One year ago today I underwent LASIK surgery (don’t click on the link unless you’re not afraid of close-up images of eyeballs!)
So far so good! No issues. No haloing or dry eye any worse than what I had with contacts. I have my last post-surgery checkup next week.
What was your visual acuity before and after the procedure? Has it changed at all in the year since?
Before the surgery I was 20:Shitty. I don’t know what my vision rating was, but by contacts prescriptions were -5.25 and -4.75. I had to hold a book about 6 inches in front of me to read it, without glasses or contacts. Now, I’m at 20:20 or a trifle better (in my left eye). The only variation during the year was expected alterations due to swelling. That went away after about 6 weeks. I was using eye drops for dryness (again, expected side effect) for about 6 weeks, but then I quit entirely. Overall, I think it was a complete success, but I’ll let the doctor tell me that next week.
For posterity sake, the total cost of this procedure, plus one year’s checkups, was $3,860. That’s two-eyeballs’ worth. There were additional expenses after the fact for the medicated drops and the artificial tears. I probably spent another $150 just on the tears. A ball park estimate would be about $4,100. This was all covered by Flex Spending, so it’s tax free money! Assuming the same expenses that I had before the surgery (contacts, glasses, etc.) I’ll break even in 11 years. That doesn’t count any lifestyle effects, of course, which means (to me) that I broke even in about 6 weeks.