Friday, March 14, 2008

The Downside of Lasik

It always amazed me that so many people have been willing to take chances with their eyes. I figured I should wait a while -- maybe the rest of my life -- to find out what the long-term effects of laser surgery are before putting my vision at risk. This article in the Times makes me think I did the right thing:

On April 13, 2007, I had the surgery. Dr. Belmont’s colleague examined me the next day. My vision was a little blurry, but apparently that was normal. Dr. Belmont said that everything looked good on subsequent visits, too. But the blurriness never went away. At night, I saw halos around streetlights; neon signs bled; the moon had two rings around it like Saturn. My eyes felt sore, a result of dry eye, which also causes sporadic blurriness.... True, I no longer wear glasses. But the 20/20 line on the eye chart is blurry. I can make it out only if I squint, and it takes about a minute to read. My doctor views this as proof of the surgery’s success.

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