drive without glasses, and I didn't want to drown my kid because I couldn't see. When Soul Mate got back, I tried the pool sans glasses and contacts, and, frankly, it was almost as disconcerting as the fear of losing contacts in the water. I'm a control freak. I just don't like not being able to see, especially when I need to be vigilant to make sure my kid is safe.
That's it in a nutshell. I want to SEE all the cool things my kid is doing. I think the money is probably worth it. I just don't want to do it if the reward is not worth the risk.
Please feel free to share your thoughts, positive or negative. I just need something to tip the scales one way or the other. I hate limbo land.
Labels: Lasik
7 Comments:
I've been going to the pool sans glasses/contacts as well, and its tough when I can't see the smiles on my kids' faces unless I'm holding them.
Does insurance cover parts of this?
Some insurance policies do cover all or at least part of Lasik, but we do not have vision coverage, since I am the only blind person in the family.
I got my first pair of glasses in 2nd grade and understand completely what you've gone through as the eyes get steadily worse...
Had Lasik 6 years ago when it was real expensive and even had complications where I had a week of hell, but...
Everyone talks about being able to read the alarm clock and swimming (which is sooo much better), but the thing for me is when I am out in the rain or snow, I am still amazed that I can look up - almost 30 years of ducking my head to avoid having my glasses get wet... WOW!
GET IT DONE - IT WILL BE THE BEST MONEY YOU EVER SPENT!
The reason they may have given you short shrift about making one eye near sighted and one far sighted is your age. As a young lady, you probably do not need reading glasses yet. Now you may be as I was and be so near sighted you felt you needed your glasses to read but a correct lasik correction for near sightedness should correct that. I think they recommend one eye here, one eye there for those over 40. THey should have told you this. If you get your near sightedness corrected, you may need reading glasses in the future as your eyes react to aging. No big woop. Reading glasses are hot on the ladies. ;)
I had mine done about five years ago at University Specialty Clinics. THey had a one hour seminar where nurses gave an overview of the process. I scheduled an appointment and was seen by an optometrist for an exam and technicians for corneal measurements. I can't recall if I spoke with an MD then but I don't recall a sense of not getting my questions answered and I am pretty serious about my eyes. My surgery was done within a few weeks after the exam. Post surgery, I was 20/20 in my right eye 20/30 in my left. My left was extremely weak before. I have not needed glasses since. I recently had an exam and the doctor(I went to another office in the hopes there would be no toeing of the party line if something was going bad) and he said I was still good.
Side effects: I feel I get some extra mucous in my left eye on occasion. Still is less of a bother than contacts.
At night, dark areas of differing shades tend to blend together.
I get slight starburst in my right eye from street lamps but not bothersome.
I had glasses when I was 9 and wore them for over twenty years in baseball, basketball, football, and everything else. I'm happy I had it done. My left eye has weakened some (not a lot) but that seemed to correspond with some stupid infatuation with internet poker and staring at the screen for umpteen hours a day. I still pass the eye exam at the DMV and have no problem reading street signs.
Well, apparently my longish comment on your original lasik post didn't make it to final post mode.
I just wanted to note that I've known a few people who had it done and loved the results. I also wanted to stress that this place that was pushy with you is a place I would run like hell from. Aren't there other practitioners for you to choose from? These are your EYES, for cryin' out loud! You only get one working set in life! Take your time and research (like you are) and find a practitioner you feel you can trust with THE ONLY EYES YOU WILL EVER HAVE! If someone didn't grant me space, time, and respect to choose to do the procedure IF I wanted to and WHEN I wanted to, they would not be the ones I would trust my vision with!
As for the money, some things you can't justify by the price tag. If the value of the expected outcome is significantly important for you and will somehow improve your quality of life, I say not to base the decision on the price tag. Some things in life are above monetary value. Now, if the cost of this procedure somehow lowers quality of life for you or your child or family (because of the financial strain, for example) then it may not be the best choice at this time, but I don't think this is a consideration in this situation.
Good luck with your decision! My eyes work great, no glasses, could never stick my finger in my eyes to wear contacts, so I'm lost on what it would be like.
I just wear my glasses in the pool, as I did on vacation. If I go into the ocean, I stay where the waves won't crash over me.
I mean, with X, it's not like I swim. I bob and float with him, so the glasses are no big deal.
I've looked at Lasik, and in the end, I still have issues. Sure, there's little chance of infection, mistakes, blindness. But there's far less with my glasses
To each their own. I could never do the near-far eyes thing, though.
Thanks for all your advice, suggestions, and perspectives, guys. I'm going to do some more investigating. I'll let you know which way the scales tip!
Post a Comment
<< Home