7/20    anyone got LASIK in bay area? which doctor did you use and results?
        \_ got LASIK, totally fucked up my night vision. Very sad...
            \_ so where did you go get it done?
                \_ makes no difference, I did it before WaveFront was out.
                   I'm about 9.5 both eyes and WaveFront was usable for up
                   to 7.0, so I had the traditional Lasik done. Turns out
                   traditional LASIK really sucks because it doesn't correct
                   higher order aspherical aberrations. My advise to you is
                   to wait 5-10 more years when the technology is better.
                   Otherwise you'll live with a fucked up vision like mine.
                                                -bitter Lasik patient
        \_ me and 3 friends all got lasik from dr. epstein in the chicago
           area.  we are all happy.  company paid $2k, I paid $800.  Get
           a good doctor of course, but there is always some risk.  the
           worse your condition, the higher the risk.
           \_ 1/3 of how your eyes turn out, depends on how your eyes heal.
              The other 1/3 is the technology (how much accuracy/prediction
              can the machine make?). The other 1/3 is the doctor. The
              doctor has very little control on how your eyes heal and how
              well the Lasik machine can accurately map your eyes. In another
              word people have the perception that the doctor is really
              important, when in fact, he/she has very little control on the
              other 2/3 of the factors. I paid $3000 for both eyes to a
              really good doctor (opthm fellowship, Jules Stein fellow,
              awards, great record, etc etc), but my night vision is still
              totally fucked up. The technology is just not there yet. I'd
              wait if I were you.               -bitter Lasik patient
              \_ out of curiosity, have you found any medical explanation
                 for why your night vision was selectively affected?
                 \_ larger than normal pupil, corneal healing rate not
                    normal, and above all, using traditional Lasik which
                    did not do as good of a mapping as Wavefront (Wavefront
                    is 25X more accurate for the higher order abberations).
                    I talked to many doctors. They all said a doctor could
                    do everything correctly such as my case, but there are
                    far greater things that are out of his control.
                    \_ what's the relationship to night vision specifically?
                       (wrt lasik)
                    \_ doesn't a larger than normal pupil eliminate you
                        as a potential lasik candidate? (Lasik reshapes
                        the lens.  People with larger than normal pupil
                        have their pupil expand beyond the area of
                        reshaping when light is low, and this will
                        cause a problem (halo, etc.))
                \_ technology is not there for people with severe Rx and
                   etc....  If you are a reasonable candidate, it works
                   perfectly.  I went to Scott Hyver, had this WaveFront
                   thing.  My eyesight is now perfect day and night.
                   He made a point of telling me what characterstics of
                   my eyes did or did not make me a good candidate, and
                   said that as an ethical Dr. he would only perform
                   surgery appropriate for the individual.