The only thing that has been decided since my eye appointment on Friday is, I WILL be having surgery. After the evaluation, I was told I am an 'excellent' candidate. Then, I was given all of my options. Great.
I have three surgery options. I can have straight LASIK done. This would give me excellent, crisp, clear, vision--nothing more. Mono-vision surgery would correct my nearsightedness and astigmatism problem AND would correct for reading. I also could have the lenses in my eyes replaced with artificial ones--this would correct all of my problems permanently. Each option has its pros as well as cons.
The straight LASIK would correct my vision the best. I probably have NEVER seen as well as I would with this option. The downside is that it will not correct my reading vision, at all, so I would still need to wear reading glasses. I never went into this because I hate glasses, so this option wouldn't be a problem for me. And knowing how anal I am, I KNOW I would have reading glasses in every room of the house, so having to look for my glasses wouldn't be an issue. This also WOULD correct both my nearsightedness AND my astigmatism. Astigmatism used to be a problem with this surgery, but they now have THAT obstacle cleared.
Mono-vision is a viable option. My right eye would be corrected for distance and my left eye would be corrected for reading. The tech put a pair of glasses on me to show what it would be like and it was interesting to say the least. I really loved how well I could READ--with all the pairs of bifocals I have had over the years (I've worn them since around the age of thirty), this was the clearest the words have EVER been for me. The downside is that my distance vision wouldn't be as good. There also is a few days worth of getting used to the vision--there is a lot of 'ghosting,' at first, until your brain figures out how to 'see.' Also, it doesn't seem as if the reading correction is permanent--tweaking is needed a few years down the road.
The third option is the artificial lens. They would replace the natural lens in both eyes with a lens that is similar to a no-line bifocal. This is a permanent solution and would negate the necessity of EVER needing cataract surgery. It also is a much more invasive surgery. AND it takes longer to get vision back--there is a bit of a 'learning curve' with this one. Having LASIK doesn't mean that this couldn't be done some time in the future, so a decision about this isn't needed right now.
I believe I WILL have the straight LASIK. As I said, I went into this JUST wanting to be able to see better and this is the best option for that. I can wear reading glasses, no problem, and I think I will even be able to see to read better than I do now. So, first decision made. (I think.)
Of course, I have many more decisions to make. I have to figure out WHERE I want to have the surgery. I can go to either of two different cities, but both require a minimum of a two hour drive for us. I can have all of my pre- and post-surgery appointments taken care of here in my own town--OR I can travel and have everything done where the surgery takes place. I just CAN'T have my own doctor do them. (The surgeons work with a doctor in another office here in town.) Bummer. There are three levels of aftercare that have to be decided on--of course, the higher the level, the more expensive. And, we have to figure out when to do this. As of Friday, the soonest I could have this done in Appleton is the 22nd of May. Don't know if I could have it done earlier if I go to Green Bay.
Tonight I have to finish figuring everything out so that I can call tomorrow. As of this moment, the only thing I am absolutely sure of is that I WILL be having surgery within the next month or so. Other than that, I'm not sure. I HATE having too many options. :)
