Lasik Eye Surgery

[Green Banana]

I went and talked to a doctor about it a few years ago. His simple answer was

"If you correct to 20/20 now, Why roll the dice and risk never flying again?"

 

[thinairupthere]

I had it done in Jan of this year- Was out of work for 2 weeks to let things settle, filled out the Fed paper work. AME signed it, sent it in, all was great. I am very happy with 20/15 and no night issues. One tip- when you go in for the messurments, especially the pupil, sit in a dark room for about 5 minutes so they get an acurate measurment of pupil diameter. That is where you end up with bad night vision sometimes. I love it.

 

[wannaBrich]

Those with strong astigmatism are at more risk of the halos than those with just near/far issues. This is why the eye doc I consulted told me not to consider it until the lasers and equipment gets better.

20/20 corrected? If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[Say Again Over]

Pros: I don't need to reach for my glasses when I get a text message. I don't need a watch with big numbers. I can see any and all displays on the scare bus. Scuba diving, bike riding, can set up my stereo or computer without several sets of glasses and spot lights.

Cons: ???

 

[satpak77]

I was researching this, still have not had it done, but the following Dr. is basically one of "the" LASIK guys in the world. In Houston. Priced accordingly

http://www.visiontexas.com/houston/stephen-slade-md.htm

 

[Crucianpilot]

Did mine in January at LasikPlus in orlando. Took 2 weeks off, faxed a letter from my lasik doctor to OK city before going back to work. Just filled out my 8500 form last week on my 3 month follow up. Will take this to my AME next month when my physical is due and then my restrictions will be removed. My vision is 20/15 both near and far. I had 20/100 and 20/200 with mild astigmatism and readers for near vision prior to the surgery. So far no complications, no halos, best decision I have made in a long time.

 

[t-bone]

I had the custom wavefront procedure done 2+ years ago and have had no complications at all. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. My longtime AME told me I needed to wait 90 days to go back to work, so I found a new doctor who signed me off after just 1 week.

You can do 1 eye at a time if you're concerned about complications.

You also want to avoid places that advertise $499/eye. I firmly believe that this is one of those areas where you'll get what you pay for. My procedure ran about $4000, but had it all covered by my Flex Spending Account, so after taxes it was closer to $3000. Avoid clinics that have a temporary/portable laser. The transportation of the equipment can cause problems with the laser's alignment.

One thing I never thought I'd miss though is the relief I would get from removing my contacts when my eyes were really tired. But that's a small price to pay!

 

[ackattacker]

I did mine in 2000 just before getting real serious about commercial aviation. I figured that if something went wrong that derailed my career at least I could still get into some other line of work. I took the opposite theory of t-bone. I went to a $499/eye place in Canada that ran you through like cattle. At the time, the Canadians had the newest technology since they didn't have to wait for the FDA approval. Also, I figured when a place does dozens of procedures daily they have the experience and procedures in place to make everything go smoothly.

Anyway it worked great and 10 years later my vision is still better than 20/20.

 

[Tweaker]

"I did mine in 2000 just before getting real serious about commercial aviation. I figured that if something went wrong that derailed my career at least I could still get into some other line of work. "

Same mhea. Surgery in 1998 (I beat CLR4APCH!). No issues, much happyness.

Still have the same 20/15 I had within weeks of operation. No night vision or other problems.

 

[Yodafly]

I also did mine in Canada in 2001. At that time price in the US was 5000. I got mine done for under 1000. The equipment in Canada was all new due to the gov. paying for it and the Doctors there had 10 times more corrections done then anyone I could find in the states. My results were 20/15 in both eyes, no halos. My eyes today are still 20/20 not quite as good as they used to be but still good.