Received: from opus.hpl.hp.com by jr.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.24/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA012172612; Thu, 7 Oct 1999 14:43:32 -0700 Return-Path: <dveach@basisinc.com-DeleteThis> Received: from hplms26.hpl.hp.com by opus.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.24/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA172902610; Thu, 7 Oct 1999 14:43:30 -0700 Received: from smtp.eng.BASISinc.com (zeus.BASISinc.com [192.135.132.58]) by hplms26.hpl.hp.com (8.9.1a/HPL-PA Relay) with ESMTP id OAA15433 for <wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis>; Thu, 7 Oct 1999 14:43:29 -0700 (PDT) Received: from shortboard.basisinc.com ([192.135.132.60]) by smtp.eng.BASISinc.com (Netscape Messaging Server 3.6) with SMTP id AAAB8F for <wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis>; Thu, 7 Oct 1999 14:36:32 -0700 From: "David Veach" <dveach@basisinc.com-DeleteThis> To: "Wind_Talk" <wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> Subject: RE: LASIK Surgery? Date: Thu, 7 Oct 1999 14:35:16 -0700 Message-Id: <001201bf110b$d87c4b00$3c8487c0@shortboard.basisinc.com-DeleteThis> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2173.0 Importance: Normal In-Reply-To: <199910042032.NAA14448@interval.interval.com-DeleteThis> X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3
Justin, et. al,
I had RK done back in Jan 1993 and I can say with out a doubt, not having to
wear glasses for my sporting activities is a joy. The procedure I had (RK)
is much different than either PRK or LASIK (which were not available then)
however the results are similar and I can attest to the comments Pierre made
below. I don't think anybody does RK anymore because it is so much more
invasive.
My wife worked for VISX, one of the two main manufacturers (and the most
successful) of the laser systems used in these procedures. She was there
during the clinical trials and the inital FDA aprovals a few years back. I
can tell you through my own experience and the knowledge I gained through
her, you absolutely must do your homework! Investigate both PRK and LASIK.
Make sure you get an understanding of the procedures and the
benefits/disadvantages of each one. If the doctor doesn't seem to know,
shop around. You need to talk to as many doctors as you can anyway to get
the different opinions and then form your own. It's _your_ eyes man!
One thing to keep in mind is different people have much different
"sensitivities" when it comes to their eyes. I got very used to the anoying
feeling of dust or dirt in my eyes with contacts and such so that the
recovery process, probably even harder with RK, was no big deal. I did mine
on a Thursday before a 3-day weekend, took Friday off, and was back to work
on Tuesday.
For me it was a matter of convenience that outweighed the risks. I
windsurf, waterski, scuba, and I hated dealing with glasses all the time and
I constantly lost contact lenses. My vision was not good and the RK got me
close to 20/20 but not quite. It does drop at night and I usually wear a
pair of glasses for night driving. I knew my vision would not be perfect
and there would be other artifacts of the surgury. I made the choice and so
far it has been a positive one. In 20 years when I'm in my late 50's, well,
who knows. Only time will tell.
- dave veach
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis [mailto:wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis]On
> Behalf Of Pierre St. Hilaire
> Sent: Monday, October 04, 1999 1:39 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: Re: LASIK Surgery?
>
>
> Justin
>
> I have had the procedure exactly one year ago (between windsurfing and ski
> season) and I have mixed feelings about it. I have now a vision of 20/20
> (still a bit of myopia and astigmatism) during the day, but it probably
> goes down to 20/40 at night (I could drive without glasses but prefer to
> wear them at night). It is great to almost never wear glasses
> anymore. On
> the other hand, my maximum acuity has diminished somewhat - meaning that
> even when wearing glasses now I do not get the same acuity I was getting
> with my previous prescription before surgery.
>
> The thing you should know about is that LASIK corrects myopia at the
> expense of introducing other aberrations in the eye (such as spherical
> aberration) which are not correctable by glasses ot contact lenses. Which
> means that you will probably not get the visual accuracy after the surgery
> (even with glasses) that you had before. This is especially noticeable in
> low light conditions when the eye pupil is wide.
>
> The doctors doing the procedure are also rather disinformative when it
> comes to the recovery. Even a year after the procedure my eyes feel much
> more sensitive to dryness than they were before. The operation performed
> on me was done by a very good eye surgeon and did not suffer from
> complications. But it felt uncomfortable for a good two months after
> surgery (a bit like getting used to contact lenses).
>
> The claims that you can go back to work 48 hours after surgery are
> bullshit, at least if you use a computer at work. If you have surgery I
> would take at least at least two weeks off to let your eyes heal a bit.
> Working on a computer or watching T.V is especially hard.
>
> You should consider getting prescription sunglasses if your main
> problem is
> with sailing, since anyway you should always wear sunglassses for outdoor
> activities in the sun (prevents cataracts in the long term). I must say
> that for skiing not having to wear glasses under my gogggles is quite
> liberating.
>
> I woud either wait until new laser procedures that use more sophisticated
> wavefront sensing and correction are available (a few years), or if your
> myopia is less than 3 diopters you should consider the reversible
> procedure
> that uses a ring (its trade name is INTACS) that has FDA approval.
>
> Pierre St. Hilaire
> Interval Research Corp.
>
>
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