I've been reading a lot lately about the risks of LASIK...as if this is somehow groundbreaking news now that the media has hopped on the fear train. NEWS FLASH!! How 'bout I let y'all in on a little secret? Any activity that involves cutting your eyeball with a laser is by it's very nature a risky activity. Then again, so is deciding whether the time has come to take a stab at kissing that sweet, adorable girl you just started seeing. Like anything in life, it's about knowing which risks you're comfortable with taking. Not that trying to steal a kiss is anywhere near comparable to turning an ophthalmologist loose on your eyeballs with a laser, but success in both arenas can be pretty sweet.
In the interest of self-disclosure, I'll own up to having had LASIK done a little over four years ago. My visual profile was such that I only needed to have one eye done, which produces a phenomenon called monovision. At 48, I now have 20/15 vision and I don't need reading glasses, because one eye is used for near vision and the other for distance. After wearing glasses since i was 10, I now have what for me easily qualifies as better than perfect vision. Four years later, I still find myself looking at my world with a sense of wonder and awe. When I look off into the distance and realize that I can make out the outline of individual trees...well, it's still a pretty amazing feeling.
I've been fortunate that my surgery was successful. It took me about three weeks for my eyes to adapt to monovision, which is a fair bit longer than what most folks experience, but since then I've experienced no difficulties. To be fair, the changes in my vision took some getting used to, and there are some side effects. When I'm driving at night, for example, my night vision is sometimes a bit fuzzy, particularly if I'm tired. And there are times when my vision can be a bit blurry when I'm overly fatigued. Neither of these side effects have been difficult for me to adapt to, and in fact I only notice them when I happen to think about it. I've pretty clearly adapted to my visual reality, and after four years it's all become second nature. Best of all, I can now indulge my weakness for Oakley sunglasses.
My decision to have LASIK done was not undertaken lightly, though, and in fact five years prior I'd decided that I wasn't about to have anyone taking a laser to my eye. I'm not sure what finally won me over, but in the end it was both quick and painless. I will admit, though, that there is something supremely weird about listening to your ophthalmologist talking about what he's doing to your eye as you smell the burning produced by the laser as it slices your eye like a Ginzu knife.
The whole procedure was surprisingly quick- perhaps 10 minutes- and I did manage to get some Valium out of the deal. By the time I was laying on the operating table, I had enough Valium in my system so that, if my doctor had told me he was going to strip me naked and suspend my by my testicles I wouldn't have cared.
The ensuing four years has done nothing to change my satisfaction with having 20/15 vision. Nonetheless, I'm acutely aware that some who've undergone LASIK have experienced less than stellar results...because that easily could have been me. Something like 95% of all LASIK procedures produce successful results (I'm not certain of the exact number, but it was high enough to inspire confidence in my prospects). I'm not sure what would have happened if my surgery hadn't been successful, but I'm grateful that I no longer have to wear glasses.
If you're considering LASIK, you're going to want to do your research. I can only speak for my own experience, but I can tell you that recent reports of the risks involved are hardly breaking news. Those risks have always been there, and they likely always will be. Now that I've risked my eyesight and won, there's still that whole stealing a kiss thing.
Nah, not even I'm that brave....
