Getting really nervous.... - Lasik Eye Surgery Message Board

Skylar_ · 09-16-2007, 06:13 PM

My Intralase is scheduled for 10/3 and to this point I've felt good about my decision. But I am getting REALLY nervous as the date draws near. I have this irrational fear of permanently worse vision or blindness. In doing some internet searches I've come across another site with some really negative views of Lasik and it's scary. I've talked to ~15 people who've actually had the surgery and not one of them regrets the decision.

Were others nervous and having irrational fears of making a big mistake?? I have complete faith in my surgeon and even got a second opinion, so I think I'm a candidate. I know it's just fear of the unknown but I'd love to hear if others had this! What's the deal with other sites who are so anti-Lasik?

mymorocks · 09-17-2007, 04:30 AM

I was very excited up until the day of surgery, then I was so nervous I felt sick to my stomach. I think it's normal to feel anxious and to fear the unknown. As with any surgery, there is risk involved. I think the reason we find more negative things about it on line is because the unfortunate ones who have problems with it want to let everyone know about it whereas the majority who do not have problems aren't posting about their experience.

nugeme · 09-17-2007, 04:47 AM

Yes- I remember feeling the same way you do for the couple of weeks before surgery. I'm only a little over one month post op and I've had a bit of a rough time so at this point I'm one of those who probably would not do it over. I might feel differently a few months down the road. I don't think you need to worry about blindness as a complication but I would tell you not to set your sites too high. It can sometimes be a long recovery before you get the vision you want. A lot of us don't get up out of the chair with 20/20 vision. I wish the best and please let us know how things go.

mcr285 · 09-17-2007, 01:46 PM

i was absolutely TERRIFIED of getting lasik! but my husband really wanted me to do it and i really was getting sick of contacts and glasses.... plus, close to 10 years ago, my best friend had lasik done and had 20/20 vision as a result and she has been telling me ever since then to get it done. and when she had it done, the technology was so different and not quite as advanced as it is today! so i always told her i'd give her at least 5 years to go blind before i'd even consider it.... and since she still had 20/20 vision, back in november when i started really thinking about it, i told my husband to research it all and let me know what he could find. well, he only found POSITIVE things about it, so i knew he didn't search it right, and i looked it up myself, and i found all the negative sites you mentioned.... yeah. scared me to death!

so i wrote down all the negative things i read, and brought them with me when i went in for my consult. they answered all my questions, showed me the actual stats for the doctor who would be doing the surgery - like how many patients needed enhancements, who ended up with less than 20/20 but couldn't get an enhancement, and how many people ended up horribly blinded from lasik.... the numbers for the first two were suprisingly low, like maybe one or two for each, and the third one was zero. nobody was blinded or had worse vision from having lasik done from this doctor. that's not to say it doesn't happen though....

i think if you read those anti-lasik sites carefully, a lot of them are written by people who didn't research their doctor very well.... a couple of them i know, had lasik done in one of those portable trailers that go from city to city performing cheap lasik! that's where the rule "you get what you pay for" really comes in to play!

long story short (or less long, anyway), lasik is a scary thing. you are messing with your eyesight, which is pretty crucial for leading a normal life (yeah, i'm sure that's not very PC to say, and a blind person would probably be furious if they read this.... oh yeah.... that's kind of my point, isn't it?). but if did your research and you have a good doctor, you should be just fine.

just don't buy into all the next day 20/20 hype, because it generally takes 2-3 months before your vision really stablizes (it can take up to 6 months!) and your eyes fully heal. if you go back and look at my other earlier posts here on this board, you can read about my lasik recovery and all the FUN i had with it (that was sarcasm, BTW!). but my vision was -5.25 before lasik, and now it's 20/12.5 in both eyes, so i'm happy with it, i recommend it to everyone i know, and i'd definitely do it all again!

DollBaby24 · 09-17-2007, 10:17 PM

I wasn't very nervous leading up to it, but the day of I was terrified. When they had me lay down on the table, one of the nurses noticed that I was sweating and very warm. The valium didn't really work for me. I was nervous that they were going to mess something up and that my vision would be even worse because they made a mistake. But I had a very good surgery perform my surgery and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Also, like someone else posted, don't expect to get up off the table and see 20/20. It will take a couple of hours for your vision not to be blurry, and it will take 3-6 months for your vision to stabalize. It took me about 3 1/2 months for my eyes to feel completely comfortable throughout the day. My vision was perfect pretty much from the day after surgery, it just took a few months for my eyes to not feel dry constantly. But as I said, I don't regret it and I would do it again if I had to make the decision over.
About the anti lasik people...have you ever heard that old saying where if you have a good experience you might tell one person, but if you have a bad experience you tell EVERYBODY? That's what's happened there. Sure there are people who have Lasik and have terrible results. But if you go to a good surgeon and they tell you you're a good candidate and you follow all their instructions, you should have good results.