Vision Correction Surgery - referrals

I had my eyes done at the Lasik Vision Institute in Vienna with Dr. Roberts. It's been over a month now and no problems. Just a little dry eyes but nothing outside the norm. I love the freedom of not wearing glasses

Good Luck!

 

Wanted to resurrect this thread to see if anyone has had any recent Lasik procedures. I have a high prescription and an astigmatism in one eye. I am seeing Dr. Goerl from Sterling - anyone have any experience with Dr. Goerl in the Sterling TLC office?

 

No experience with Dr. Goerl but I had Lasik done on both eyes four days ago by Dr. Whitten (TLC in Reston) with all follow ups with Dr. Hinkle with Ashburn Vision Source.

I didn't have a high prescription but did have astigmatism - contacts just didn't fit correctly.

Entire procedure was about 10 minutes from the time I sat in the chair until I walked out of the room. No pain, just a lot of pressure on the eye with the bad astigmatism. Things looked blurry afterward like you're looking through the bottom of a glass that had milk in it. Took a nap and I was able to attend my daughter's musical that evening (although I was very glad my camera has automatic focus settings since I had no idea if anything was clear or not at the time). Again, no pain - the eyes just felt dry.

The next morning, I was 20/15 in one eye and 20/20 in the other - the 20/20 eye showed some irritation so was slower to heal but seems the same as the other now.

Next checkup is Friday. Most important is to keep those eye drops handy and USE them as directed. Also be sure to have sunglasses with you too!

I'm really glad I had this done.

 

Thanks jdhauer! Glad to hear your procedure went well! If I go forward with this, the surgery would be at the Reston TLC facility and I know Dr. Goerl works with Dr. Whitten. I had no idea that they asked you to wear your glasses and not contacts for several weeks before the procedure. For those of us who normally do not wear our glasses but contacts, I was definately a bit shocked. For those of you who had high prescriptions before Lasik/eye surgery, did anyone need the aid of glasses afterwards until their eyes settled so to speak? I will be happy if I don't need anything afterwards but with a high prescription, just wondering how others did post-op.

 

I had -7.5 in one eye and -8.0 in the other. Went to Dr. Boutros 1/09. At my 1 yer checkup I was 20/15 in both. The day after my surgery, my left eye was 20/15 and has stayed that way. My right eye (dominant) was 20/20 after surgery, which took a little getting used to. It is an incredible difference between now and before. Amazing. Best thing I ever did for myself, best money I ever spent. I had my contacts out for 2 weeks before the procedure. I am lucky, I have had none of the potential problems people report.

To answer your question, I never did need any glasses or contacts post-surgery. Things were amazing from the get go.

 

I had mine done back in 2001 by Dr. Perraut at TLC in Reston. I had to go back for one eye (the first burn didn't get all the astigmatism). Loved the results then, still love them now.

 

For those of you who had the surgery, would you mind sharing the overall cost for the procedure and whether any additional costs are involved, post-surgery? TIA.

 

Mine was $3800 for both eyes (they were running a special). This included all initial appointments, surgery and all post-op appts for one year. My surgery came with a one year warranty but I was ineligible to purchase the lifetime enhancement warranty due to my strong prescription. The only other costs I had were pre-op eye drops and I can't recall if those were covered by insurance. After the surgery, they prescribed my one eye drop (I think to prevent dry eyes) that was WAY expensive (not covered by insurance) but I did not fill that, due to the costs and they fact I was not experiencing any dry eyes.

To this day I don't even need OTC eye drops.

 

Mine was $3990 - the initial price was $4990 - minus $500 for insurance and then we negotiated another $500 down. It includes everything mdcrim mentioned except mine does have the lifetime enhancement warranty.

The Zymar drops (pre-op and post op) run about $100 without insurance - mine covered a small portion b/c we haven't hit our deductible yet.

My regular eye doctor suggested Restasis (dry eyes) if I had problems but I have declined. It is very expensive.

I had to discontinue my contacts six weeks out. They said it was longer because I had toric lenses.

The weirdest part is looking across the room and realizing I don't have to squint in order to see.

 

I had an interest in lasik but my opthamologist and optometrist agreed that I was not a good candidate. They both said my near-sightedness would improve but my far sightedness would seriously worsen to where I would need glasses as soon as I open my eyes in the morning. By the way, how do you put a warranty on a surgical procedure?

 

I saw Dr. Goerl from TLC 2 years ago when I got lasik. He is not the doctor who does the procedure, but does the initial evaluation and consultation. He also gives you the prescription and instructions for all the drops that you have to put in your eye daily before the lasik. I actually had Dr. Whitten for the procedure and it was done in the Reston office. I had the lasik/interlase, which is the bladeless cut method. You have to go to the Reston office to get your eye mapped out beforehand. The whole procedure took about 15-20 seconds per eye.

 

I wear contacts and have since I was a teenager, love them and have never had problems ever. I was thinking about Lasik for about a couple years ago....but I'm pretty chicken when it comes to surgery of the eye.......Kudos to those brave people! It must be great to see without any glasses or contacts....but as I said - I'm chicken...

 

Thanks to everyone who shared their surgery costs and provided additional information on pre/post surgery routines. I find this thread very helpful with good data points for anyone who is on the fence (like myself) or those that are looking for new or additional information.

Personally...I have been putting away the LASIK for few years...but after reading this thread and the recent posts...I am now ready for the initial consult...!

 

Good luck! Keep us posted.