Health & Wellness

[Merged] laser eye surgery

Poll: Mid twenties a good age to get it done?

  • Total votes: 513. You have voted on this poll.
Yes
 
269
52%
No
 
84
16%
Pizza is yummy
 
160
31%
Jr. Member
Dec 4, 2008
100 posts
6 upvotes
Chilliwack
I had the PRK surgery done at London Eye Centre in New Westminster on the 21st and am pretty happy with it so far. For me the first 48 hours were the worst where my eyes were kind of painful but not painful enough to use the pain drops that they gave me. After that the pain went away and it was mainly light sensitivity for 2 days or so.
Now on my 6th day I am at about 20/30 (as of yesterday), compared to 20/60 before the surgery and its continuing to get better day by day. I notice that when looking at a screen there is a bit of ghosting/haziness sometimes, and I need to use the tear drops every 30-60 minutes. At night there is a bit of a haloing effect, but I am sure that will go away as the epithelium continues fixes itself 100%.
The surgery at London Eye Centre was $2500 all in. The only thing that you need to purchase yourself are T3's (If you need them, I didn't), sleeping pills (They were helpful), and some drops for after what they give you runs out.
Newbie
Jan 22, 2012
11 posts
3 upvotes
Congrats!!!
i am on my 7th day now and could not be happier. i definitely have haze but its the little things- like being able to see my alarm clock that is at my bedside table without putting on my glasses or actually being able to see in the shower! haha
it is so amazing.

@g00gler I am upset and surprised that you had to buy drops wheras most places provide you with at least 2-3 months worth of drops. hopefully they werent expensive.
Coal Harb gave me enough drops for the duration of a typical-normal recovery at 2000$.
Other than the drops with medicine the best lubricating thing they gave me was "tear gel". it is seriously awesome. i highly suggest you get some to promote healing. I thought it was going to be gross and gel like. but it isnt at all. I put regular drops in (bion tears) and put a drop of the tear gel and it keeps my eye moisturized for a really long time.
I notice that my vision is best when I just wake up and when I just put drops in.

I am REALLY surprised with ppl who say they drive in under 10 days with PRK. While I think I COULD drive right now..I definitely put my safety and others at risk driving with hazy vision.
g00gler wrote: I had the PRK surgery done at London Eye Centre in New Westminster on the 21st and am pretty happy with it so far. For me the first 48 hours were the worst where my eyes were kind of painful but not painful enough to use the pain drops that they gave me. After that the pain went away and it was mainly light sensitivity for 2 days or so.
Now on my 6th day I am at about 20/30 (as of yesterday), compared to 20/60 before the surgery and its continuing to get better day by day. I notice that when looking at a screen there is a bit of ghosting/haziness sometimes, and I need to use the tear drops every 30-60 minutes. At night there is a bit of a haloing effect, but I am sure that will go away as the epithelium continues fixes itself 100%.
The surgery at London Eye Centre was $2500 all in. The only thing that you need to purchase yourself are T3's (If you need them, I didn't), sleeping pills (They were helpful), and some drops for after what they give you runs out.
Deal Addict
Dec 18, 2007
1258 posts
26 upvotes
I got my eyes done yesterday by Dr. Rootman at YELC. He's definitely pricier than some other places ($6k for him, $5k for one of the other surgeons, although I was able to save $1000 with a couple Groupons).

The experience was fantastic and I'm thrilled with the results. Dr. Rootman is very gentle, personable, and clearly knows exactly what he was doing.
Newbie
Nov 27, 2012
1 posts
OAKVILLE
Soooo based on what im reading here, low Rx persons should not consider laser eye? My perscription is fairly low i think under 1.0 in 1 eye and maybe just above 1 in the other but the astigmatism [fuzziness of EVERYTHING] drives me nuts. More specifically it hinders me in sports, especially at night. Lights affect me bigtime. Any suggestions on what I should do? Contacts are a pain, but if they are truly the way to go right now I will.

Cheers
Deal Addict
Jun 17, 2012
1176 posts
84 upvotes
STONEY CREEK
Whether you want to get laser done or not really your decision and yours alone as no one sees out of your eyes or deals with the exact same vision to lifestyle as you have.
I personally believe that vision correction is only useful if you wear contacts or glasses and are annoyed by these on a regular basis. Some people are happy with glasses and some with contacts. If you aren't than vision correction can be for you.
Prescription doesn't matter much. It's just a number an if you're unhappy with your vision, that's what really matters.
Likewise I do have a bit of a prescription and function just fine with that and wear glasses while driving at night in places I don't usually travel in and am very content with that. But I'm also a very easy going person. I know a lot of people with my vision and can't stand it. So it's all a matter of what you want not what a number tells you.
Newbie
Jul 17, 2012
24 posts
TORONTO
I got an appointment for bochner for the 29th and Herzig for the 25th
I do various contact sports (amateur boxing) and I was told that PRK was the appropriate action to take, my question is which is the superior institute for PRK/Eye Surgery in general? Or if any others feel free to list them, thank you!
Jr. Member
Dec 4, 2008
100 posts
6 upvotes
Chilliwack
Its been about a month since my PRK surgery and I am very satisfied with is so far. I know I am getting pretty close to 20/20, and the halos around bright lights at night is still noticeable (Talking to various other people who have had it done, they say it can take months for that to go away).
For drops, I no longer need the tears drops and only use the drops that they prescribed for me twice a day, before and after bed. (@melissafong, the drops were about $12)

So overall I am very satisfied and would recommend anyone who is considering it to get at least a consultation.
Deal Addict
Dec 31, 2006
1420 posts
297 upvotes
Almost 7 months in, had a checkup a few days ago.
+.25 -.25 left and +.25 right
No dryness, solid night vision. Hope it stays this way.
Gluck all!
Newbie
Jan 21, 2010
4 posts
8 upvotes
Toronto
My Optometrist recommended going to either Bochner or TLC. I'm not sure which one to pick? Any thoughts on who's best to go with? I'm skeptical of Bochner because of their bankruptcy in 2009, but open to hearing about everyone else's experience with either clinic.
Newbie
Feb 6, 2013
1 posts
Greater Sudbury
LasikMDVision wrote: LASIK MD always offers a lowest price guarantee on comparable technology. In this case, over the course of the Groupon deal, we matched the Groupon price and included a lifetime Vision Care Plan.

With regards to technology, LASIK MD doesn’t just offer new technology, but equipment that is clinically proven to give excellent outcomes. Our Toronto clinic is outfitted with the industry leader in excimer lasers, the Bausch & Lomb Z100. A US FDA clinical study has shown that this laser yields excellent outcomes. With the Bausch & Lomb Z100 laser, 99.7% of patients achieved 20/40 vision (the level required to drive a car without glasses) or better, while 91.5% of patients achieved 20/20 vision or better. The majority of procedures performed at LASIK MD clinics are done with the Bausch & Lomb Z100 laser – which Clearview Laser Institut does not have – because our surgeons prefer the results.

Hi, I am going for my Lasik on Feb 20th at the Lasik MD in Winnipeg, which type of technology do they have. I am going for the custom wavefront Lasik
Deal Expert
Mar 22, 2004
16012 posts
7476 upvotes
RFD
There is some news today I saw on Global news about a laser eye surgery patient having it done but having it go wrong, regrets ever doing it. Heres a snippet 16x9 did: http://www.globalnews.ca/video/index.ht ... cVfN#video

I have to look at the episode but I always had laser eye surgery on my to do lists, Im 25 and hate the annoyance of wearing glasses and being only able to see in the area the eyeglass covers and having it always move and shift.

Which are the best places to go? Safest? Most long term reliable?
Member
Sep 9, 2009
265 posts
17 upvotes
Toronto
My experience is as follows:
I had wavefront with intralase lasik done yesterday at around 3pm at the downtown Toronto LasikMD. Today, at 2pm, I'm sitting here on my computer with slightly better than 20/20 vision. I just had my 'day after' followup and everything is looking fine.

The surgery was so easy. You just get in there, and stare at a laser. It goes blurry, and then a device is lowered onto your eye. There's a bit of pressure, but it's not at all painful. Then they count down from 15, and the flap is cut. You then move to another machine and watch the world go blurry as the flap is peeled back. It doesnt hurt one bit. The weirdest part of the procedure was knowing that I couldn't blink. Closing your eyes is like an escape... with this you have to sit there and bare it. It's not a problem though... if you feel dryness or discomfort you just say so. My biggest fear was having my eyes roll back, or having some sort of blink reflex when my eyes were clamped open, but there wasn't anything like that. You just sit there, and stare at a green/red laser for a few minutes.

After the surgery, I walked home, and sat in a dark room while listening to music blasting through headphones for ~12 hours straight. I followed the drop schedule religiously.

At around midnight I took the sunglasses and headphones off, opened my blinds and started crying as I looked out from my 36th floor apartment. I haven't seen the world like this since I was young. With glasses and contacts everything was always smudgy and blurry, even after visiting several optometrists. So yeah, I looked out over Toronto and could see so much of the city it was astounding.

My left eye is a little bloody from the intralase pressure, but that will go away. It feels like there's a very thin eyelash in my eyes now... I can feel it less than a dry contact. That will go away. I've noticed a few more floaters, I think... that won't go away.

I tested for better than 20/20 this morning and missed 1 letter on the bottom row. They say it will only get better. This is amazing and the procedure was cake as long as you stay calm.

edit: my procedure was ~$4,000 with the eye drops and the discount from jrychlik. Worth it so far. People seem a bit confused about them making you pay for eyedrops at LasikMD, but it's so you can include the drops in your prescription plan since most of the other process isn't covered. Fine by me.
Newbie
Jan 22, 2012
11 posts
3 upvotes
what an experience!
I agree- there IS a chance that things may go wrong. But that is so miniscule. But yes- scary. For the most part the vast majority have zero complications and are over the moon with their experience.
I was told by several places that my eyes will never reach 20/20 because they were so bad. Even with corrective lenses (contacts and glasses) my eyes were such a high prescription with a high point of astigmatism that they could, at best get me to 20/30 or 20/40 (what I am with corrective lenses).

Since my surgery in December, I had a long recovery with PRK. I could not be happier though. My eyes were a disability, no doubt.
Couldn't even see my alarm clock beside my bed in the morning.
Now, I feel so free.
This is no small thing. Laser eye can be life changing.
Do it.

neonshaun wrote: My experience is as follows:
I had wavefront with intralase lasik done yesterday at around 3pm at the downtown Toronto LasikMD. Today, at 2pm, I'm sitting here on my computer with slightly better than 20/20 vision. I just had my 'day after' followup and everything is looking fine.

The surgery was so easy. You just get in there, and stare at a laser. It goes blurry, and then a device is lowered onto your eye. There's a bit of pressure, but it's not at all painful. Then they count down from 15, and the flap is cut. You then move to another machine and watch the world go blurry as the flap is peeled back. It doesnt hurt one bit. The weirdest part of the procedure was knowing that I couldn't blink. Closing your eyes is like an escape... with this you have to sit there and bare it. It's not a problem though... if you feel dryness or discomfort you just say so. My biggest fear was having my eyes roll back, or having some sort of blink reflex when my eyes were clamped open, but there wasn't anything like that. You just sit there, and stare at a green/red laser for a few minutes.

After the surgery, I walked home, and sat in a dark room while listening to music blasting through headphones for ~12 hours straight. I followed the drop schedule religiously.

At around midnight I took the sunglasses and headphones off, opened my blinds and started crying as I looked out from my 36th floor apartment. I haven't seen the world like this since I was young. With glasses and contacts everything was always smudgy and blurry, even after visiting several optometrists. So yeah, I looked out over Toronto and could see so much of the city it was astounding.

My left eye is a little bloody from the intralase pressure, but that will go away. It feels like there's a very thin eyelash in my eyes now... I can feel it less than a dry contact. That will go away. I've noticed a few more floaters, I think... that won't go away.

I tested for better than 20/20 this morning and missed 1 letter on the bottom row. They say it will only get better. This is amazing and the procedure was cake as long as you stay calm.

edit: my procedure was ~$4,000 with the eye drops and the discount from jrychlik. Worth it so far. People seem a bit confused about them making you pay for eyedrops at LasikMD, but it's so you can include the drops in your prescription plan since most of the other process isn't covered. Fine by me.
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
31271 posts
17295 upvotes
Had PRK done at King LASIK in mid January.
I can see fairly well now, but clarity isn't great.

So far: Best thing I've ever done.
Newbie
Dec 22, 2006
53 posts
68 upvotes
Toronto
Going in for LASIK tomorrow at the Bochner Eye Institute! So excited... just wanted to say thanks to everyone that posted in this forum, definitely answered a lot of my questions and concerns leading up to this.

Quick summary of my situation:

I am 26 years old, and have been using Orthokeratology Contacts for the past 8 or 9 years of my life. Prior to that, I had been wearing glasses probably since Grade 7. Orthokeratology (also known as Ortho-K) is a type of hard contact lens that you wear to sleep which reshapes your cornea and when you take them off when you wake up, you can see without any help. This was great for me at the time I started them because I hated wearing contact lens and my Optometrist recommended this solution to my parents. What made me discontinue them was due to the following reasons:

1. This type of solution is expensive (having to purchase new lens from time to time). Purchasing solutions and cleaners.
2. Inconsistent vision, if you do not get a good nights sleep (atleast 6hrs) - vision is not as good.
3. The upkeep, having to clean them, insert and remove everyday, carrying so many extra things when traveling, etc.

So finally, in November of 2012, I decided to inquire about laser vision correction. I did some research online at first which brought me to this forum as well as many other sources. Not many reviews or stories have been posted about Ortho-K users going to laser so I figure this may help some others in my situation. I went to see my Optometrist who gladly allowed me to discontinue use of the Ortho-K lens. He said in order for you to even be eligible to have a consultation, you'll need atleast 3 months without Ortho-K lenses so that my eyes can go back to its natural shape. So during the transition period, he gave me many different pairs of soft contact lenses as my prescription settled. It stabilized at -7.5 for the left eye, -6.5 for the right eye, and no noted astigmatism. I had developed a small eye infection probably from using the soft contact lenses all the time and wearing them too long was also causing my eyes to feel dry. So I decided to purchase a pair of glasses at this time because 1 week prior to surgery, they recommend to be completely off any type of contact lenses to ensure your eyes are at their natural form. Made sense.

I had booked a consultation with the Bochner Eye Institute in November because they were referred to me from my Optometrist. (I know they get a referral bonus etc. but that doesn't really bother me) After doing more research on them, they seem to be a very well respected centre for this type of surgery and the current Ophthalmologist, Dr. Raymond Stein, has a lot of experience in this field. So my consultation date was on January 17th. The staff performed a series of tests to confirm my prescription, overall eye health, shape, corneal thickness, pupil size, etc. After the tests were complete, I met with a lady named Kristin, who discussed my results and told me I am a great candidate for LASIK. (I was really excited!). She said to be safe, I should wait until the end of February or Beginning of March to do the surgery just to give my eyes extra time to settle from using Ortho-K. During this wait time, if my left eye's prescription worsens, she said they may have to consider PRK instead. Apparently, the higher your prescription, the more tissue you need to remove so to be safe, that would be the recommended procedure. So she discussed the fee for the procedure which is a standard $5400.00 for either LASIK or PRK. I selected a surgery date of March 1st, at 2:00PM.

** Note: Forgot this is RFD so I am using a coupon from Venngo to get $800.00 off, which means the procedure is only $4600.00. To get this deal, you need to sign up for a 1 year subscription with Venngo's myperks membership which costs $40.00. $40.00 to save $800.00? No brainer right?

So between then and now, I have been doing more research about the procedure and psyching myself up for this because as we all know, this can really change your life. A couple of days ago, I went in to see my own Optometrist who checked my eyes and said my prescription had actually gotten a little better probably due to wearing glasses over soft contact lenses which were causing my eyes to become dry. He also inserted Tear Duct Plugs into my lower tear ducts to help retain eye moisture throughout the healing process which is something my Optometrist likes to do with all his patients going in for this surgery. I did some research on these plugs and it makes sense to me why to use them. But he also said stay on top of your drops post-op and do not let your eyes dry out. Apparently, I have bigger than average tear ducts so one of the plugs had fallen out yesterday but my Optometrist was very keen on making sure I came back to see him today so he could re-insert a new one.

I have been trying my best to be eating healthy to promote a better healing and making sure I'm having food that contains omega 3 fatty acids which are apparently really good for your eyes! I am setting up thicker curtains in my condo to keep the place as dark as possible and my girlfriend has agreed to help me through all of this as I heal and recover. (keeping me company the day of, post-op care: eye drops etc.) I would definitely recommend having someone help you stay on top of the eye drop regiment as I think its pretty crucial to recovery.

I spoke with my cousin during Chinese New Year, who is now in her late 30s, had LASIK/PRK (yes LASIK in one eye, PRK in the other) about 9 years ago and had it done with Herzig and it was the best thing shes ever done. No issues at all. Told me she took 2 weeks off after the surgery at home with all the windows covered and husband being religious with eye drops and had zero complications. Another cousin had also had LASIK done a few months ago and says its the best thing ever and is very excited for me to do mine.

I am nervous and excited at the same time but we'll see how it goes tomorrow! (pun intended)

I will post my experiences at some point to give an update. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask them!

- Mike
Deal Addict
May 24, 2008
2799 posts
259 upvotes
Vancouver
It's too bad it's so expensive, then again it makes sense.

Someone recently told me they had it done cheaply, but their vision isn't perfect.

Maybe the higher price is better to get a better quality doctor...? Or laser?
Newbie
Mar 17, 2013
3 posts
Hi I have my surgery booked with LasikMD Mississauga on May 2nd with Dr. Silvera, I am really excited, but unsure of whether to do all laser or not? Does anyone have any suggestions about the differences or which is better?
Newbie
Jul 11, 2010
52 posts
3 upvotes
has anyone considered going to the US for surgery? To buffalo? Also, anyone up to see if we can swing a group deal somewhere in the GTA? bockner?
Sr. Member
Nov 29, 2006
996 posts
83 upvotes
Hey guys

I went for an appointment this past week at LASIK MD in Hamilton. Found out I qualify for both the custom wavefront (advanced 1900 per eye) and the standard (990 per eye)

They recommended the standard because my eyes are pretty healthy ( 3.5 in right and 2.5 in left ) average sized eyes.

Two questions....

1. Anyone have any discounts available?
2. My gut is telling me to go with the cheaper option ( half the price) but my head is telling me not to sacrifice when it comes to my eyes and to go with the advanced one.....So anyone go with the standard one? If so how do you feel now?

Again I'm leaning towards the custom wavefront but I'd like to get some opinions...


Thanks in advance!

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