Okay, now that I'm not incredibly late for a class, I can go into more depth, as it appears that I am the only one here who has had first hand experience with the process. Trust me, I am well aware of the pros and cons. I'm willing to bet I'm one of the better people to give an opinion on it, as I think you'll see.

To start, I am a little over the 2.5 year mark with 20/20 vision, or what I would call perfect.

My mother had the operation before I did, and her results were not good. She had a lot of problems and had to go in for a total of 5 operations, 2 on one eye and 5 on the other. However, we finally got it right and she now has very good eyesight, if not 20/20.

Despite this process, I went ahead with the operation. In fact, I was so eager to have it done, I wasn't concerned with these facts:
-my mother's problems with her operations
-I was a test participant on a new type of laser
-at the time, the operation was not as successfull for far-sighted people as near-sighted, and I was very far-sighted
-the new laser I was a test subject for broke just before I was supposed to go in, and I had to come back another day while a repairman from the company was flown in to fix it

Despite all this, I went through with it, came out of it, and was seeing without glasses that very night.

My dad, who just started wearing glasses in his late 40's, decided he didn't now want to be the only one in the family wearing them, and he had it done recently on one eye. His results were also poor, as he was over corrected. They can fix it, however, and think they will, based on previous experience.


Here are the tips of advice I'd give:
-first, how old are you? if you are under 40, I think you'll have a much better shot
-the operation does not improve some things. When you get older your reading vision will not be as good. This is not an eye issue, but a muscular one from what I understand.
-you may be nervous, but don't take any sedatives if they offer them
-after the surgery, as someone said, don't touch your eyes. they will probably ask you to sit somewhere for 5 or 10 minutes with your eyes shut the entire time. After that, your coneas are effectively healed, but they will take time to heal completely.
-when you get home, SLEEP. This is why you shouldn't take the sedatives, because you will find it harder to sleep afterwards. the period within the first 4 or 5 hours is the most uncomfortable one, and I slept through it.

That's it. It's a very painless surgery. If you'd like me to describe it to you, I'd be happy to. I've seen plenty of them.

Another issue, as was mentioned, is who to get it done by. In that area I was fortunate. My eyes were done by the best person in the world possible. There's a DC area doctor named Mark Whitten (spelling?). He has, I believe, performed the surgery more times than anyone on the planet. He did Tiger Woods eyes, to which he attributed the following 7 championships that he one. He also did Matt Lauer on the Today Show in their segment on the subject. This is not one of those weekend seminar guys.

Lastly, there's the issue of cost. Yes, my whole family has had the operation. In my case, we got a break for the test thing. In my mom's case, the company was doing a toys for tots promotion where if you brought a toy, you'd get $1000 off. Not too bad. In my dad's case, he had too much in his FSA at the end of the year, and decided he might as well. None of these cases were, by the way, cosmetic decisions. The inconvenience of glasses was too much for us, and it gets expensive in it's own right. I tried contacts, but could only wear the gas permeable ones that were very painfull. My mom, as my dad says,"needed her glasses to find her glasses."

So there is my experience on the subject. Glad you asked?? Again, if you'd like me to describe the actual surgery, the procedures, or the after-visits, I can. Or at least what my doctor did.

Anyway, whatever happens, just remember, it's better than having to do this.