I had been managing refractive surgery for almost three years. During that time I had watched the "alphabet soup" of refractive surgery go by. We had RK, AK, ALK, PRK, and then came LASIK. During that time I saw many patients for refractive surgery consultation. Many of these patients went on to have the surgery and most were very happy with the outcome.
Beginning in March 1996 I began to see my first LASIK patients. I still remember one of my earliest LASIK patients. She had had the procedure about one and a half weeks earlier. This patient sat in my exam chair and read the 20/20 line with her right eye and the 20/15(better than 20/20) with her left eye. Using the microscope I found myself checking her chart to be certain that she had had the procedure. The surgery was almost invisible on the surface of her eye. This was clearly an elegant procedure.
As I continued to see more LASIK patients, my glasses suddenly seemed to be constantly dirty and out of adjustment.
A couple of months later I scheduled my surgery for August 13. I was rather, O.K., very nervous but after a little Valium the procedure turned out to be simple. When the flap was formed there was only a mild sensation of pressure. I was asked to look at a small red light inside the laser. There was no smoke, flash, smell, only the sound of the laser clicking in the background and the technician counting down the remaining time. My LASER treatment took about 40 seconds. The flap was replaced and then since everything had gone well the whole procedure was repeated with the other eye. I'm sure the whole thing took less than half an hour. I was never uncomfortable.
I went home and went to bed.
The next morning I stood in the driveway and noted the small branches in the top of a redwood tree a quarter of a mile away. When I got to work I was 20/20 although the vision was a little watery. That evening I drove from San Francisco to Santa Rosa in the dark (about 60 miles) including some dark country roads. Initially, I had some difficulty reading. I was forty-two and rapidly approaching the time when near vision begins to change. After about a week and a half my near vision had returned to normal. I did not use any reading correction for the next six years.
Before my surgery I was about 20/600 in each eye. My prescription was about -6.00 diopters with moderate astigmatism in each eye.
It wasn't until I went sailing on San Francisco Bay without salt encrusted glasses that I realized what a blessing this procedure could be to someone who has worn glasses since the age of seven.
Today after 12 years I still have 20/15 vision in each eye. At 54, I have become pretty dependent on my reading glasses. . This gradual loss of near vision is a side effect of eating too much birthday cake and unrelated to my LASIK procedure. At the time I could have elected to have mono-vision, a technique that retains some near vision for older patients. As an active sailor I preferred to maximize my distance vision knowing that I would need reading glasses at a later time in my life.
Since my procedure, many advances have been made in the field. These include eye tracking to help ensure optimal centering of the treatment, larger treatment diameters which help to reduce difficulties in low light and wave front which for the first time offers some patients the opportunity to see better than they have ever seen using glasses or contact lenses.
Dr. Michael Britt is an experienced co-manager who has helped over three thousand patients achieve clear vision through laser refractive surgery. He is in private practice in Alameda and with two locations to serve you.
