Category: Vision Health

My Day for Lasik Surgery

This story is for my family and friends who wonder what it is like to go through a Lasik vision correction procedure. I’ve shared my experiences with one or two colleagues at work that have also had Lasik done, and there are enough variations to give insight to those who are trying to choose between different Lasik physicians or different Lasik centers.

First, my Lasik procedure was scheduled for 4 PM in the afternoon, which was fine with me. One of the directions for patient that has just had a Lasik procedure was to go to sleep as soon as possible, in order for the healing process to begin as quickly as possible. And usually by the end of the afternoon I am too tired after working all day to be very nervous. Well, usually anyway.

I had only been there a few minutes when I was called into a room to prepare me for the Lasik procedure, and to get instructions (again!) on how to care for my eyes once the Lasik vision correction has been done. They offered me some Ativan, which is a mild sedative just to keep me calm during the Lasik process. The lasers themselves monitor any head or eye movement and turn themselves off when it occurs, so it isn’t that the sedative is for anything other than psychological reasons. I took it anyway. All of my colleagues at work also took it, though none of us really felt any different than we did before. Apparently it is a VERY mild sedative.

My eyes were prepared for the Lasik procedure by being dosed with eye numbing drops and some kind of medication. I cannot be sure of the other pre-operative steps, as I think I was trying very hard not to think about either Lasik or my eyes. Perhaps the sedative was a bit stronger than I imagined it was.

At this point I was escorted into another room for some time, where I sat back, listened to the piped-in music, and awaited my turn in the Lasik operating room. There were two other people waiting with me in this room, so apparently my doctor different setup for his Lasik patients than my colleagues. Both were alone in their pre-op rooms until they were escorted into the room where the Lasik procedure was actually performed.

As to the Lasik procedure itself, all of us have similar memories from this procedure. Each of us felt some pressure when the various Lasik implements were used on our eyes, though there wasn’t any real discomfort or pain. There was a blurring of vision for the eye being worked on, but the real sensation was mainly audio – the whirring and clicks of the machine. One of my colleagues also remembers a distinct smell, somewhat reminiscent of hair burning. There may have been a slight smell during my Lasik procedure, but it wasn’t significant enough for my attention to be focused on it.

After a short amount of time, my Lasik physician said he was done and that I had been a good patient. In all of our Lasik experiences, the operation itself was much easier than all of our worries about it beforehand. I hope this helps those of you considering having a Lasik procedure done.

Meet a Lasik Pioneer!

One of the first publicized physicians that perform the Lasik eye corrective operation was Dr. Boothe, of Dallas Texas. He has performed the Lasik operation for a number of different clients, including members of the NFL Dallas Cowboys football team. There are countless testimonials of how satisfied his Lasik clients were with the surgery, even a number of years later.

One of the important considerations for any doctor is kindness, and Dr Boothe’s Lasik patients comment on this trait after their procedures. They all agree that Dr. Boothe made them feel very relaxed about the procedure, and took time to answer any and all questions that they might have. This is especially important with the Lasik process, as eye health is crucially important, and confidence in the doctor makes considering the Lasik option much more feasible.

Dr. Boothe became a specialist of the eye, and especially the cornea, in 1987.

He has performed more than 80,000 Lasik laser vision corrections in that time. He has also contributed to the field of expanding Lasik practice, with the new VISX three dimensional wavefront procedures. These procedures are especially useful for those people with unusual configurations of their eyes.

One of the other newer Lasik procedures uses only the laser, instead of the usual Lasik operation using both scalpel and laser. He is the leader in the performance of this field, and has done more than 45,000 of these operations. This type of Lasik procedure holds new promise for the field, and should be investigated by anyone considering any type of Lasik procedure.

Looking at some of Dr. Boothe’s background will help prospective Lasik clients to look for a physician of similar quality in their area. Dr. Boothe’s center itself is located in the Dallas metropolitan area, but there are many fine doctors that practice Lasik procedures in all parts of the country. He has taught a number of other surgeons in the technique, and so one question that should be asked is where the physician received his training in the Lasik procedure, and which doctors taught the technique.

A most critical part of traditional Lasik surgery is using the microkeratome to make and lift a flap in the eye. Dr. Boothe’s love of medicine and absorption in furthering the techniques used in Lasik make him a pioneer in the field of ophthalmology. He is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, and emphasizes that any patient should check the board certification for any physician they are considering for performing the Lasik procedure in addition to standard medical certifications, such as the American Medical Association.

One reason that Dr. Boothe entered the field of Lasik surgery was because a good eye surgeon can dramatically improve the quality of life for his patients, as is attested by his many thousands of satisfied patients. The doctor that a patient selects for the Lasik procedure should have high standards for safety, accuracy, and precision. This should be reflected in the results and opinions of the patients that the doctor has. Lasik can be a life improving procedure, and careful selection of a physician in the same mold as Dr. Boothe can make it much more certain.

I Remember My Lasik Procedure

I guess I am one of the “old hands” in any Lasik online forum, in that I had my procedure more than three years ago now. I have noticed that most of the posting are from people whose Lasik vision correction was recent and did not go according to plan. I thought I might give my perspective on my Lasik adventure.

First, let me start with my current vision situation, and then work backwards to the point before Lasik where I couldn’t get around without a guide dog (no, just kidding, but it seems like such a different world from where I am now). Three years after Lasik, I have better than 20/20 vision in one eye, and 20/40 in the other eye. For those of you not familiar with Lasik, the procedure does not guarantee that everyone will end up with perfect vision.

Most competent Lasik surgeons will take time to explain what realistic expectations for the surgery are, in that vision is noticeably improved but not guaranteed to remove any dependence on glasses or contacts. My Lasik doctor was very clear on this, but I thought it would be sufficient to be able to look around my kitchen and recognize the pot that I had left on the other side of the room. My doctor said that that expectation was something he could almost guarantee, and much better than that.

Three years after the Lasik procedure, I only have one permanent side effect that I did not have before my Lasik vision correction (in addition to astoundingly better vision, I guess I should add). I do see halos around bright lights at night, but they are not really bothersome, and I have started to consider them rather pretty – kind of like the artificial twinkle TV shows can put in people’s eyes. I am glad that I am one of the more than 90% of Lasik patients who had a very successful procedure and outcome.

For several weeks after the Lasik procedure I had blurry vision when trying to focus on items very close to me (anything closer than maybe six inches, though I don’t remember precisely). I have asked my husband if he remembered me talking about any other post-op problems, such as fluctuating vision or sensitivity to light. Neither he nor I remember many problems after the Lasik procedure, though I did sleep a LOT and used the eye drops exactly as requested.

Sleep is supposed to aid healing, and my Lasik physician recommended me to sleep quite soon after the operation to get a good start on the healing process. I think I took that to an extreme, but I wanted to rest my eyes as much as possible after the Lasik procedure.
I do remember my vision getting a bit blurry after a long day (for a few months after Lasik vision correction) which may have been another reason I though sleep was a great idea.

I have been a poster child for Lasik to my friends and family, and the great results have convinced several others to schedule their own Lasik procedures. As this is the story of my Lasik process, I will let others tell their own stories. I can only say from my perspective that there were few bumps in the road, and I would recommend the Lasik process to anyone interested in improving their vision. One additional comment: choose the best surgeon in your general area, you will be glad you did!

How is Wavefront Technology Used in Lasik Vision Correction?

The wonderful results of Lasik surgery have been improved by research adding new methods, such as Wavefront technology. This technology gives a Lasik physician the ability to see and accurately map even slight variations in the surface of the eye. This gives the physician the ability to more accurately tailor a Lasik operation to the individual, and result in even clearer vision.

The concept behind Wavefront technology was originally developed by astronomers, in order to indicate if a mirror or a lens had slight imperfections in it. It is very important in astronomy to get near perfect optics in order to clearly see the small light sources million of miles away in the universe. In the 1970s a sensor was created to electronically check these surfaces, and a type of this sensor is now used in the Wavefront guided Lasik procedures.

The idea to apply this technique, or to use this sensor, to the field of ophthalmology and later to the specific area of Lasik vision correction, was begun in Germany. The physician Josef Bille began using the sensor in his practice, and this started others to refine the sensor and how it is used and to apply it to Lasik technology. In 1997 the improved sensor, with greater accuracy and speed, was announced to the Lasik laser manufacturers. This allowed the companies that manufacture the Lasik equipment to develop tools using the Wavefront concept for each of their own laser systems.

The FDA approved the first Wavefront guided Lasik vision correction system for general use. Initially, the Wavefront sensor makes a map of the eye’s imperfections, and this map is sent to the laser that is used in the Lasik vision correction portion of the operation. This allows for precise eye alteration in order for Lasik to present the best vision correction possible.

The Wavefront technology used in Lasik can be described easily at an informal level. A small, flat sheet of light (called a wavefront) is passed through the eye, reflected off of the retina, and passed back through the eye and is captured by the Wavefront machine. If the eye were perfect, the light would return as a flat sheet and be captured that way by the Lasik machine. However, any imperfections changes the way that the light returns, and this is detected by the Wavefront part of the Lasik process.

A number of these small, flat sheets of light are sent into each eye from various directions and the results returned generated a three dimensional map of the eye to be used in the Lasik vision correction process. In addition to the commonly known problems of nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, there are more than 60 other patterns that are known and can possibly be corrected for.

All of this information generated by the Lasik sensor is converted by software into a set of directions to be carried out by the Lasik excimer laser. Ask your doctor about this exciting advance in Lasik vision correction, and see if this procedure is right for you!