They're "Good People"

Well this thread has taken another interesting turn, but at least we aren't huddled around a urinal again. But while on the vision topic, has anyone out there actually had the lazik (or whatever) surgery? I've been thinking about it for years now (after my mom had it done) but I'm a little apprehensive about the fact that you can never wear contacts again. What if your vision gets worse or whatever and you end up needing glasses? I'm fine with the idea of needing them for reading, but I CAN'T STAND wearing them all the time. (sorry to those of you who do, but I go through glasses like nursing homes go through toilet paper).

I've wanted it for years now but I can't afford it and my insurance doesn't cover it. I looked in to it at one time but have not kept up to date with any advances in it.

I break at least 2 pairs of glasses a year and I can't stand them. I only wear them when I drive. Other than that they get tossed some place and half the time I can't find them.

As for contacts, I don't have the patience for them. Tried them once and scratched my cornea and had to wear a patch for 2 weeks. Have not wore them since.

My wife had Lazik surgery about a year and a half ago and has been extremely happy with the results. I still "cope" with my bifocals.

the only options i have are cornea transplant and cornea transplant.. both eyes nothing more can be done... ah but im notgonna get it yet i mean if i end up being unable to function i will think about it but allot of things change. can happen... anti rejection meds blah blah blah
ima stick with my crappy eyes for now. they work as good as they can and they get me where i need to go and whatnot. they havent completely failed me yet.

I had Lazik...

If I could do it over again, I'd live with glasses!

I had 20/600 vision, coke bottle glasses, and then in 2001 I had surgery.

NOW... I have 20/20 vision.... all three images!

I can drive, but I can't read street signs. So my confidence as a driver is shot. I was married the same year and my husband does the majority of the driving.

The Lazik place said that they consider me a 100% success. I just didn't realize that being a success meant things like not being able to see details like I could with my glasses. I'm more sensitive to motion, so when a lizard runs across our back fence, I see it! But I cannot see any details. Being fond of the natural world, I feel cheated. There are no glasses to correct the vision problems I now have. And my eyes have become "lazy" since the surgery... I cannot drive for any long period of time, the focus necessary for long-distance driving results in my eyes starting to wander in two directions, making it impossible to see at all. The only long distance driving I've done is shortly after I got married the year I had the Lazik, when hubby and I moved to Arizona... I drove the moving truck. I couldn't do it now though.

I would say that to a person in a city, who doesn't care about the flora and fauna, and just needs to interact with people and doesn't do much driving, this is a great procedure. But for me personally it permanently ruined my ability to see the details that nature so abundantly provides, it ruined my ability to be a confident driver, and it's probably the single-most regretted decision in my life. Lately I've also started having whole "swaths" of darkness crossing my line of vision.... inside the eye not external, and only momentarily, but I have started to fear that I will become blind.

In any case, this is all off-topic.

As far as those who get the "good people" award..... in general it's all the people who are "good guys" and treat others well and make up the ethical half of the people in the hobby.

Several of the specific people I have interacted with

Ms. Therese - She's always the true voice of reason on any thread
Cheryl aka JM - Great feeder help when I started off
Wes - he's my knight in shiny (okay, perhaps slightly tarnished?) armor
Rich - What can one say?
Dennis Thomas - he's helped me with a few questions pertinent to being an AZ resident
Lucille - Because her caring and compassion mean so much to me.

There are others but those are the ones that come to mind in a short period of time. I love this place for it's strengths (the membership), I tolerate it despite the backbiting, and I'm sometimes sad due to the conflicts that rear there ugly head. Most especially I'm grateful for the lesson in humanity, sanity, and good-guy-edness that this place affords. I don't do much buying and not much selling, but it helps me to know the kind of person I want to be when I enter a transaction. So the best "Great People" award goes not to an individual, but to the community that this place is.