My next appointment will be sometime in April.

I was able to sign a paper release form and get copies of all my paperwork to send to the Navy as well.  It is all just that easy!

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Everything is looking great today.  Last night things were clearing up quickly but I could tell that something was a little bit off.  Today the ‘off’ sensation is still there a little bit, but very minimal.  The main thing is that I still feel like my eyes want to be lazy sometimes and lose focus (mainly when looking at something very near, such as my laptop).  But today I was out driving to my appointment as well as a few errands after.  I’m scheduled to teach a private music lesson this afternoon that I was hoping I wouldn’t have to cancel, and it looks as though everything will be just fine for it.

My next appointment is scheduled to be in three weeks from now.  Until then I just continue to follow the directions on the sheets they gave me:

Use one drop in the operative eye(s) four times a day for one week after surgery

• Vigamox (prescription antibiotic)
• Omnipred (steroid)
• Various single dose samples of artificial tears

The entire time I was in the car with Melissa, I’d pick out a far away sign and see if I could read it, then ask her, “can you read that white/red/blue sign up ahead???”

The results are definitely very exciting!

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My appointment was for 3:00pm this afternoon and I showed up at LasikPlus about 2:40pm.  There was no need to get there that early as Melissa and I just sat there until 3:00pm.  3:00pm on the dot, however, the secretary called me up to sign my papers.

LasikPlus didn’t have written down that I was going to get Lasik, but only had PRK approved on my form.  This was because that is what I was talking most about during my pre-screening visit.  I told them I had decided to go with Lasik, so they set me back with a doctor for a quick checkup to make sure I was eligible (enough tissue to make the flap).  All was fine and soon enough Melissa and I went back to our own private waiting room where an assistant talked me through what was going to happen and when to use the eye drops that were both given to me and prescribed.

During this time, I also went and got another Wavefront scan.  They took 5 pictures of each of my eyes, then the doctor selected the best 3, then the computer selected the best 1 of the 3 (I think is how it worked).  By this time it was about 4:00pm with most of my time being spent waiting around.  Melissa and I made it through the majority of hidden images in Highlights magazine, which was fun.  During this waiting time, I was also offered (and of course I took) Tylenol PM to help me sleep after the surgery was over.

Finally it was time to go back to the operating room.  Melissa stayed in the private waiting room where they had a television set up for her to watch my surgery (I’ll post the pictures when I get them from her).  I laid back in a chair and they put a lot of eye drops in my eyes to numb them and prepare them for the surgery.  I was laying between two machines.  The machine on my  left was for making the flap on my eye, and the machine on the right was used to correct the vision.  There were a lot of steps that happened during this point and I’ll do my best to talk about as many of them as I can.

First, the doctor put some type of device on my eye that caused a good bit of pressure and made my vision fade away to darkness.  The other eye that was not being operated on was then covered up with a patch.  This made everything pitch black even though both my eyes were open, very strange feeling.  I was then slid under the machine to my left that makes the flaps.  I could feel a little bit of tinglyness while I assume the laser was cutting a flap on my eye.  At the very end of the flap cutting for one eye it felt as though (for lack of better explanation) a blade left my eye.  I don’t know if this was the completing of the flap cut or what, but that’s what I felt.  It didn’t hurt, just tingled.

I was then slid out from under the machine where the doctor removed the clamp from my right eye and moved it over to my left eye.  He then covered up my right eye with the patch and we repeated the whole process which was about 30 seconds per eye.

Now, while all this was going on, one of the assistants was off to the side narrating everything that was going on, telling me that I was going to feel some pressure, that I was doing great, not to move, how much time I had left under one machine and all the sorts.  Having there talk me through the entire thing was EXTREMELY helpful and comforting.

Now that both my eyes had their flaps cut, the doctor folded the flap back from my right eye which made everything around me very very blurry.  He then covered up my left eye and slid me under the machine to my right that corrects vision.  Under that machine I saw a blinking orange light and was told to look at it.  I don’t remember if he used the same clamp as before during this part, but I did not lose vision at all and my eye was secured in one way or another.  During this part of the surgery, you hear a bunch of loud clicks, which is the laser molding your eye.  The lady that was narrating counted down how much time I had under each laser during this point, which was good.  It took 19 seconds under this machine for my right eye and 15 seconds for my left eye.  One thing that I will remember from this machine is the smell.  I don’t know what the smell was or where it came from, but it almost smelled like sulfur.  It smelled like something burning, and I can only assume that it was from the laser.

After each eye was complete, the doctor put drops in my eye after folding the flap back over.  And you know what happened after that … nothing!  The entire process was over.  I sat up in the chair and looked around.  Honestly I was expecting some sort of miracle where everything was crystal clear, but it wasn’t like that.  My vision was a little blurry and pretty hazy.  All things considered, however, my vision was immediately much better than it was prior to the surgery.  In the car I was reading signs and enjoying my new eyes.

On the way home I wore my new sunglasses they gave me to sleep in for the next week so I don’t rub my eyes when asleep.  We also stopped by Kroger to pick up some prescription eye drops.  They gave me a lot of sample packs of artificial tears, a bottle of steroids, and a prescription for eye drop antibiotic to use for a while.  I was told that when I got home to rest my eyes/sleep for 3 hours.  Then to take drops of the steroids every 2 hours for the rest of the night.  Beyond this evening I was told to take drops of the steroid, antibiotic, and artificial tears with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bed.

On the way home, we stopped by Kroger to fill my prescription.  Once there I had the challenge of getting my insurance information due to the transition from my parent’s insurance to Tricare.  After spending more time than I cared to be there with my eyes starting to burn and needing sleep, we finally figured out that my health insurance is with an account under Express Scripts.  Hopefully I’ll be getting my insurance card soon and not have to worry about this any longer.

That’s really about it.  I took a few hour nap with my sunglasses on when I got home and things look and feel much much better after.  My vision isn’t quite as good as it was with my glasses on, yet, but I am seeing huge improvements very quickly.  The main thing I notice is that my eyes seem tired and that they keep wanting to be lazy and let whatever I am looking at go out of focus, but I expect sleep will help in that area.

Tomorrow I have a follow up appointment at LasikPlus and am expecting to see a bright and shiny day!

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I started wearing glasses in the 6th grade.  My older brother had started wearing glasses not long before so for one reason or another I was kind of excited about getting my own glasses.  Goodness, how the mentality has changed.

I just scheduled my Lasik appointment for this upcoming Monday, December 14th at LasikPlus Vision Institute.  Over the past week I have visited four different clinics in the Cincinnati area:

1. Midwest Eye Center
2. Lasik Vision Institute
3. LasikPlus Vision Center
4. Cincinnati Eye Institute

All of these clinics were very friendly, helpful, and basically most everything you’d want when putting down a not so small sum of money for an “elective” surgery.

Why I’m going with Lasik instead of PRK

Before talking too much about the specific clinics, let me talk a little bit about my research and outlook on eye surgery.  I did a good bit of research about the different types of eye surgery and basically narrowed my options down to Lasik and PRK.  Although, I of course checked with my recruiter who in turn checked with the proper people to verify that I, as an Information Warfare Officer (candidate) in the United States Navy was eligible for the various types of eye surgery.  All checked out and both Lasik and PRK are options for a person in my position.  The basic difference between the two is how the surgeon gets to the part of the eye the surgery occurs.  Wikipedia says it just fine, so here is their take on the difference between Lasik and PRK:

Because PRK does not create a permanent flap in the deeper corneal layers (the LASIK procedure involves a mechanical microkeratome using a metal blade or a femtosecond laser microkeratome to create a ‘flap’ out of the outer cornea), the cornea’s structural integrity is less altered by PRK.
The LASIK process covers the laser treated area with the flap of tissue which is from 100 to 180 micrometres thick. This flap can mute the nuances of the laser ablation, whereas PRK performs the laser ablation at the outer surface of the cornea. The use of the anti-metabolite mitomycin can minimize the risk of post-operative haze in persons requiring larger PRK corrections.
PRK does not involve a knife, microkeratome, or cutting laser as used in LASIK, but there may be more pain and slower visual recovery. Unlike LASIK, PRK does not create the risk of dislocated corneal flaps which may occur (especially with trauma), at any time after LASIK.
An evolved form of PRK is called No Touch laser vision correction. It also treats the surface of the cornea but unlike other techniques, requires no assistance from manual surgical instruments. It is the only technique to use exclusively an excimer laser from start to finish

(via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photorefractive_keratectomy)

All in all, people typically get PRK because the tissue on their eye is not thick enough to safely create the flap for Lasik.  Another reason is that the procedure is slightly safer due to not “digging” as deep.  Post op, the military has said that the surgery is more resilient due to no flap being present on the eye.  In very rare cases of head trauma, the flap created in Lasik has become detached, not a good thing.

Being a sky diver, scuba diver, pilot in training, among a general desire to try new things, I had my worries about this last difference of PRK and Lasik.  I didn’t want a rough landing while sky diving to cause concern for added injury beyond what is already worried about.  I also knew from following various eye surgery threads on AirWarriors.com that the Navy currently only waivers PRK applicants, although there is some sort of test group of Lasik aviators (I believe).

My main concern about PRK, however, was the recovery time.  I was told that if there was any thoughts about enhancement surgery in the first year after the initial surgery, it would be considered until about 5 months after the initial surgery.  This is due to the slower recovery time of PRK.  I did not mind the lack of clear vision or the slight discomfort that was possible for the first week(s) after surgery if PRK was going to give me a better life long result, but if there was touch up work that needed to be done, we might have issues due to my schedule.  I go to OCS in Newport, RI on August 1, 2010.  This means that five months after initial surgery it will be mid May.  And I need a six month window between surgery and OCS to be physically qualified after eye surgery.  You seen my concerns?

All-in-all, after talking to doctors at all the clinics, none of them had any concerns that my lifestyle would cause any issues with regards to my Lasik surgery.  They did, however, all say that PRK is, all things considered, a safer procedure and if people didn’t mind the recovery, they would recommend it for everyone.  But the end vision result would be the same after either procedure.  I thought about what they said and mulled it over, going back and forth, thinking about all scenarios.  In the end, I decided that the assurance of results in my timeline really did outweigh the extremely minimal and practically non-existent added risk that Lasik had over PRK.

Why I’m going with LasikPlus Vision Institute

Now let me tell you my thoughts about the various clinics that I visited.  I will talk about them in the order I visited, independently and then summarize at the end.

Midwest Eye Center

Midwest Eye Center was the quickest to send me information in the mail after I my request.  I scheduled a time with them and went in the most blind as I had not talked to a doctor prior to this visit with regards to Lasik or PRK.  I ran through minimal tests to ensure by eligibility, watched the Lasik video and then met with a doctor, Dr. Ralph R. Lim.  He was previously with the Air Force at Wright Patterson Air Force Base where he was Director of Ophthalmology Services.  He was very quick but thorough with answering all the questions I had.  I left feeling very impressed with their offerings.  I was told that if I wanted to go with them, I would need to schedule another appointment where they could do a complete evaluation to make sure I was truly eligible (dilation and more measurements).

Price offerings:
David M. Schneider, M.D.
Advanced Custom Wavefront with Intralase: $4395.00
Advanced Custom Wavefront (OR PRK): $3995.00
Traditional Lasik with Intralase: $3595.00
Traditional Lasik: $2995.00

Ralph R. Lim, D.O.
Ryan T. Smith, M.D.
Advanced Custom Wavefront with Intralase: $3495.00
Advanced Custom Wavefront (OR PRK): $3095.00
Traditional Lasik with Intralase: $2895.00
Traditional Lasik: $2295.00

Enhancements:
Discounted enhancements for the first 5 years

Dr. Schneider is their face on TV and the owner of the practice, so that is why he is more expensive.  Even with the other two doctor’s experience, Dr. Lim told me that they were priced lower due to Dr. Schneider wanting to get them more experience.  I personally would have felt comfortable with any of them doing my surgery.

Lasik Vision Institute

I had a little more knowledge going into Lasik Vision Institute.  I went through the same screening as I did at Midwest, however, they were willing to do the full screening including the eye dilation.  I unfortunately didn’t have the amount of time they required so kept with the same screening procedure that I went through at MidWest.  One thing that irked me a little while there was that my prescription was measured at two completely different numbers.  On one machine I was much more “blind” than the other.  This threw the technician off and he wasn’t sure what to make of it, but once I met with the doctor, he assured me that the difference was likely to my youth, and I had strong muscles in my eyes that were “over-compensating” while adjusting to a blurry image.

One of the big differences about Lasik Vision Institute was that their surgeon is only on-site every other Friday.  In his other time he works at a hospital.

Price offerings:
Lasik Vision Institute prices by the prescription.  The worse your sight is, the more expensive the surgery gets.  It also sounded like this price was a bit negotiable.
Custom Wavefront with Intralase or PRK: $2700 (after 10% military discount)

Enhancements:
Benefit of Lasik Vision Institute is their Lifetime Warranty.  Free enhancements for life that aren’t related to Presbyopia (reading glasses) as long as you go to an eye doctor every year and fax them the results.  Then if you do need enhancements, you must pay a $99 fee for them to do an eye exam which may or may not be covered by your insurance.

I really did enjoy the people that were working at Lasik Vision Institute.  He kept talking about being upfront and honest, almost to a point that made me cautious though.  The cheaper price caught me off guard as well and I wasn’t too sure what to make of it.

LasikPlus Vision Institute

I had driven by LasikPlus Vision Institute many times.  It is just down the street from my current apartment and they have a big eye ball in the glass of the office building.  How cool is that?!?

Their office was very nice and this was the first place that I went through the entire screening process, eye numbing, dilation, and the whole 9 yards.  Again I watched a video, basically the same as the previous two clinics and asked basically the same questions.  By this point of my search, the routine was getting sort of automatic, not necessarily a good thing.

Price offerings:
CustomVue IntraLase: $3,298.00 (after December discount which was about the same as their 15% military discount)

Enhancements:
Free Enhancements for life, which seemed to be the same as Lasik Vision Institute.  The main difference, however, is that LasikPlus does not require a yearly optometrist visit.  They of course recommend you get a check up every year, but if you don’t, it will not void your warranty.

I left LasikPlus feeling rather neutral.  They were on the pricey side, but they offered the better warranty.

Cincinnati Eye Institute

My Grandmother had had some work done at CEI before, and they are a gigantic clinic for both eyes and ears.  It was quite the impressive practice they have set up in Blue Ash.

At CEI, I went through the motions again but this time had my fiance, Melissa, with me, as she wanted to learn more about the surgery.  I got all the same measurements done and watched their DVD, same as before and then talked with the Doctor.  After talking with the Doctor, I went and talked to their surgery scheduler lady.  She talk about her experience with CEI and was very friendly (of course).

Price offerings:
Global fee:
-1.00 to -3.00: $2890.00
-3.01 to -7.00: $3290.00
-7.01 to -10.00: $3490.00
-10.01 and up: $3690.00
+anything: $3290.00
Custom Vuew LASIK/LASEK: $1000
IntraLase: $600

And the lady was nice enough to call me her “family or friend” to give a big discount.

For me, the total came to:

PRK: $3140.00
Lasik: $3490.00

Enhancements:
Within 1 year: No charge
1-2 years: $499 per eye
2-3 years: $999 per eye
4 years+: 10% discount

I enjoyed the people that worked at CEI very much.  However, they didn’t offer much of a warranty and were quite expensive.  Although it was after leaving CEI that I was feeling as though Lasik was really the better path for me to take.

The reasons I ended up scheduling with LasikPlus was the lifetime warranty and the fact that I felt more comfortable there over Lasik Vision Institute.  My Mom is a teacher and was able to get a number of people from her school to respond to a request of opinions regarding where they had had Lasik done.  From her query, it sounded like most of the people went to Midwest Eye Center with a few going to Cincinnati Eye Institute.  I did take this into consideration, however, I heard no negative reviews.  Really I would feel comfortable at any of the places I visited as they have done thousands of these surgeries before and really would not be in business any longer if things were not going well.

Whether it was the comfort of the chairs, the taste of the coffee, or something else, I really just felt more comfortable at LasikPlus.  If something were to go wrong with the surgery, I would feel more comfortable knowing that I went to LasikPlus and didn’t cheap out at Lasik Vision Institute.  I had heard talk about the laser that Lasik Vision Institute uses, something about it not being one of the “top three lasers”, but honestly I did not look into this much further.

Conclusion

I am very excited to have this surgery and see how the world looks unobstructed by glasses or contacts.  After spending a much longer than expected time writing this book … I mean blog entry, I will have my new eyes in less than 24 hours.  Hopefully those of you that might be searching for answers to Lasik or PRK in the Cincinnati, Ohio area will find some insight in my post.  As much as I searched, I could not find too many reviews of any of the clinics around Cincinnati.  I could have expanded my search to Dayton, however I feel very confident that I am making the right decision with the type of surgery and location.

I will follow up sometime post op with a follow up entry to talk about how it went and my initial reaction.

Ready, set, go!

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