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comment by Meriadoc
Meriadoc  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Somebody christened #styleski before me but here's my contribution for the evening

I was on contacts almost exclusively for nearly a decade, but lately the hassle and cost has been too much. Since I'm so blind (-12.5 and -12.0 with a 3.75 and 3.50 astigmatism, plus color blindness), a year of them costs around $400. Warby Parker was a godsend for new glasses,especially when they do HI1.75 with anti-glare and all that jazz by default. Comes out to saving like another 400 bucks.





am_Unition  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    -12.5 and -12.0 with a 3.75 and 3.50 astigmatism, plus color blindness

Holy shit!

I did PRK, even twice in one eye, and I was only a -5.0-ish in both eyes, my left with minor astigmatism. My dad split the bill with me 50/50, and it was the best decision I ever made.

LASIK is a more common procedure, but I like the integrity of my eye preserved, and I'm willing to endure the pain of regrowing my corneas from scratch accordingly.

Fast forward to now: I'll be hanging out, and somebody will say "I can't quite make out what the details are over there...", and I feel like Legolas. I'll look over and read out verbatim what I can behold, with better resolution than about 99.95% of other humans. If I'm among friends, I sometimes append the delivery of optical information with "AND I PAYED FOR THAT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH."

Seriously consider the benefits of getting a LASIK or PRK procedure.

P.S. I've had somewhere around 10 surgeries. My favorite? The repair of my extreme case of Pectus Excavatum. Epidural, catheter, Christmas, sneezingOHFUCKTHATHURT.

Meriadoc  ·  3166 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Also, speaking of favorite surgeries since I've had a few , HAS to be testicular surgery as a child. That's one that will always stay with you.

am_Unition  ·  3166 days ago  ·  link  ·  

One of my 10 was inguinal hernia repair. Wasn't too bad, but it was still remotely ball-related. Anything "surgical" applied to genitalia is on another level altogether.

Meriadoc  ·  3168 days ago  ·  link  ·  

My friend spent four years in Korea and while he was there got LASEK, which is more common there than LASIK. The essential difference was they don't actually cut the cornea and it takes a while longer to heal, but it's worth doing so you don't have the chance of, y'know, losing your cornea one day. I think I'm going to go with that when I can afford to do it.

_refugee_  ·  3167 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The doctor told me I should get the surgery that's not LASIK but where they implant a disk in your eye.

Seeing as I have "special pupils" that cannot deal with contacts (make me pass out), I have my own doubts about implanting something to fuck with my pupils.

Meriadoc  ·  3166 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Implanting a disk?? What procedure is that?

Do you pass out because of touching your eye or is it something else?

user-inactivated  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Wow! You make me look 20/20. And I still can't really do anything without my contacts in. Mine cost, probably, 150-200 for 12 pairs, and even though it's bad I never use them for just a month. Mostly because I forget. But I really shouldn't do that. But I do.

Meriadoc  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·  

arguewithatree used to have a bad habit of leaving hers in for a solid month. I mean, sleep with them in and never take them out for a full month. And then still use them longer than their recommended time.

Baaad habits, man.

arguewithatree  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It was closer to multiple months...

user-inactivated  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·  

How can you sleep with them in?! Shit, I get uncomfortable if I keep my eyes closed too long. Every great once in a while I pass out drunk and invariably wake up with the worst feeling ever in my eyes at about 6am.

am_Unition  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I was in "Acuvue Oasys" (lol, nice homonym marketing or whatever), supposedly the best moisture retainment material circa 4 years ago, and my eyes were still throwing tantrums. My mind is also blown to hear stories of sleeping in contact lenses. Got mine when I was about 13, and my eyes tolerated them for a decade, and that was with daily removal, scrubbing, soaking, and re-cleansing (in that order), for the entirety of the time I used contacts. I loved them, but it was clearly a one-sided relationship.

Staring at a computer screen, as per my job requirements, killed the potential use of contacts as soon as it became a 6+ hour commitment. They seemed to be magnifying the dryness of my eyes, and I didn't appreciate looking stoned at work. I never did teach myself to blink more often, which might have solved the problem.

Still, I preferred contacts to glasses heavily. When my field of view is 100% of its natural range, as opposed to being constricted to a couple of literal windows, that's a functional advantage.

And that's why I got my eyes lazed.

user-inactivated  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·  

How much did it cost?

am_Unition  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·  

$4300, to the Spurs' most contracted ophthalmologist.

I went back and got the 2nd iteration on my right eye done for free, because the first attempt produced ~20/30, and the deal was 20/20. Now it's like 20/12. Quetzalcoatl vision, bro.

I'm still paying off student loan debt, but setting aside the money for this was so worth it. Which is easy to say for the guy who got a 50% discount via his father.

arguewithatree  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I use Acuvue Oasys right now bc the dailies left my eyes super dry. I'm looking to get lasered after I finish grad school. I'm just ready to be as low maintenance as possible.

am_Unition  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I was stupid enough to take a break between undergrad and grad school to make some money.

That was the only way I got The Lazering.

I was lucky enough to find my way back to grad school, starting in less than a month.

I'm freakin' out.

arguewithatree  ·  3168 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Honestly there's never really a good time for grad school haha. I went straight through following my undergrad because I figured now or never and that I'd still be in school mode, but I'm super burnt out. There's pros and cons to waiting I think.

The optometrist just suggested that I wait because I guess adjusting to look at the board / projector can change your prescription somewhat?

arguewithatree  ·  3169 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I can't do it any more after I switched to disposables for a year. Idk it just didn't bother me and I was more squicked out by touching my eye than changing my contacts which is gross I know