It's been a while

[lboogie]

Hi everyone,
It's been a while! I guess that's good. My life has been BUSY. I am dabbling with a grad school class, planning my wedding, and working.

Do my eyes bother me still? Yup. But I guess they take more of a back seat. I thought about DEZ and felt need to come here because I was at dinner and the table next to us had a conversation about LASIK. You know the usual conversation -- some people they knew had great outcomes, others terrible.

One woman was very intelligent and spoke about the issue of too much corneal tissue being removed....just not safe....sight too precious.....and I felt sad, sad again a way I hadn't for a while. And needed some friends to remind me that I'm no stupid for what I did to myself.

Thanks for listening, and I hope everyone is doing well!
-Laura

[Guest]

One woman was very intelligent and spoke about the issue of too much corneal tissue being removed....just not safe....sight too precious.....and I felt sad, sad again a way I hadn't for a while. And needed some friends to remind me that I'm no stupid for what I did to myself.
-Laura

Ha... well, listen to this: (it'll make you feel totally NOT stupid!)

I work with a girl who way back when I was scheduling my LASIK procedure, would say stuff like how your eyes are WAY too important to risk with an elective surgery... how she would NEVER do it herself... blah blah blah...

Well...to my complete and utter SHOCK, the other day she tells me she's tempted to get LASIK!

I was stunned... every time she works with me I'm wearing moisture chamber glasses, using every drop ever invented, she's heard my horror story, yet SHE of all people is tempted to get LASIK.

Anyhow, it just reinforced to me how very tempting LASIK can be... makes me feel less stupid for choosing it for myself... I mean geez... at least I still have the excuse that I didn't know anyone who'd had a bad outcome!

Anyhow, I'm not criticizing her for considering it... I of all people can understand why it was so tempting... add in all the marketing, and it's ever MORE tempting...

The other day I was curious, so I actually WATCHED a LASIK commercial for LASIK MD. One of their docs goes on and on about how SAFE lasik is... not a word about potential complication... nope... he just goes on and on about how GREAT Lasik is. Watching the commercial, you'd think LASIK is even safer than half the prescription drugs people take (at least for THOSE, the commercials have to say something about adverse effects). Add in the fact that when you go and see a real live LASIK surgeon for your consultation, they do the same thing as that doc in the commercial... they just go on and on about how wonderful it's all going to be.... hey, they're a doctor, you can trust them, right? (Not meaning to tar all docs with the same brush here... but hey, as in any other profession, there are a few bad apples, as many of us know all too well!)

So... with all that, I don't think you should beat yourself up too much about it... we're only human... it seemed like a good idea at the time... we had tons of reasons to believe it was a safe and reasonable alternative to glasses/contacts.

Congrats on your upcoming wedding by the way!

[RobLIC]

Hey Laura. Genuinely happy to know you've found such happy and healthy distractions. Good luck. Rob

[Sammy B.]

Laura,

You didn't make a stupid decision. Don't let those feelings flood back in. Life is too short to spend your days worrying about the "what-ifs."

Someone told me a while ago when I was in agony that if I had never done LASIK in the first place, I'd still be miserable with my glasses and I'd still be vying for LASIK. This is very true, at least in my case, so try to view your situation that way if you can - you'd still be wanting for something and feeling like your life is incomplete or imperfect.

Rose

[Roderick]

At least thanks to your examples you'll have helped some people in avoiding LASIK. I know I'll never trust a surgeon to mess with my eyes. EVER.