Hey man,

It's not that I think it's totally unsafe. It's the _gamble_ that makes me wonder.

Consider this:

If, as a result of regular surgery gone bad, or its after-effects, you lose a limb, a lung, a kidney or an ear, or a finger, or alot of skin (etc etc etc), you still get to LIVE the full life. Yeah, you're somewhat limited in your options, but you can still go out, you can still work the majority of jobs, and you can still date, you can still marry, you can SEE your life.

Once you loose your eyesight, bam, your life changes. In fact, you are DONE. Life is limited to this little world of the apartment you live in, and maybe to walks in areas where somebody is guiding you. You won't see the Eiffel Tower, nor the pyramids, or anything else really. Like I said, one little slip-up, and you're done. And eye cancer and the other after-effects, well, lets not get into that.

That's why I'm weary of the surgery. I'm not REQUIRED to get it. Glasses and contacts do the trick. Girls say I look smart in glasses. Why would I want to risk it, at least as of right now?

Sly, you're right in that this dude I know (Tom) is the first one I personally talked to that has had such strong after-effects. He's probably one out of 5 or 6 people I personally know that have had the surgery. The others rave about it. But when I do get it, I don't want to be in Tom's position.

Cheers,

-Superstring

___________________
If I had to move to a deserted island, I would take only one CD with me: Cygnus X - Superstring! Yes, recorded 20 times in a row!

quote:

Originally posted by Superstring

Yea, I would LOVE to do it, but its still not worth the risk - as small as it is.

Id rather not gamble, i dont mind glasses and contacts that much... not at the risk (no matter how tiny) that my vision might be made worse. scares me to much at that thought.

plus its not like i have the $$$ to pay for this now anyways!


Jem.

___________________
TECHNO IS THE BEST NOISE ON EARTH.
Save Techno - Stop Minimal / Tech-House

I've been thinking about getting surgery too but I think I'm gonna wait to see when they've perfected it like fixing a broken bone. My eyes are precious and I too don't mind wearing glasses/contacts on a daily basis.

___________________

The Essence of House is the Rhythm

see, the thing is in my case, I absolutely hate glasses. A lot of people say I look good with them, but at the perscription strength I'm at, I have to wear them all the time if I'm to do so, and it really gets annoying. First of all, wearing them for long periods of time gives me headaches because of the changed perception of periferal vision, and that same change in periferal vision also fucks up anything I try to do with sports. Being a fairly active person, I gets very annoying, and couple that with chasing your glasses around a gym floor everytime you get hit and it gets to be a very negative thing.

So I choose to wear contacts instead, but to combat all these issues, I wear them all the time like 14-16 hours a day. I know it's unhealthy to do so, I know it increases your risk of infection, as well as it can be detrimental to the long-term health of your eyes as it cuts down the air your eyes recieve, but I really don't see any other option which allows me the freedom from headaches, ability to be active, and have a decent level of vision.

I have yet to try out the ultra high oxygen permiable contacts that have come out recently, but the laser eye surgery has always been something I've been looking at to correct my vision to the point where I'm free of both contacts and glasses. To me, if the numbers are 95% success rate with no night vision problems, or if a clinic can offer me a guarantee of numbers along those lines, whether it be a $5 or a $5000 per eye surgery, I'll be getting that it. But before I make any solid decisions, I want to amass as much knowledge whether it be by scientific, or personal experience.

___________________
Not Everyone Understands House Music, It's a Spiritual Thing, a Body Thing, a Soul Thing

i say go for it!

too many mixed opinions, do what you feel is right!

I hate glasses, i have been wearing them most of my life, but i am sure its liberating without them, if i had the money right now i'd do it!

quote:

Originally posted by Superstring Once you loose your eyesight, bam, your life changes. In fact, you are DONE. Life is limited to this little world of the apartment you live in, and maybe to walks in areas where somebody is guiding you. You won't see the Eiffel Tower, nor the pyramids, or anything else really. Like I said, one little slip-up, and you're done. And eye cancer and the other after-effects, well, lets not get into that. -Superstring

Holy extremist!!!!

lets not go overboard here.....maybe your eyes might worsen again, but i dont think people are gonna be losing their vision anytime soon.

Ive heard only positive things from those that have had it done.
Quite frankly i dont wanna wait years. Stuggling with vision is a big enough pain in the ass as it is.

I PROPOSE A TA GROUP DISCOUNT RATE!!!

___________________
TORONTO MUST HAVE JOHANNES HEIL!!!!!

I have bene wearing glasses since I was 12 yrs old.....




and every year my eye sight gets worse and worse.

I am 24 now and I am not even considering it until at least in my 30's as I want to make sure my eyes have stopped changing before I decide to get Lazor eye surgery.

B/c nothing would suck more than if I get it done than yrs down the road I have to wear glasses again. I would just about lose my mind if that happened

___________________
"Like a song everlasting, time dances on."
"So while you struggle to catch the rhythm with your feet, ask yourself..can u really DANCE2MABEAT"

quote:

Originally posted by dance2dabeat I have bene wearing glasses since I was 12 yrs old..... and every year my eye sight gets worse and worse. I am 24 now and I am not even considering it until at least in my 30's as I want to make sure my eyes have stopped changing before I decide to get Lazor eye surgery. B/c nothing would suck more than if I get it done than yrs down the road I have to wear glasses again. I would just about lose my mind if that happened

I'm 23, and the only change in the last 8 years with my vision is a -0.25 to both eyes, happening 3 and a half years ago. The smallest increment that they'll actually give you a change of glasses for. I wouldn't have even noticed [hell I even passed an eye exams for my driver's liscence] if it weren't for my love of sitting in the back row of lecture halls.

And yeah, risking 'losing all sight' is a bit extreme. Granted there is risk in everything we do, but at some point you have to say that some things are of an acceptable level of risk, otherwise you'll just end up being completely passive and end up accomplishing nothing. As long as the doctor can give me a 'negligable' or 'minimal' level of risk in undergoing the procedure with the definition of 'success' matches with mine, then its something worth doing IMO.

___________________
Not Everyone Understands House Music, It's a Spiritual Thing, a Body Thing, a Soul Thing

^^^^^


when ur as blind as I am ...yeah it is definately worth it.

I just rather wait a little longer.

___________________
"Like a song everlasting, time dances on."
"So while you struggle to catch the rhythm with your feet, ask yourself..can u really DANCE2MABEAT"

I wear contacts. My awake time in a day is typically around 15-18 hours (meaning i sleep only about 6-7 hours a day).

To combat the issues of fucking up contacts, I wear 2 pairs:

I pair one day, then let them soak for 36 hours while wearing another pair the next day. I find this:
a) helps to keep my eyes feelin' good
b) helps keeps contacts cleaner
c) makes 'em last longer (for example, a typical month's supply lasts about 3 months with me)

Cheers,

-Superstring

___________________
If I had to move to a deserted island, I would take only one CD with me: Cygnus X - Superstring! Yes, recorded 20 times in a row!

^^^^^

yeah i used to wear contacts all the time and glasses very rarely (like ony when i first woke up in the morning)

but I think over the yrs or my eyes drying out so bad and not being able to see clearly...my vision has gotten worse.

now i wear my glasses all the time..and my contacts mainly on wknds.
my eyes are very dry to begin with.

___________________
"Like a song everlasting, time dances on."
"So while you struggle to catch the rhythm with your feet, ask yourself..can u really DANCE2MABEAT"

I actually went to the Herzig Eye Institute here in Toronto to get tested and see if I was a good candidate for the surgery (some people aren't - depends on several factors like the thickness of your corneas for instance). I was eligible, but still haven't gone for the surgery.

The cost was $2500 per eye and this is for what they call "high definition" laser surgery. I won't bore you with the details of how it works, but they claimed that after effects like halos and poor night vision were virtually non-existent.

I did ALOT of research before going to see them and Herzig is definitely considered to be one of the best, so I think paying any more than $2500 somewhere else is probably unnecessary.

One thing they did mention to me though, was that, just like most people in the world, your eyesight tends to get worse when you get older and no amount of laser surgery is going to change that.

The argument for getting the surgery is that, say you could get your eyesight to 20/20 today, then when you get older and your eyesight begins to deteriorate, you'd at least be starting from 20/20. If I don't get the surgery and my eyesight starts to get worse when I hit 50, I'll be blind!

Still too chickenshit to get it done though, despite knowing several people who swear it was the greatest thing they ever did.
Obe