i have had glasses for the past 6 years and keep losing, breaking, scratching, or bending them. ive gone through about 5 pairs and at about 250 a pop, thats quite a bit. so after scratching my last pair, ive decided to take plunge and do lasik. im not too familiar w/ it, but would like to know how it works. anybody have this done? how much does it cost? ive been told 1400-2500. and can anybody rec. anyone in the chicago land area?

thanks,
Ivan

 

i had it done over a year ago
best thing i ever did
wish i did way sooner then i did
i live in Cleveland, Ohio http://www.clearchoicelaser.com/default.asp
this site has tons of information

 

I did mine a year ago and wish I had done it 10 yrs ago. I used a guy in Hindale, I'll look up the info when I get home Monday night.

I encourage you to visit 2 or 3 places, to see who you like best. Then I'd do it on a late friday afternoon, so you can just go home and sleep off the post op, then wake up Sat and enjoy your new life. Oh, avoid, things like tennis or baseball for months, it took me 6 months to get my eye to track that yellow ball after my lasik.

 

I had my eyes done in 1996 in Kansas City. Best money I have ever spent. The process has improved a great deal in the last ten years as well. I live in Wisconsin now and I know of a great DR. in Madison.

 

i had it done about 3 years ago, love it would never go back to glasses

 

I had mine done the week before AMVIV last year. It was the best money I have ever spent. I live in the KC area and it was about $1500 per eye.

 

I contemplated having the surgery for about 15 years when radial keratotomy was the rage. As technology improved and prices became more reasonable, I hem-hawed and procrastinated until I finally made up my mind to do it last year. I talked to several places and got referrals from a lot of people before deciding on the Laser Eye Center in Costa Mesa. They were great. They prepared me so I knew exactly what to expect. I elected to have the Wavefront all laser (bladeless) procedure done. Although it was much more expensive than the straight Lasik, I wanted the best. And my favorite thing was the recovery room - their office is next door to Hooters! After each follow-up exam, I visited Hooters just to make sure my eyes were working correctly!

It’s been a year and I can't even tell you how much it has changed my life! I know it sounds stupid to hear people say that because you think, "I can see fine while wearing my glasses so how much different can it be?" The answer is A LOT!

Glasses offer only a limited focal range and are a compromise so that, providing your prescription is correct, you can see relatively clear during the widest range of conditions. Correcting your eyesight addresses the problem rather than treating a symptom.

It changed my life in that I no longer suffer the horrible headaches and nausea I used to get while wearing glasses. While on my way to the follow up exam the day after my surgery, I could not only see the trees but the details of the branches & leaves and the birds in them. I could read traffic signs ahead in the distance. I noticed things in my neighborhood that I never did, even after living here for most of my life.

 

thanks for the replies, very helpful. so is everybody else paying around 1500 an eye? im gonna call some places after work 2day.

 

That's about right.

 

I've contemplated doing this for years, but I know of two people who have had surprises after the surgery. One of my friends now needs reading glasses for close work, and the other no longer drives at night because of star patterns created by bright lights. BTW, both of these people still love having the lasik correction, but these potential problems were never discussed with them before the surgery.

I'm not trying to put a negative slant on this, but I would like to know what the percentage of problems vs. no problems is after surgery.

Thanks,
John

 

Rosen Eye Care in Northbrook and Morton Grove. Very good and reliable, can't figure out why I didn't do it earlier in life.

 

I had it done 3 years ago. I agree, best thing I've ever done. I was starting to have problems wearing my contacts (kept getting styes...or however you spell it) and my kids loved to break my glasses. I've never had a problem and I now have 20/10 vision.

I made sure the place I got mine done (Mann-Berkeley in Houston) had the laser tracking (in case your eye moves) and the custom map thingy. It was about $1100 an eye.

 

I heard something about your eyes changing and needing "adjusting". my uncle got it done about 3 years ago at a place in oakbrook and goes back once a year to get his eyes checked out. if your eyes need an adjustment, its covered for your lifetime. and if your not 20/20 or better after surgery, you dont pay. i went to a place in yorkville called Brenart Eye Clinic and was told i was a good candidate for lasik. it would be 2800 for both eyes and i get only 1 adjustment if needed within 1 year. but she said that i might need more than one adjustment due to my age (20). she says my eyes might still be changing/developing, making a need for adjusting. so i guess my options are wait til im a lil older, or go to somewhere like the place in oakbrook that offers lifetime checkups/adjustments. what y'all think?

 

I've heard the best place to go is Kraff Eye Institute in downtown Chicago. That that's where a lot of doctors and nurses go to get their eyes done.

 

Best money I ever spent bar none. I went from 20/80 and 20 /100 to 20/20 and 20/30. Cost 4 k but now I can see every pebble on the track so I call it a performance mod

 

By brother and his family got it last year, they loves it, but they do have to wear reading glasses for reading. My brother was watching the news on Monday and saw there is new procedure out to correct that now also.

 

I had this done about two years ago and can't say I'm excited as some of you other people. I always needed glasses for distance as well as reading. When I was wearing glasses I put them on in the morning and had progressive lenses that were photo sun coated. So in effect I had distance, reading, and sun covered all at once. Now that I have had the eye surgury my distance is fine but they can only fix one side of the spectrum. So now I walk around with a set of reading glasses around my neck and always have a pair of sun glasses available when in the bright sun. It seems that my light sensitivity to bright sun is more bothersum now. Maybe because I always had photo sun in my glasses for the past twenty years. So bottom line is I now carry more sets of glasses than I ever did. Best of luck Steve