well i had it done about a year ago. the consultation is basicly a bunch of tests to ensure that you are eligiable for the procedure as well as giving you step by step of what is gonna happen.

the actual surgery is pretty much painless but it is hella frightening. they had to five me valum to calm me down before surgery. they put numbing drops in your eyes which makes them feel weird. then they lay you down on this table and a machine hangs above you. it lowers this cylinder like object onto your eye. (doesnt hurt but you will feel pressure) then you will see the blade attached to the inside rotate which slices your eye flap. then the thing lifts off of your eye and the doctor uses a metal hook to pull back the eye flap. everything will suddenly turn gray but you have to try and look at this red blinking light while the laser shoots your eye. then the doctor replaces your eye flap and seals it with this stuff. then they repeat.

on your ride home you are not allowed to open your eyes at all i truely reccommend this as i did it (with really dark sunglasses on.) and it hurt like a mother fucker cause of the intesinty of the light.

when you get home lay down and take a nap. when you get up you will be able to see.

for the next two weeks you have to take a shit load of eye drops and have to wear goggles when you shower cause you cant get anything in them. after about a month you will be really good. but it took me 6 monthes to fully recover cause my eyes kept getting dried out

all in all defiently worth it

Well that sounds frigging terrifying, should be fun ^_^;

Guessing that means you had LAZIK [http://my.ultralase-eye-surgery.co......7cad5487a008c]
LAZEK sounds the less scary but I don't like how it says recovery takes longer.

That about dry eyes is something of a worry cause I have quite dry eyes anyway. Also, I plan to get back into swimming once this is done [for many years now, my eyesights been too poor to allow me to swin in safety] and the chlorine will dry out your eyes.

On the plus side, maybe i'll get to try valium (not sure if we'd use that in the UK, maybe they'll just gas me or something.)

no from what i know any surgery concerning ones eyes they can't put you out.

yea unfortuantly you have to be conscious for the procedure it will probly be about three monthes or so before you could go swimming. might even be six to be honest.

heh, the websites FAQ says you only need to avoide swimming for the first 4 weeks :)

Despite the significant added cost, I like the look of the intralase (using a laser to cut the flap instead of that bladed machine.)

wow they didnt even offer me that one o_o wish i had known about it

Well, I don't know how much extra it would have been in the US, but the added cost is significant here in the UK.

But it sure as hell sounds less scary than blades on your eyes ^_^;

honestly you dont feel it at all. the first time you feel anything signifigant during the operation is when the doctor pulls your eye flap back for the laser and then it is just this feeling of like really cool water resting on your eye

Heh, checking my old journals I just re-read all this.

You were so lucky it didn't hurt for you, it was truly horrible for me. Easily the most painful experience of my life to date :P