I had LASIK done about 15 years ago. No regrets at all. I was very nearsighted before I had it done. Everything more than a couple of feet away from me was a blur without glasses. Now I don’t need glasses or contacts for regular things, but I do use reading glasses when looking at my phone or a computer screen. I was warned about that before the procedure though. The older you get, the less flexibility your eyes have. So I don’t need glasses most of the time, but do need the reading glasses. A fair tradeoff in my opinion.
Ditto for me. Had it done about 25 yrs ago, LOVE it. Was truly amazed when I walked out after the surgery and could see individual leaves on the trees in the parking area!
As a side benefit, only had one eye (left) done which has allowed me to not have to wear glasses to read. Only paid 50% of the rate, had no trouble getting adjusted to it (some folks get vertigo/dizzy spells) and still don’t have to wear reading glasses at 68.
Some of the best money I ever spent…
TL:DR Go for it!
I had 1 eye done in 2006 and the other done in 2016. I got weird eyes. I would do it again without question. It was painless but took almost a month to get totally healed. It was great only doing 1 eye at a time. When they were itchy or dry it wasn’t surgery related. Totally worth it. Just pick the right Lasix center.
Given any thought to ortho-k contact lenses? It’s like wearing a retainer overnight, but for your eyes. My prescription isn’t too strong, and it works like a charm for me: wear hard contact lenses overnight, take them out in the morning, and see all day long. No surgery required.
Not better than lasik, and not for all people (failed hard for my wife), but an option to consider.
I have severe myopia (nearsightedness) and would love to never have to deal with glasses again, but laser eye surgery is prohibitively expensive for me, apparently, and I also worry about having to get it done again after several years if my eyes are still changing, which is likely.
@PooltoyWolf As others have commented, being near sighted means you can put off reading glasses longer. In some cases LOTS longer. The husband of a friend of mine does that for a living. I asked him why he didn’t get it done for himself. He said he prefers to know that he will be able to read his watch, a book, etc, without reading glasses well into his old age.
@Kidsandliz@PooltoyWolf
That’s one of the primary reasons that I only had one eye done. If I think about it hard I realize that when I’m looking at distance my left eye is focusing and if I’m reading or looking at the computer screen my right eye is focusing. Things in my peripheral vision on either side are slightly blurry but my mind compensates and I don’t notice it unless I really look for it.
@PooltoyWolf I had to cash out my IRA (or start getting penalized). I’m using that to fund the surgery. When I first started my research, earlier this year, the places I found were around $5,000 to do both eyes.
Starting to get really serious about it, I looked up places again and found one that will do the surgery for less than $1,000 an eye. I’m sure there are things they’ll do to upsell, I’ll find out tomorrow.
I want to go outside at night and see the satellites my husband points out (I’m wearing glasses, he’s not, his eyes have aged much better than mind). I see satellites, they aren’t all super dim. We have green lasers which we use to point at the satellites. I told him if the surgery works, I’ll be out there with a pointer in each hand…“there’s one! there’s another one!” And maybe I’ll start using those star finder and satellite apps on my phone if I don’t have to keep switching out glasses. One for sky, one for phone. (I have readers, bi-focals, progressives and regular lenses - I use the regular lenses for satellite watching so I have a better view of the entire sky.)
I don’t mind reading glasses at all. I actually use those more often than my regular glasses.
@Kidsandliz@PooltoyWolf I guess this guy’s vision is not that bad?
I’m nearsighted and have astigmatism, but I have to bring a book or my watch up eight inches from my face to actually see them clearly.
@chienfou@Kidsandliz I have found over the last few years that more and more often, I have to pull my glasses off to properly focus on things less than 6 inches in front of my face. Not a major issue, but worth noting.
@lisaviolet Worth noting is that my father had Filutowski do his eyes several years ago, and they actually made his eyes WORSE and refused to fix the problem until we threatened to sue. Definitely ask around before you take the leap, if you can!
This place has pretty good reviews. I couldn’t link to the review page, but here’s a screenshot.
I found another review site with only three reviews and all three had a problem with the warranty for problems no longer being valid because they hadn’t followed the protocol - having followup appointments each year.
I’m sorry to hear your father had a bad experience.
@lisaviolet@PooltoyWolf One place I went to during my investigation of who to use for the surgery immediately tried to up sell me into getting lenses inserted (I forget the name of the surgery) since everyone gets cataracts in the further anyway. That tripled the cost of the surgery. The place was really like a factory going through. I didn’t chose them.
I had it done in 2016. I believe it was 6K at a very well known/reguarded clinic/optician. Work used to contribute $500 a year and I had about 3K saved up in a flex account before they changed some laws and it became use it or lose it. So. I was definitely going to use it.
I was extremely near sighted. Used to use contacts but the last time I went in the new eye doctor said I had astigmatism and tried to correct that with different contacts. I ended up going back to glasses which was better. I don’t feel like LASIK was life changing for me but it’s certainly nice.
I was ~30 when I had it done. I’m happy with it. I don’t think there are any identifiable side effects. I’m pretty rough on my eyes in that I stay up way to late, work staring at a computer screen etc etc. Maybe some glare at night when driving but it’s hard to tell since you can’t go back and do a side by side/I think I always had low level chromatic aberration… Even with glasses
As others have mentioned I was told I’ll probably eventually need reading glasses or something in 20 or 30 year. But that’s normal as you age. Been ~8 years. I think that’s just boiler plate “everybody eventually gets old” and not really related to the procedure.
As with all elective surgeries it’s risk/reward/cost. I figured I’d get at least 25-30 years out of it, the cost was half paid for, the risks of dry eyes/chronic pain/etc seemed low. But you want to know the stats of the specific procedure/machine/your doctor if you’re going to have someone shave your eyeballs. Plus checking all current studies
If id been older… Maybe those metrics would shift. Based on how many years is this going to be effective… They are also cutting things off. Can’t put it back.
I’m happy with my results. But that’s just anecdotal. I would not say blanket “just do it”.
FYI if you do you’re going to need to go lay in a dark room with your eyes shut for a day. I mean you can open your eyes but man does it hurt especially outside
@unksol There’s a place here that charges under $1K per eye. I have a consultation tomorrow morning.
I hate glasses. I have a hot head (seriously, it’s the first part of me that sweats) and glasses fog up. I have multi-focal contacts but they’re a PITA. I hate putting them in, taking them out. I don’t like the multi-focal part either. Hey, left eye, you do the reading and right eye? Your job is to see the television screen. If you don’t wear them on a regular basis, the eyes have to be retrained. Big raspberry on that.
@unksol
I’m definitely a fan. Being able to read the alarm clock or now look at my phone face in the middle of the night and see what time it is without it being 2 inch tall numbers is super handy. Plus not having to wear glasses or mess around with contacts daily is a great side benefit. It also gives you the choice of way better sunglasses to use to protect your eyes from the UV rays when you’re outside, which is a frequent event for me.
@lisaviolet might be cheaper than it was in 2016. My center was also kind of regional. You’re in a city so have more options/might drive it down. IDK that id go to the place advertising the lowest cost though. It is your eyes… Might have over paid but I did have to use that money somehow so. Eh
I was really focused on the machine/method/studies because for me glasses were a very minor annoyance and it was a nice to have. Getting chronic dry eyes or pain would be a huge issue.
I have no idea on the stats/success rates for older people though. I think it makes a difference since there was that warning it probably won’t work forever. They are cutting your cornea to make light focus correctly but my understanding is the cornea stiffens with age and the eye muscles used to bend it which is how you focus it what weakens. So it’s a down hill thing.
I like how it turned out for me so far but my experience is probably not equal to your options/risks just because age. So. I hesitate to say just go for it.
@lisaviolet oh I’m sure it works. I just meant how long you get out of it/what the statistics and risks are are different than what I dug through 8 years ago.
I think it’s a life improvement. I’m good with mine. If my mom was asking… I’d be going down that whole research rabbit hole again. If you’ve done that and are happy with it I say go for it.
I had Lasik on both eyes 25+ yrs ago, didn’t go to the cheapest place… but used the guy that had just done my brother and some of the San Diego Chargers football team.
My eyes were 20/400 before and I instantly had 20/15 vision in both eyes. Seeing and reading the clock across the room within 3 minutes of the surgery was amazing to me. I suddenly had perfect peripheral vision, seeing beyond where my glasses were.
It was the most life-changing for the better thing I ever could have done for myself. My vision is still 20/15 in one eye, 20/20 in the other after all these decades. I had practically no ‘healing time’ with just a slight halo at night when looking at bright lights. That was gone within a few weeks.
When I neared 55 yo, I needed ‘readers’, but mostly for very fine print or reading in poor lighting.
I wouldn’t seek out the cheapest place, but would ask around and check reviews of different places.
I had PRK back in 04. Only now, at 50, do I need glasses for reading. Would do it again and even pay (military paid back then) because it was so great. However, with PRK, you do have some irritation for a couple days after, but no ‘flap’ issues. If you are not a good candidate for lasik, look into PRK. Not for everyone, though.
My wife had RK (the predecessor to Lasik, where they actually made cuts in the lens) back in the early 90’s. It was quite successful and she still only wears glasses when driving at night. (I should note that I wisely got her to marry me before she got her vision corrected. )
Her younger brother and sister each had Lasik a few years later when it became available/common. Theirs was successful for a few years, but they now both wear glasses/contacts (possibly with a weaker prescription than before).
So it seems like it could be a crap shoot, depending on your specific circumstances.
@macromeh if she had it in the early 90s and they had LASIK a few years later, the technology/machines/procedures have changed in the last 30 years vs when it first became accepted.
@unksol IIRC, wife had RK done in '93, sibs had Lasik in the early 2000’s.
Yeah, the tech has likely progressed. (Or maybe manufacturing is now all done in China, assembled by teenage Uyghur slave labor. Who knows? )
I did it about 14-15 years ago. Was near-sighted, only had one eye done (mono vision) it was great for 2-3 years then I needed a prescription for distance. Not bad enough for a lasik” adjustment”. Still happy I did it. Be sure anything on your life that is vision changing (diabetes/nursing/pregnancy) is stable (or done for at least 6 months in case of the latter).
I had it done nearly a year ago. I’m 65 years old and wish I had done it 50 years ago. My vision went from 20:450 to 20:20. The doc said he almost didn’t do me because of my age and because of how bad my eyes were. I paid out of pocket about $3000. Definitely didn’t pick the cheapest place available. I picked the most experienced.
@EdgarAllenPope I turned 70 a couple of weeks ago and I hate wearing glasses so much. If I had a bucket list? This would be the second thing on it. (The first is seeing the Northern Lights in person.)
And this will be out of pocket for me, as well. I’ll find out more this morning.
@lisaviolet If you’re lucky you have the start of cataracts and then can possibly be paid for by insurance. All three places I check into before doing the lasik also do the lens replacement surgery for cataracts. When one place tried to upsell me into getting that right away I asked if I waited could I get the lens replacement in the future when I actually had cataracts and have insurance pay for it. They said yes but asked why not do it now? I said to save myself $7000. I also asked if it was an issue to do the lens replacement after having had lasik and was told by all three places it’s not a problem. I’m really happy I did it.
Do a few consults and see what they say. Everyone will eventually get cataracts and since you’re 70 maybe you have the start now.
@lisaviolet Northern lights are really, really cool. They can be shimmering green or a number of different colors. They tend to be more spectacular when they sun is active (eg eruptions) and often more in the winter… however that being said we were once canoeing all night (rafted up) from the Black Sturgeon River to Gull Bay on Lake Nipigon in NW Ontario and they lit up the night sky (and thus the lake too) enough and long enough that we no longer were oogling them 100% of the time. I saw them from an airplane once too. I hope you get to see them. I saw them all year that year as I worked in Canada for an outdoor adventure program (dog sledding in the winter at as cold as 40 to occasionally 60 below (F although 40 is the same C and F) and highs typically 10 to 20 below)
I do have some small cataracts, but they aren’t that big of a deal right now. Medicare doesn’t take care of them when vision is better than 20/40. Mine is better than that, so it WILL happen down the line, but not just yet.
And because of the pending (years pending) cataract problem, they didn’t try to upsell us a warranty for the LASIK surgery. And, even though it’s not active yet, we got a discount!
With the option I chose, I will still need reading glasses. I hated wearing multi-focal contacts and I probably would feel the same about that kind of laser surgery. I want my eyes to work together, not separately. (“Okay, left eye, we’re gonna read right now…” “Hey, right eye, how about watching some television?”)
@lisaviolet My left eye’s cataract is the worst, but it’s still 20/40, and the right remains slightly better than 20/20, so I will also have to wait a while before getting the cataract surgery. When I do, I plan to spring for the extra cost to get the lenses that are supposed to eliminate the need for reading glasses. A long-time friend had both eyes done early this year, and his vision went from craptacular (barely legal to drive with glasses) to pilot-quality accurate with a near complete cessation of the nasty headlight flare that makes some of us fossils hate to drive after dark.
I had LASIK done about 15 years ago. No regrets at all. I was very nearsighted before I had it done. Everything more than a couple of feet away from me was a blur without glasses. Now I don’t need glasses or contacts for regular things, but I do use reading glasses when looking at my phone or a computer screen. I was warned about that before the procedure though. The older you get, the less flexibility your eyes have. So I don’t need glasses most of the time, but do need the reading glasses. A fair tradeoff in my opinion.
Ditto for me. Had it done about 25 yrs ago, LOVE it. Was truly amazed when I walked out after the surgery and could see individual leaves on the trees in the parking area!
As a side benefit, only had one eye (left) done which has allowed me to not have to wear glasses to read. Only paid 50% of the rate, had no trouble getting adjusted to it (some folks get vertigo/dizzy spells) and still don’t have to wear reading glasses at 68.
Some of the best money I ever spent…
TL:DR Go for it!
I had 1 eye done in 2006 and the other done in 2016. I got weird eyes. I would do it again without question. It was painless but took almost a month to get totally healed. It was great only doing 1 eye at a time. When they were itchy or dry it wasn’t surgery related. Totally worth it. Just pick the right Lasix center.
No hyperbole, best money I’ve ever spent in my life.
I had it done around 2004 or 05. Had glasses my whole life, -6.5/-7.75 lenses… my last eye test I was still 20/30.
Given any thought to ortho-k contact lenses? It’s like wearing a retainer overnight, but for your eyes. My prescription isn’t too strong, and it works like a charm for me: wear hard contact lenses overnight, take them out in the morning, and see all day long. No surgery required.
Not better than lasik, and not for all people (failed hard for my wife), but an option to consider.
@Jasongb I looked into it a while ago and decided I’d rather do the Lasik.
I have severe myopia (nearsightedness) and would love to never have to deal with glasses again, but laser eye surgery is prohibitively expensive for me, apparently, and I also worry about having to get it done again after several years if my eyes are still changing, which is likely.
@PooltoyWolf I’ve also got severe myopia and my eye doctor said lasik isn’t recommended for those of us who do.
@PooltoyWolf As others have commented, being near sighted means you can put off reading glasses longer. In some cases LOTS longer. The husband of a friend of mine does that for a living. I asked him why he didn’t get it done for himself. He said he prefers to know that he will be able to read his watch, a book, etc, without reading glasses well into his old age.
@Kyeh Good to know!
@Kidsandliz A very good point!
@Kidsandliz @PooltoyWolf
That’s one of the primary reasons that I only had one eye done. If I think about it hard I realize that when I’m looking at distance my left eye is focusing and if I’m reading or looking at the computer screen my right eye is focusing. Things in my peripheral vision on either side are slightly blurry but my mind compensates and I don’t notice it unless I really look for it.
@PooltoyWolf I had to cash out my IRA (or start getting penalized). I’m using that to fund the surgery. When I first started my research, earlier this year, the places I found were around $5,000 to do both eyes.
Starting to get really serious about it, I looked up places again and found one that will do the surgery for less than $1,000 an eye. I’m sure there are things they’ll do to upsell, I’ll find out tomorrow.
I want to go outside at night and see the satellites my husband points out (I’m wearing glasses, he’s not, his eyes have aged much better than mind). I see satellites, they aren’t all super dim. We have green lasers which we use to point at the satellites. I told him if the surgery works, I’ll be out there with a pointer in each hand…“there’s one! there’s another one!” And maybe I’ll start using those star finder and satellite apps on my phone if I don’t have to keep switching out glasses. One for sky, one for phone. (I have readers, bi-focals, progressives and regular lenses - I use the regular lenses for satellite watching so I have a better view of the entire sky.)
I don’t mind reading glasses at all. I actually use those more often than my regular glasses.
@Kidsandliz @PooltoyWolf I guess this guy’s vision is not that bad?
I’m nearsighted and have astigmatism, but I have to bring a book or my watch up eight inches from my face to actually see them clearly.
@chienfou @Kidsandliz I have found over the last few years that more and more often, I have to pull my glasses off to properly focus on things less than 6 inches in front of my face. Not a major issue, but worth noting.
@lisaviolet Worth noting is that my father had Filutowski do his eyes several years ago, and they actually made his eyes WORSE and refused to fix the problem until we threatened to sue. Definitely ask around before you take the leap, if you can!
@PooltoyWolf
This place has pretty good reviews. I couldn’t link to the review page, but here’s a screenshot.
I found another review site with only three reviews and all three had a problem with the warranty for problems no longer being valid because they hadn’t followed the protocol - having followup appointments each year.
I’m sorry to hear your father had a bad experience.
@lisaviolet @PooltoyWolf One place I went to during my investigation of who to use for the surgery immediately tried to up sell me into getting lenses inserted (I forget the name of the surgery) since everyone gets cataracts in the further anyway. That tripled the cost of the surgery. The place was really like a factory going through. I didn’t chose them.
@EdgarAllenPope @PooltoyWolf If it’s not something to do with paper crafts, I’m seriously good at saying “no”. lol
I had it done in 2016. I believe it was 6K at a very well known/reguarded clinic/optician. Work used to contribute $500 a year and I had about 3K saved up in a flex account before they changed some laws and it became use it or lose it. So. I was definitely going to use it.
I was extremely near sighted. Used to use contacts but the last time I went in the new eye doctor said I had astigmatism and tried to correct that with different contacts. I ended up going back to glasses which was better. I don’t feel like LASIK was life changing for me but it’s certainly nice.
I was ~30 when I had it done. I’m happy with it. I don’t think there are any identifiable side effects. I’m pretty rough on my eyes in that I stay up way to late, work staring at a computer screen etc etc. Maybe some glare at night when driving but it’s hard to tell since you can’t go back and do a side by side/I think I always had low level chromatic aberration… Even with glasses
As others have mentioned I was told I’ll probably eventually need reading glasses or something in 20 or 30 year. But that’s normal as you age. Been ~8 years. I think that’s just boiler plate “everybody eventually gets old” and not really related to the procedure.
As with all elective surgeries it’s risk/reward/cost. I figured I’d get at least 25-30 years out of it, the cost was half paid for, the risks of dry eyes/chronic pain/etc seemed low. But you want to know the stats of the specific procedure/machine/your doctor if you’re going to have someone shave your eyeballs. Plus checking all current studies
If id been older… Maybe those metrics would shift. Based on how many years is this going to be effective… They are also cutting things off. Can’t put it back.
I’m happy with my results. But that’s just anecdotal. I would not say blanket “just do it”.
FYI if you do you’re going to need to go lay in a dark room with your eyes shut for a day. I mean you can open your eyes but man does it hurt especially outside
@unksol There’s a place here that charges under $1K per eye. I have a consultation tomorrow morning.
I hate glasses. I have a hot head (seriously, it’s the first part of me that sweats) and glasses fog up. I have multi-focal contacts but they’re a PITA. I hate putting them in, taking them out. I don’t like the multi-focal part either. Hey, left eye, you do the reading and right eye? Your job is to see the television screen. If you don’t wear them on a regular basis, the eyes have to be retrained. Big raspberry on that.
I’m too old for that shit.
https://www.lasikmd.com/price-financing/pricing/how-we-make-lasik-affordable
@unksol
I’m definitely a fan. Being able to read the alarm clock or now look at my phone face in the middle of the night and see what time it is without it being 2 inch tall numbers is super handy. Plus not having to wear glasses or mess around with contacts daily is a great side benefit. It also gives you the choice of way better sunglasses to use to protect your eyes from the UV rays when you’re outside, which is a frequent event for me.
@lisaviolet might be cheaper than it was in 2016. My center was also kind of regional. You’re in a city so have more options/might drive it down. IDK that id go to the place advertising the lowest cost though. It is your eyes… Might have over paid but I did have to use that money somehow so. Eh
I was really focused on the machine/method/studies because for me glasses were a very minor annoyance and it was a nice to have. Getting chronic dry eyes or pain would be a huge issue.
I have no idea on the stats/success rates for older people though. I think it makes a difference since there was that warning it probably won’t work forever. They are cutting your cornea to make light focus correctly but my understanding is the cornea stiffens with age and the eye muscles used to bend it which is how you focus it what weakens. So it’s a down hill thing.
I like how it turned out for me so far but my experience is probably not equal to your options/risks just because age. So. I hesitate to say just go for it.
@unksol Their website says they do from 18 to 75. So, I’m pretty sure I’ll be a decent candidate.
@lisaviolet oh I’m sure it works. I just meant how long you get out of it/what the statistics and risks are are different than what I dug through 8 years ago.
I think it’s a life improvement. I’m good with mine. If my mom was asking… I’d be going down that whole research rabbit hole again. If you’ve done that and are happy with it I say go for it.
I had Lasik on both eyes 25+ yrs ago, didn’t go to the cheapest place… but used the guy that had just done my brother and some of the San Diego Chargers football team.
My eyes were 20/400 before and I instantly had 20/15 vision in both eyes. Seeing and reading the clock across the room within 3 minutes of the surgery was amazing to me. I suddenly had perfect peripheral vision, seeing beyond where my glasses were.
It was the most life-changing for the better thing I ever could have done for myself. My vision is still 20/15 in one eye, 20/20 in the other after all these decades. I had practically no ‘healing time’ with just a slight halo at night when looking at bright lights. That was gone within a few weeks.
When I neared 55 yo, I needed ‘readers’, but mostly for very fine print or reading in poor lighting.
I wouldn’t seek out the cheapest place, but would ask around and check reviews of different places.
I had PRK back in 04. Only now, at 50, do I need glasses for reading. Would do it again and even pay (military paid back then) because it was so great. However, with PRK, you do have some irritation for a couple days after, but no ‘flap’ issues. If you are not a good candidate for lasik, look into PRK. Not for everyone, though.
My wife had RK (the predecessor to Lasik, where they actually made cuts in the lens) back in the early 90’s. It was quite successful and she still only wears glasses when driving at night. (I should note that I wisely got her to marry me before she got her vision corrected.
)
Her younger brother and sister each had Lasik a few years later when it became available/common. Theirs was successful for a few years, but they now both wear glasses/contacts (possibly with a weaker prescription than before).
So it seems like it could be a crap shoot, depending on your specific circumstances.
@macromeh if she had it in the early 90s and they had LASIK a few years later, the technology/machines/procedures have changed in the last 30 years vs when it first became accepted.
Still could be complications today though
@unksol IIRC, wife had RK done in '93, sibs had Lasik in the early 2000’s.
)
Yeah, the tech has likely progressed. (Or maybe manufacturing is now all done in China, assembled by teenage Uyghur slave labor. Who knows?
I did it about 14-15 years ago. Was near-sighted, only had one eye done (mono vision) it was great for 2-3 years then I needed a prescription for distance. Not bad enough for a lasik” adjustment”. Still happy I did it. Be sure anything on your life that is vision changing (diabetes/nursing/pregnancy) is stable (or done for at least 6 months in case of the latter).
Different options are discussed here (PRK, SMILE, LASIK, etc) worth a listen. https://peterattiamd.com/stevendell/
Slightly faster read:
https://www.visioncenter.org/lasik/alternatives/
I had it done nearly a year ago. I’m 65 years old and wish I had done it 50 years ago. My vision went from 20:450 to 20:20. The doc said he almost didn’t do me because of my age and because of how bad my eyes were. I paid out of pocket about $3000. Definitely didn’t pick the cheapest place available. I picked the most experienced.
@EdgarAllenPope I turned 70 a couple of weeks ago and I hate wearing glasses so much. If I had a bucket list? This would be the second thing on it. (The first is seeing the Northern Lights in person.)
And this will be out of pocket for me, as well. I’ll find out more this morning.
@lisaviolet If you’re lucky you have the start of cataracts and then can possibly be paid for by insurance. All three places I check into before doing the lasik also do the lens replacement surgery for cataracts. When one place tried to upsell me into getting that right away I asked if I waited could I get the lens replacement in the future when I actually had cataracts and have insurance pay for it. They said yes but asked why not do it now? I said to save myself $7000. I also asked if it was an issue to do the lens replacement after having had lasik and was told by all three places it’s not a problem. I’m really happy I did it.
Do a few consults and see what they say. Everyone will eventually get cataracts and since you’re 70 maybe you have the start now.
@lisaviolet Northern lights are really, really cool. They can be shimmering green or a number of different colors. They tend to be more spectacular when they sun is active (eg eruptions) and often more in the winter… however that being said we were once canoeing all night (rafted up) from the Black Sturgeon River to Gull Bay on Lake Nipigon in NW Ontario and they lit up the night sky (and thus the lake too) enough and long enough that we no longer were oogling them 100% of the time. I saw them from an airplane once too. I hope you get to see them. I saw them all year that year as I worked in Canada for an outdoor adventure program (dog sledding in the winter at as cold as 40 to occasionally 60 below (F although 40 is the same C and F) and highs typically 10 to 20 below)
So, we’re all set. Surgery will be in November.
I do have some small cataracts, but they aren’t that big of a deal right now. Medicare doesn’t take care of them when vision is better than 20/40. Mine is better than that, so it WILL happen down the line, but not just yet.
And because of the pending (years pending) cataract problem, they didn’t try to upsell us a warranty for the LASIK surgery. And, even though it’s not active yet, we got a discount!
With the option I chose, I will still need reading glasses. I hated wearing multi-focal contacts and I probably would feel the same about that kind of laser surgery. I want my eyes to work together, not separately. (“Okay, left eye, we’re gonna read right now…” “Hey, right eye, how about watching some television?”)
Wavefront LASIK with a Femto laser.
Thank you for all of your advice and stories.
@lisaviolet My left eye’s cataract is the worst, but it’s still 20/40, and the right remains slightly better than 20/20, so I will also have to wait a while before getting the cataract surgery. When I do, I plan to spring for the extra cost to get the lenses that are supposed to eliminate the need for reading glasses. A long-time friend had both eyes done early this year, and his vision went from craptacular (barely legal to drive with glasses) to pilot-quality accurate with a near complete cessation of the nasty headlight flare that makes some of us fossils hate to drive after dark.