I underwent laser surgery this morning to correct some vision problems.

Now I get to wear sunglasses 24/7 and live in the shadows for a while.

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Looks very cyberpunk, William Gibson novel cover art.

Let me be the first to congratulate you on your new eyes.

I should too, but glasses make me look like a hacker.

I've been wondering if it would help me. I'm short sighted, but can still function without glasses so I haven't really bothered. Still, I'm sure my vision could be improved either by wearing glasses/contacts or hopefully with surgery. Though I'm not sure if I trust anyone practicing any form of medicine in Canada.

I also wonder if it would be a waste because I spend so much time in front of a monitor/TV. It would be silly to get it fixed if I would only be damaging it again.

Anybody know some answers?

So... you get eye surgery and STILL have to wear glasses 24/7?

Actually my eyes aren't super sensitive to light. After twenty-four hours, I shouldn't need them at all (the sunglasses, that is ... I will still need my eyes). But will need to wear some sort of eye protection for a week or two to help prevent accidental (and on-purpose) eye poking.

A doctor who specializes in the field, perhaps. Or random internet strangers.

This supports my theory that Matthew is actually a robot.

First, he gets sunglasses. Then he gets surgery to put lasers in his eyes. What's next? Taking over the world?
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You know when you reach your 40's, your vision will change and the surgery will have been wasted, right?

Not always, there is a chance of that though.

You need to balance that against the advantages between now and then. Not needing glasses for 10+ years may well be worth the money.

ooooo let me know how it gose. i want to try it too so i can take up boxing

edir it will be this or the stem cell stuff

Thats just a wifes tale, sitting too close to a tv screen / monitor or even looking at it for prolong periods does not hurt your eyes, it merely fatigues them. The notion that tv/computer monitors can damage your eyes is merely a myth. ^[1]

I know that myopia and presbyopia are two separate conditions, and I will likely need reading glasses in the future. If I limited my actions today to what I will be able to do when I'm older, I wouldn't really do much of anything except watch soaps and Wheel of Fortune on TV.

And actually, monovision is an option (one eye for long distance; one for reading), but that sounds too unnatural to me. Supposedly it works after getting used to it.

Better hurry up and come to the US to have it done, before obamacare takes over.

What? you actually think this new sideshow will pass. Its all a game, have you noticed afghanistan and the shit that just happened in Baghdad. They want everyone to worry about two issues so one side ignores the others. No one, besides the republicans, wants the afghanistan problem and obama wants everyone on the "health care" bandwagon! seriously.

while where talking about eyes this why i love japan
surgery

Is it my imagination or does the picture of ML (facial expression, sunglasses) bear a striking resemblance to the picture Elverion posted? With a bit of work on the hair, you could have your Halloween costume.

We could all wear sunglasses and go as ML for Halloween Tell everybody we run the Allegro.cc website and have a terminator fetish... Don't forget the chaingun

Congrats on the new eyes/look...

What is it about a Korean music video that makes you love Japan?

How was the actual surgery? Did you feel any pain? Was in uncomfortable?

I recently had a scare as I had developed a black spot in the vision of my right eye. I thought that my retina might have started becoming detached, but it turns out it was just a retinal hemorrhage (which itself is semi-serious). It seems to be healing up now, but for a while I was worried that I was going to have eye surgery, which absolutely freaks me out.

It's not what you feel, it's what you see and hear.

I felt nothing during the operation. I just looked at a blinking light and listened to the doctor and his assistant freak out every time certain numbers were called out.

The worst part for me was when the doctor was doing post surgery stuff to the eye, (I think) trying to remove whatever he had placed on it. My eyes are narrow and don't open very wide, so I think it was a struggle. Plus I'm a squirmy wuss when it comes to people poking around at my eyes, so I'm sure he felt like just jabbing a knife down my eye socket and calling it a day.

Assuming is some kind of lasek system you went for, this is the kind of thing that put me off getting mine done. Plus there are no long term studies to show whether there are any effects.

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=9170668248840030509&ei=aYntSqv7NNbB-AbC7rX9Dg&hl=en

Maybe that's because you should search for LASIK?

Google: long term lasik study

And you'll see that your claim that no studies exist is false.

Whoa, were those scissors...?! In the dude's eye...?! What happened to frickin' laser beams?!

Do they put you out while they're doing stuff in your eye? I wouldn't be able to stay still unless I was drugged and restrained...

You aren't out. It doesn't hurt, at least it didn't hurt my cousins wife when she had it done...

Yeah, but I would be busy processing every fraction of a second, freaking out that people are doing things to my eyes. I'd probably have to fight the urge to just roll quickly away from the surgeons and get the Hell out of there.

On Tuesday I have an appointment to see somebody (I'm not sure what you call them) about getting my wisdom teeth (4) removed (I believe surgically). I really don't know how yet...

Dentist? Now I would be scared of the wisdom teeth removal far more than eye surgery. Good luck though.

IIRC they have to remove the lense before using the laser, as to not damage it, and/or to replace it iirc.

Well I was at the dentist office and they referred me somewhere else. I assume it's to an actual surgeon, perhaps a dental-specific one? I've never really been very knowledgeable about the medical professions.

Well it cant be that bad, you are sedated (locally) and I saw how an expert removes a tooth in less than 30 seconds (they were front tooth though), I reckon wisdom teeth are buried in more deep.

Look on the bright side, maybe the surgeon removing your teeth will be a hot sexy female.

Well I don't think mine are even exposed yet. My mouth has always been relatively crowded. They suspected the wisdom teeth and confirmed with X-ray. Each one is coming in completely sideways, putting pressure on my back teeth... I honestly don't know how they're supposed to get to them...

I had to go to an oral surgeon for my wisdom teeth. Knocked me right out due to a small complication ^[1].

Thats why it's called Surgery. They will literally dig them out. Its better than them traveling along the gums and kicking out all your teeth, or growing out sideways.

Mine came straight up, but there wasn't enough room, so they got impacted.

I seem to recall my dad telling the story of when he had his wisdom teeth removed. I believe they failed to fully sedate the local area and it wasn't until my dad asked if it should be hurting that they realized and gave him more... I hope they put me right out...

My LASIK was 100% laser. No blades. Eye surgery is nothing compared to getting wisdom teeth dug out. I've never watched any LASIK videos, nor will I ever. I don't want to know what they are doing.

I had two 100% full bony impacted teeth "pulled", and was the worst month of my life. The pain was completely unbearable before it was pulled, and after the surgery it was still horrible for a while.

And no, I wouldn't watch anybody get his wisdom teeth pulled either.

One of my wisdom teeth had nerves wrapped around it, making it harder for them to pull them out. Don't remember the reason why mine were pulled out though.

Anyway, I asked to be fully knocked out. Didn't want to see what was going on. Because of some acne problems, I had some needles used on my face to clear some out, and I passed out as they were doing it (only half my face was done).

So you can ask to be fully knocked out? Yes, give me one of those (I'll probably be willing to pay whatever it costs, within reason).

For regular dental work they can give you laughing gas if you ask for it. Dental surgery work will let you ask for the full on sleepy time KO.

If you are worried about it, talk to your dentist/surgeon beforehand to see what they can offer.

Laughing gas doesn't knock you out, it just takes the edge off.

When I got my two wisdom teeth out, it was a breeze. Of course, they weren't impacted or anything, they were half way poked out, but my mouth is just shallow enough that they didn't have room to fully break through the gum (and as a result, were beginning to rot where they were under the gum way in the back). But yeah, took longer to get the Novocaine shots and wait for them to take effect than it did for extraction. The dentist went in, latched on, I heard a couple crunches and tasted blood. While I was tasting the blood, still trying to decide if it was indeed blood or not, I heard another crunch, and the tooth on the other side was out (they only took out the two on top, my lower ones are still in). Took all of about 35 seconds total for both teeth. He was even able to stitch me up to make dry socket less likely. All in all, 10 minutes after walking in, I walked out. Had to bite down on the gauze for my half hour drive home and an additional 30-40 minutes at home until the bleeding stopped. That night I was eating almost normally, just cautiously. Within two days, I felt totally fine, was eating normally, etc.

Of course, sorry to say, yours are going to be hell, given that they have to be surgically removed.

Going under is for the ultimate wuss.

I was really disappointed that they were going to put me under for lacroscopic knee surgery I had when I was a teenager. I wanted to be able to watch the camera moving around. But they needed to dislocate the knee joint, and apparently, it's nearly impossible to do when the patient is still concious.

Meh. Mine were fine. All 5 of them. And my cheeks didn't swell up like most peoples. My gums took a while to heal, got a little swollen, but it didnt last for more than a couple days. Didn't even need to take all of the prescription pain killers they gave me. I think I took 4. They gave me 6+.

Ditto.

I saved mine up for our next binge drinking session.

Meh, they didn't even give me painkillers.

My linking to lasek was just the first one I found as I was in a hurry and it looks the quickest of the ones I found. I know the latest ones now don't even need to use those crude micro cutting rings either, they kind of produce a bubble in the eye to take the cover away a bit better.

As for the long term study, I can well imagine most are funded by the firms doing the treatment. Perhaps google lasik failure stories as well

Saying that, if I had the bottle I'd do it as I can easily trust all will be well, but I'm a bit soft really.

I had all four impacted wisdom teeth pulled at the same time, but I don't remember a thing. The last memory I had was the nurse saying, "Now count down from 10". I think I got to about 8, then I woke up and everything was over (except the pain).

The drug they usually give you prior to the procedure is called Versed. It's an ultra-short acting benzodiazepine that has anestheic properties and causes short term amnesia. I've had this drug administered for an endoscopy as well. It's excellent for short procedures.

Interesting side note: In the USA, Versed is administered to death row inmates before lethal injection.

I had my wisdom teeth "extracted" (gums cut open and teeth drilled to little pieces) while fully awake. I wanted to make sure that crazy surgeon didn't take more than he was supposed to.

It was incredibly disturbing.

So wait, does that mean you're fully awake during a procedure, just numbed? Just that you won't be able to remember it after? Thats a little freaky.

So they don't remember how they died? How thoughtful.

my wisdom teeth have been partly protruded from my gums for the past 15 years and have never moved. Hopefully they never will as I've never had to have anything done to my teeth other than a polish. Yes, I know it's hard to understand some of us Brits actually look after our teeth

Congratulations on the successful laser surgery! Really looks very Terminator-like with the sunglasses so far!

Now the only question that remains to be asked: Where does that 'Supreme Loser' come from? I'd really like to know that!

I'm going to guess this is in case the procedure fails, for whatever reason. Is that correct?

Modern death row is such an odd mixture of hatred and respect.

I know, my idea of an execution is to just strap someone into a jeep, put a rock on the gas pedal and drive them off the cliff. Its quick, painless, and since most serial killers are thrill seekers, they might even enjoy it.

You look like the illegitimate brother of JC Denton.

Can you do this yet?

Consider yourself lucky. My first wisdom tooth extraction took 2 hours because it was in a horizontal position (and the dentists had to break it in pieces to get it out). I was 2 days in bed, and even though strong antibiotics were used, the surgery got infected 2 months later and I had another surgery to take out the infected tissue

Second tooth took around 10 minutes because the root of the tooth was blocking part of the exit. I also had to stay 2 days in bed to recover (this tooth was extracted half a year after the first).

Just came back from the consultation. The surgeon is removing 4 wisdom teeth and he's putting me right out with general anesthetics (I didn't even have to request it!). He said I probably won't remember anything, which is fine with me. I also get (read: have) to take 4 days off afterward, so I also sort of get some time off for it (unpaid; and who knows what condition I'll be in to enjoy it or not).

Just when I was starting to relax... From the X-ray, it looks like all four of my wisdom teeth are on their side. None of them are supposed to be rooted yet though (which is why my dentist suggests having them removed now, it'll be easier). I hope for it to not be my problem (cause I'll hopefully be unconscious and numb, with a slight case of amnesia).

The surgery is the easy part.

I had one wisdom tooth pulled early this year, which was growing horizontally. They had to drill it in half to get it out and my mouth was sore for the rest of the week. Everything was fine after that, until I arrived for a five-day stay in the US two weeks later, at which point I developed the worst tooth ache I've ever had (also my first, so it didn't have that much competition): I spent the last night there in my hotel with a bag of ice and heavy pain killers (I'd already made a dentist appointment for when I was back in Canada). Oddly enough, I felt mostly fine the next day and had no problems at all anymore when I got to the dentist. They couldn't even tell what had been wrong.

I had the second one out just a month or two ago. The first one was relatively easy (despite being horizontal), this one even more so: no swelling, almost no pain even a day later.

Local anesthetic in both cases. Since my face was covered, I couldn't actually see anything (which was good), but I could feel it (not directly of course, but you do feel the pressure they put on your jaw) and hear everything. The sound of your own teeth cracking and creaking is pretty scary.

All in all, I didn't find the experience remotely as bad as it's made out to be. Then again, I've had worse.

I've also had a root canal done preventatively for a traumatized tooth. It was also no where near as bad as family members/etc made it out to be. It was more of a pain than anything else, had to have 3 appointments for it, first one to do the actual root canal and place a temporary filling, second one to take a mold of that area of teeth, place a post and a temporary metal cap, and a third filling a few weeks later to have the natural-looking cap placed.

Though most of the horror stores I heard had to do with pain, and this tooth wasn't infected at the time, so no pain. It was done because the tooth had some pretty major reconstruction done to it (a few years prior), and x-rays suggested that the rather large filling may start leaking, so rather than take the chance of it becoming infected and requiring root canal or extraction later, they did the root canal up front.

I don't even recall what was done, but years ago when I was younger I had to be brought into the dentist's "serious" room for something (perhaps a baby-tooth was jammed in and had to be forcively removed? I don't know...). I remember feeling very uncomfortable, particularly when this large piece was put in my mouth, presumably to hold it open. There was also some rather uncomfortable drilling (the drill felt larger than normal drills, and the fact that I seem to remember feeling it suggests I wasn't numbed). In general, it feels like I salivate more than normal and the dentists usually don't do anything about it, so I start to feel like I'm going to choke on it (and occasionally do) before they do anything about it. It's not like I can say something with various tools jammed in my mouth. Anyway, this particular instance, I remember the sound of a tooth breaking in the claws of the dentist's "plier-like" tool and it was very unnerving (I didn't feel pain as a result though, so it was probably already dead). That's pretty much the experience that fueled my nervousness towards this surgery, though most of my nerves were calmed today at the consultation. Most.

Now your picture looks more like the Leverton I've pictured you as (due to the Shenmue (sp?) avatar and biting quotes).

I've heard the cutting eye surgery is horrible because of your vision disappearing from one side to the other as you have to hold your eyes straight.

When I got my four wisdom teeth pulled, my face didn't chipmunk out but I had to use tea (no caffeine) to stop bleeding well into the night. I was conscious during the operation and even had reduced gas due to stomach irritation. It didn't hurt much at all but the bone crunching vibrations and sounds are still chilling. It was just wrong.

Opening and reading this thread was the worst decision I every made. I can barely type this because my hands are still shaking. I thank god or whoever I have huge jaws with more than enough room for all 32 teeth.

I had plenty enough room for all 32 teeth... the only problem was that I had 36 teeth, so they had to remove four of them to make room.

I can imagine how a dentist might get all up in your face because of that...