Hypochondria as a legitimate hobby

[ophy]

Creating this to keep health stuff separate from beauty stuff.

Y'all know as we get older and our bodies starts falling apart, we are going to need a place to store all of my fears about teh cancer.

So! getting a lasik consult tomorrow. I assume they are going to tell me I am not a candidate for the procedure. I *hope* they are going to tell me that, because I don't want to actually sign up for the surgery, but I'm sick and tired of people (my mother) nagging me about checking into it.

Anyone here had it done? Lasers freak me out.

[LaaLaa]

My friend just got the other, non-LASIK thingy done. She said it's the procedure athletes tend to choose because it doesn't leave the, uh, the eye flap (Gross gross gross), but that means a lifetime of eye drops at regular intervals. She's seriously the bravest person I know, because the very idea of staring into a laser that is shaving your eyeball is I don't even know.

[vanessa]

My ex husband had it done, he was one of the first people I knew to do it. It was super-easy for him and made a huge difference in his vision, but now years later, he needs glasses again. Just not as desperately as he did before, but what the doctor told him is that they were reducing his dependence on glasses, but middle age will still mess you up. (not his exact words)

[jennchum]

LASIK is one of my biggest fears. It FUHreaks me out just to think about it. YUK. However, everyone I know that has done it says they are glad they did, and it was nbd.

I don't believe them.

I know this is ridiculously unhelpful.

You're welcome.

ETA: LASIK is almost as gross as Nicolas Cage. So, well done with this thread! Hee.

[LaaLaa]

I know, right! Whatafuckingnightmare.

[isadora]

I've heard you should get it down just before 40 for the best middle-age/failing eyesight outcome.

I don't really understand getting it unless you wear the coke bottle glasses of yore.

[Res]

if I had the money it would be something I'd be interested in getting done because I really don't like bi-focals (but they are way better than multi-focals). But side effects worry me. The one I remember hearing is that it makes night blindness worse.
Mostly I'm cheap - I'd hate to have it done and then need glasses again.

[vanessa]

It makes night blindness worse for some people, including my ex. He got used to it, but it basically made him have halos around lights at night. They say that is worse for blue-eyed men (why men is beyond me).

[ophy]

I will probably need glasses regardless, I know that bit. I wouldn't do it to get rid of wearing glasses entirely, I'm considering it to make wearing glasses bearable (and affordable again.)

I (think) I have myopia, presbyopia, astigmatism, reverse astigmatism (is this a thing?), and double vision. My glasses have to have a complicated prism in them, and my prescription is nearly impossible for anyone to get right. The lenses alone cost me almost $900. I can't get my glasses done at Lenscrafters or Walmart, they have to be specialized every time, and the prescription changes every couple of years. I haven't had glasses I could *really* see well out of in almost ten years, and I can't wear contacts at all. So the idea is to check with the lasik people and see if they could make just *one* aspect of my stupid eyes better, because perhaps that will make creating glasses I can actually use a little easier.

Also, I'm so myopic that it's kind of unsafe. The kids want to go swimming or go to the beach, but with my glasses off I can't even tell which kids are mine, let alone who is drowning. And! Every time I have to get new glasses, I also have to get new prescription sunglasses (another $1,000), so I can't afford to get a new pair of back-up glasses as well . . . so if a pair breaks I'm too blind to function as a human being at all.

Anyway, my eyes are crap. But I think they are going to tell me no on lasik fixing my myopia because of the thing where my prescription changes every two years.

Double vision, by the way, sucks balls. I've had it for ten years, and it's getting worse every year. It causes things way worse than halos, and they can't fix it with lasers. I can't drive a car because of it, so night vision doesn't matter much to me. Besides, I don't have decent night vision now.


I would not even talk to these people if I wasn't so crazy desperate. My dad had cataract surgery last year where they sliced his eyes with lasers and inserted actual lenses with his prescription encoded in them, and he described the procedure over the phone to me and I threw up. It's so freaky freaky gross. But! He also says it was the best money he ever spent and he wishes he'd done it much sooner.

[LaaLaa]

Gah! I wish whatever's best for your eyeballs and I'll add you to my list of bravery. I can't make out faces without my glasses either. Reading in the dark, hours of TV up close, and sleeping with a nightlight probably made me super nearsighted with an astigmatism (one eye is the kind that sort of reverses itself over time, so I think that's a thing!), but one eye is turrible. I still get regular glasses with thick lenses. However, the contact situation is a lengthy wait for expensive, quarterly contacts.

[vanessa]

Both of my parents had the lens insertion cataract surgery. I was actually able to see it happen over closed-circuit tv in the surgeon's office. Weird! But it does wonders for the old set.

[ophy]

Yikes, they said I was a great candidate.

They might be able to fix everything except the double vision and the mild presbyopia (I will be 20/20!!??), and my surgery is scheduled for next month.

FREAKING BLOODY HELL.

[emmaleigh]

My ex husband had it done, he was one of the first people I knew to do it. It was super-easy for him and made a huge difference in his vision, but now years later, he needs glasses again. Just not as desperately as he did before, but what the doctor told him is that they were reducing his dependence on glasses, but middle age will still mess you up. (not his exact words)

Substitute V's ex with my brother-in-law and story is exact same. He got it done in 2000 I think and now has to wear glasses occasionally but not with frequency he did before Lasik. He probably had 10-12 years of no glasses wearing. He'll be 41 next month.

I only did contacts once for a very short period of time but I need to look into them again because I've become more and more dependent on my glasses and it'd be nice not to have to wear them for formal occasions. I'm like Laa, I can't make out faces at all without them and I really hate/avoid driving at night.
Prescription sunglasses changed my life though and I can't praise them enough.

[ophy]

I was actually able to see it happen over closed-circuit tv in the surgeon's office.

My dad has his surgery on a DVD and he is FASCINATED by it. So bizarre. Nobody will agree to watch it with him.

According to the surgeon, I'm old enough that middle age won't fuck with my eyes too much more, apparently. I've aged into it. But occasionally, people come back to have adjustments made years later.

One of the docs does vision therapy, and she told me there are certain exercises that can halt the double vision or even FIX it. Which has me extra freaked out. If the surgery goes well, I will be wearing clear lenses that just have a prism in them to correct for the double vision. If I can exercise away the double vision, I won't need glasses or contacts or anything until I eventually need reading glasses. So so so so freaky. I have been wearing glasses since I was six, so just the idea that 'crappy eyesight' won't be part of my identity anymore has me unsettled.

If I'm not a bookish girl who wears glasses, then . . . ??

[gloopdygleep]

I JUST picked up my first pair of bifocals (or maybe they are trifocals, I don't even know) on Monday and it's weird weird weird to have to adjust my head so that the distance I'm looking at is in the right part of my glasses lens instead of just moving my eyes. Like, if I'm looking in the distance I have to tilt my chin down so that I'm looking through the top part of the lens or things are blurry. Apparently as a shortish person the natural position of my head is to tilt my chin up a bit because I have to keep making myself hold my head level or everything I look at is blurry because it's through the part of the lens for close up reading.

This is a real pain in the ass.

Congrats on the news ophy! I know you're probably scared shitless, but imagine how nice it will be to actually SEE!!