Bad News on the LASIK front

Russ Chewning

Russ Chewning

Short Bus Russ - C player
Silver Member
I've been too depressed about it to post, but here goes...

I came back from Iraq on two weeks leave, and went to a LASIK clinic in St. Petersburg to see about getting LASIK surgery before I went back.

It turns out I am not even close to being a good candidate for LASIK, or any other type of eye surgery, including lense implants. I talked to the man himself, Stephen Updegraff, acknowledged by most as the best LASIK practicioner in Florida, and he said that by simply looking at my prescription, he knew I was not a candidate. He said maybe if the technology advances in the future, but no possibility exists now.

I am going to have to wear glasses or contacts for life, most probably.

The really disappointing thing about this was, I scheduled my whole leave around this. If the person who corresponded with me by email and took my appointment would have asked for my eyeglass or contact lense prescription, and then consulted with a doctor, I would most probably have been told immediately that I was not a candidate, and I would not have worn glasses for a month. Let's just say I wear REALLY thick glasses when not wearing contacts.

Anyways, I just thought I'd get it off my chest, and also make sure everyone realizes that certain prescriptions are not even touchable, and not to get your hopes up too much if you've never had a LASIK consultation.

Russ
 
It's both bad news and good news Russ.
A co-employee of mine had it done years ago even though her prescription was pretty high.
Now, her vision is crap.
 
I hate to hear you can't get lasik, but count your blessings. You could have gone to a quack that performed the procedure anyhow and really screwed up your vision. It is nice to know you went to an honest doctor.
 
I'm so sorry they got your hopes up and didn't tell you, just to crush you when you got there. And I am also sorry that you don't have that option anymore. :( My thoughts are with you. If it's any consolation, I just lost 7-0 to Atwell. :(
 
I was a test subject @ Emory University in the early early 90's before Lasik had been approved by FDA. I paid almost $10,000 for the sugery and was a -9 in one eye and -11 in the other (coke bottle glasses)......20 minutes later I was done and that night was @ CATS at the Fox Theater (not my choice for the first thing i wanted to see with new eyes...i was thinking more strip club than theater but oh well)......anyway...that has been almost 15 years ago and I have degraded just a tiny amount...I still do not wear glasses or contacts and see just fine @ 35....i will prob need some glasses in the next 10 years but what 45 year old doesn't
 
rackmsuckr said:
I'm so sorry they got your hopes up and didn't tell you, just to crush you when you got there. And I am also sorry that you don't have that option anymore. :( My thoughts are with you. If it's any consolation, I just lost 7-0 to Atwell. :(
Click to expand...

WHICH ATWELL? And is this some sort of tourney? Or is it just a challenge match or sets?
 
Brickman said:
WHICH ATWELL? And is this some sort of tourney? Or is it just a challenge match or sets?
Click to expand...

Glenn Atwell. Yes, it is an 8 ball tournament at City Lights and I couldn't get my head out of my fanny. I actually should have been out the first 5 games. It was humiliating. Part of it is he is going to be my partner next week, and part of it was the drastic change in cloth from the practice table.

The races are to 7/6, pretty long for 8 ball. Mike Vidas and Stan Tourangeau and JD are still on the A side. Stan was stuck 5-1 to my girlfriend Cindy, who played awesome. Stan came back and got her 7-5 and now looks like he will put JD away.

Mike lost to JD hill-hill, when he missed a couple early 8 balls and sort of gave up. Then JD gave hime back a couple games, so then Mike made a great run to get even, but ultimately, JD got the better of him. Now, Mike plays Don Wirtaman to get into the money.

Oh yeah, and Steven, the tournament director is pretty awesome! (He told me to say that, lol.)

Stan just beat JD.
 
TheHole said:
I was a test subject @ Emory University in the early early 90's before Lasik had been approved by FDA.
Click to expand...

Anyone else having a TCOM flashback?

"I-I-I was a subject.. They did experiments on me.." - Amos

"You think I need to lose some weight?"

Russ
 
rackmsuckr said:
Glenn Atwell. Yes, it is an 8 ball tournament at City Lights and I couldn't get my head out of my fanny. I actually should have been out the first 5 games. It was humiliating. Part of it is he is going to be my partner next week, and part of it was the drastic change in cloth from the practice table.

The races are to 7/6, pretty long for 8 ball. Mike Vidas and Stan Tourangeau and JD are still on the A side. Stan was stuck 5-1 to my girlfriend Cindy, who played awesome. Stan came back and got her 7-5 and now looks like he will put JD away.

Mike lost to JD hill-hill, when he missed a couple early 8 balls and sort of gave up. Then JD gave hime back a couple games, so then Mike made a great run to get even, but ultimately, JD got the better of him. Now, Mike plays Don Wirtaman to get into the money.

Oh yeah, and Steven, the tournament director is pretty awesome! (He told me to say that, lol.)

Stan just beat JD.
Click to expand...

Linda,

Does Stan play in pro events, or is he maintaining his amateur status? He has beat a lot of top pros in tourneys, and has a solid solid mental game. Just wondering I've never seen his name in the top five of any pro events. I know he is certainly good enough.

Russ
 
Had I To Do Over Again ???

JoeyInCali said:
It's both bad news and good news Russ.
A co-employee of mine had it done years ago even though her prescription was pretty high.
Now, her vision is crap.
Click to expand...

For the first two years after LASIK my vision was stellar. However, the last 4 or 5 years has seen a deterioration that leads me to question whether the surgery was the right thing to do. Under optimal conditions, my vision is great for about an hour or so. After that hour it rapidly heads down hill. If I pour the eye drops to em - I can make it another hour maybe - but after I just hang er up for the day.

Not everyone is a candidate to get a second "touch up" surgery and I wouldn't consider it anyway.
 
Russ Chewning said:
I've been too depressed about it to post, but here goes...

I am going to have to wear glasses or contacts for life, most probably.
Click to expand...

If it's any consolation, I had LASIK in 2001 and have grown to regret it. while my vision hasn't slipped much from 20/20, I do have other problems related to the surgery. after over 5 years, I still have halos. My contrast sensitivity has not recovered from what I could see pre-surgery (eg, if someone is standing in from of a light, I cannot make out his/her face). In a dark pool hall with brightly lit balls, both of these are handicaps. Some days are worse than others- there are times when I can't really discern where the edge of an object ball really is. In movies, I sometimes have trouble reading subtitles because of the halos. I no longer can focus on close (within ~6 inches) objects.

While it's nice to not have to mess around with contact lenses anymore, and to be able to see as soon as I open my eyes in the morning... all in all, my vision is now worse than what my corrected vision was before surgery. I'm no longer convinced that the convenience of not dealing with lenses is worth the cost.
 
fred_in_hoboken said:
If it's any consolation, I had LASIK in 2001 and have grown to regret it. while my vision hasn't slipped much from 20/20, I do have other problems related to the surgery. after over 5 years, I still have halos. My contrast sensitivity has not recovered from what I could see pre-surgery (eg, if someone is standing in from of a light, I cannot make out his/her face). In a dark pool hall with brightly lit balls, both of these are handicaps. Some days are worse than others- there are times when I can't really discern where the edge of an object ball really is. In movies, I sometimes have trouble reading subtitles because of the halos. I no longer can focus on close (within ~6 inches) objects.

While it's nice to not have to mess around with contact lenses anymore, and to be able to see as soon as I open my eyes in the morning... all in all, my vision is now worse than what my corrected vision was before surgery. I'm no longer convinced that the convenience of not dealing with lenses is worth the cost.
Click to expand...


Fred, thank you for posting this. I was also going to comment that a close friend of mine (ex-girlfriend) is an optomitrist. Whenever I get curious about laser surgery, I'll give her a call to see how things have progressed. She told me about all of the problems you've mentioned and added a few more to boot. A lot of people experience extreme dry-eye which can be incredibly uncomfortable.

My friend simply doesn't recommend it right now and like most optomitrists, she wears glasses/contacts, as well and would love to do without them for the rest of her life.

The bottom-line is, there are plenty of options out there. RGPs, soft-lenses and CRTs (ortho-k) offer people some rather comfortable options that can yield extremely natural results.
 
Russ Chewning said:
I've been too depressed about it to post, but here goes...

I came back from Iraq on two weeks leave, and went to a LASIK clinic in St. Petersburg to see about getting LASIK surgery before I went back.

It turns out I am not even close to being a good candidate for LASIK, or any other type of eye surgery, including lense implants. I talked to the man himself, Stephen Updegraff, acknowledged by most as the best LASIK practicioner in Florida, and he said that by simply looking at my prescription, he knew I was not a candidate. He said maybe if the technology advances in the future, but no possibility exists now.

I am going to have to wear glasses or contacts for life, most probably.

The really disappointing thing about this was, I scheduled my whole leave around this. If the person who corresponded with me by email and took my appointment would have asked for my eyeglass or contact lense prescription, and then consulted with a doctor, I would most probably have been told immediately that I was not a candidate, and I would not have worn glasses for a month. Let's just say I wear REALLY thick glasses when not wearing contacts.

Anyways, I just thought I'd get it off my chest, and also make sure everyone realizes that certain prescriptions are not even touchable, and not to get your hopes up too much if you've never had a LASIK consultation.

Russ
Click to expand...

You're young enough that you'll have better options in the future when you really need better eyes. Think about that advantage: just when you need it!;) This delay may be a blessing.

From someone who had to wait 5 years before my eye Dr. would even think about cutting me,

Jeff Livingston
 
Jude Rosenstock said:
Fred, thank you for posting this. I was also going to comment that a close friend of mine (ex-girlfriend) is an optomitrist. Whenever I get curious about laser surgery, I'll give her a call to see how things have progressed. She told me about all of the problems you've mentioned and added a few more to boot. A lot of people experience extreme dry-eye which can be incredibly uncomfortable.

My friend simply doesn't recommend it right now and like most optomitrists, she wears glasses/contacts, as well and would love to do without them for the rest of her life.

The bottom-line is, there are plenty of options out there. RGPs, soft-lenses and CRTs (ortho-k) offer people some rather comfortable options that can yield extremely natural results.
Click to expand...

I have been using Theratears gel capsules for a year now. They have fish oil, omega3 fatty acids, and other great things for your dry eyes. And I can see clearly now!

My optomitrist recommended the plugs at a RIDUCULOUS price - something like $1500. I said the h#ll with that and discovered these tabs on my own.

A friend of mine just got laser surgery in December and his eyes are dry, so much in fact that they won't correct his 20/30 vision in one eye until he feasts on Theratears for a while to get them back to normal (supposedly it takes around two weeks, but for me the effect was immediate).

This advice was given to him by Dr. Whitten of TLC in Rockville, one of the most prominent surgeons in the US.

I am still waiting for someone to actually take my advice by trying Theratears (Walmart sell them) and give me a good rep. :D
 
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I'm A Desperate Man

whitewolf said:
I have been using Theratears gel capsules for a year now. They have fish oil, omega3 fatty acids, and other great things for your dry eyes. And I can see clearly now!

I am still waiting for someone to actually take my advice by trying Theratears (Walmart sell them) and give me a good rep. :D
Click to expand...

I am desperate to find something that will help the vision.Headed to WalMart (and believe me I HATE that place)to purchase Theratears. Good reps to you regardless. If the Theratears don't work, I'll try the vision correction method outlined in the Kama Sutra.

Thanks
 
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Russ Chewning said:
Linda,

Does Stan play in pro events, or is he maintaining his amateur status? He has beat a lot of top pros in tourneys, and has a solid solid mental game. Just wondering I've never seen his name in the top five of any pro events. I know he is certainly good enough.

Russ
Click to expand...

Stan Tourangeau is technically classified a pro, due to his status as an IPT tour member (and the fact that all of his income is from playing pool). However, because of loose definitions and virtually no enforcement, Stan plays in any and all tournaments, that he wants to, both amateur and pro.
Please note that I am not complaining about Stan. I've watched him play in amateur and pro-level tournaments for the past 20+ years...just making a comment, to answer your question. There are, of course, hundreds of players like Stan, who fall into this classification.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
I'm in a similar boat. My eyes are too bad to be a LASIK candidate, my doc told me I might be able to do a lens implant. I'm not considering that at this point. I've had contacts for many years, I hardly notice the inconvenience but not having them would be pretty cool. Oh well, maybe it's better not to take chances with your eyesight as some of these stories suggest.
 
You may have really been lucky

Russ Chewning said:
I've been too depressed about it to post, but here goes...

I came back from Iraq on two weeks leave, and went to a LASIK clinic in St. Petersburg to see about getting LASIK surgery before I went back.

It turns out I am not even close to being a good candidate for LASIK, or any other type of eye surgery, including lense implants. I talked to the man himself, Stephen Updegraff, acknowledged by most as the best LASIK practicioner in Florida, and he said that by simply looking at my prescription, he knew I was not a candidate. He said maybe if the technology advances in the future, but no possibility exists now.

I am going to have to wear glasses or contacts for life, most probably.

The really disappointing thing about this was, I scheduled my whole leave around this. If the person who corresponded with me by email and took my appointment would have asked for my eyeglass or contact lense prescription, and then consulted with a doctor, I would most probably have been told immediately that I was not a candidate, and I would not have worn glasses for a month. Let's just say I wear REALLY thick glasses when not wearing contacts.

Anyways, I just thought I'd get it off my chest, and also make sure everyone realizes that certain prescriptions are not even touchable, and not to get your hopes up too much if you've never had a LASIK consultation.

Russ
Click to expand...
Quite a few lasik patients have had serious problems afterward from decreased vision, blurriness and more than a few have had to have second operations ! As long as my contacts and glasses work I am staying with them!
 
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