I got my first pair of Glasses in 3rd grade.... Between 3rd grade and 11th (Junior year) I wore glasses, and probably went through close to 30 or more pairs, because my glasses ALWAYS had a short life-span due to breakage, lol. Also, my eyes got progressivly worse, not quickly, but needed a new Rx every 2 years or so.
The very beginning of my Junior year of High School, I went to the eye Doctors (Lenscrafters for whatever reason that trip) and decieded to go with contacts. After the exam, we ordered them, and also got a free pair of the colored contacts, I chose geen ones to make my Hazel eyes more green. Well, when I was test-fitting them, it REALLY SUCKED, and I poked & prodded, and jabbed and poked some more to get the darn things in my eyes. After near an hour, I FINALLY got both of them in, and could see. When I looked in the mirror, I liked the 'no glasses' look.
I was VERY good with my contacts, at first. I would take them out at night before bed, and put them in first thing in the morning. I STILL remember the day that changed. I was at a family party of some kind, and my cousin's son (a year younger than I was) asked me to come spend the night at his new parents new house, nice big screen in the basement & pool table. I said no, cause I didn't have my contact solution & case with me, but he talked me into it, and I went. I was just going to leave them in overnight ONE time, no big deal. Well, I woke up the next morning, with NO ISSUES, and didn't have to put the contacts in. I REALLY liked that, because it was still a hassle for me to put them in. So, one night turned to two, and two to four, so on and so-forth.
Well, my 6 month supply of 'two week' contacts lasted me WELLL over a year, and at that point my eye doctor recommended the Acuvue 2's extended wear ones that last a month. I was supposed to take them out overnight once or twice a week and swap them at the end of the month. Well, same story went on here, 6 month supply lasted WELLL over a year. At this point, I DESPISED putting in the contacts and taking them out, STILL, after TWO years. My doctor talked with me about Lasik eye surgery, and I wasn't sure what to think. One of my cousins had it done back in 2002 or 2003, and hers went great. I had a friend & his mom that had it done around that time too, and no problems. So I thought about it. The problem was that when you leave the contacts in, you are starving your eyes of oxygen, and capillaries (I bet I mis-spelt it) start to grow up through the cornea. At this point, I changed my habits, and was daily taking them out & putting them back in to stop the advancing capillaries. I was told that if they go to far, then I will no longer be eligable for the lasik surgery. A few months later, I mustered up the stones to go for the free consultation (I have this thing about my eyes, and them being touched, I HATE it and CAN'T STAND IT!!). After going through the battery of testes, and them mapping out the surface of my eyes and whatever else they do, the doc said I was a perfcet candidate for the procedure. Well, I went back to the reception desk to set up my appointment, wondering to myself how many months ahead you had to schedule the appointment, because this is the BEST doctor for this procedure in Chicago. The recptionist told me they could do it the following week, but I still needed mental time to prepare, so I set it for about 6 months ahead.
FINALLY mentally prepared for the procedure, I went to the office on Friday March 11th, 2005 after work. It cost me $3500 out of pocket, down from the normal $4300 cost because I had Blue Cross/Blue Shield PPO at the time. (I have NO idea what the deal was, the insurance didn't cover ANY of the procedure, but I got a discount because of that particular insurance plan... whatever, $800 is $800....). So, I was getting ready for the operation, and they gave me 25mg of Vallium so that I was relaxed during the procedure... a short while later, they gave me another 25mg of Vallium (or maybe it was 250mg... the doseage is fuzzy)...
So I walk into the operation room, lay down, and less than 20 minutes later, I walk out, surgery success, all done. At first everything was really fuzzy, and my eyes were VERY sensative to light, so I just slept with my special sun glasses on the ride home. The after-surgery care was 2 sets of eye drops that I had to use for like 2-3 weeks if I recall correctly, and eye lubrication drops that I had to take like every 2 hours for a few months, then once or twice a day as needed after that for a few more months.
I don't know my exact Rx BEFORE the procedure, but about 6 months AFTER the procedure, my vision is close to 20/10 (where I can be at 20 feet and read something average people have to stand at 10 feet to read). I must say, $3500 out of my pocket was WELL WORTH it for the freedom that I have now. No more putting in contact & taking them out, and i can see MUUUUUCH more clearly now than I was ever able to with contacts.
If you want info on the Doc I saw, I can give that to anyone interested, just PM me and I will get you a link the website.
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so i'm basically gonna wera a permanent contact for the rest of my life. also if you have a cataract your insurancewill only cover the cheapest? i was like WTF! so i may have to go out of pocket or get the cheapest one. i wil get the better lens because it will provid me with more vision, actually i don't relly have a problem with my eyes i dont need glasses to walk around or anything, but i wear sunglasess outside or indoors when it is really bright and i have my monitor on 30%contrast 20% brightness for white backgrounds it sucks.
