Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - More on My Lasik and the Windows 98 Machine that Zapped Me

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More on My Lasik and the Windows 98 Machine that Zapped Me

Posted in Musings.

My LASIK posts have been ridiculously popular, considering this is a .NET and Programming Blog. That being said, there were a few blogs that mentioned my surgery and I thought it would be useful for me spend some time in Photoshop and explain to you EXACTLY what I saw, and EXACTLY what I see now.

Here's before, this is -9.25 diopters (roughly 20/1600 for me) and what I saw without glasses for ~20 years. I adjusted this photo in Photoshop to show represent what I saw before as accurately as possible.

Here's after. I'm now at LEAST 20/20 (I'll be officially measured this Friday, one month after my operation. I suspect I'll be 20/15. Just a hunch.

I adjusted this after picture to show you exactly what I see now. Note the slight “motion” blur over the lights. Note the darkness of the background and the bright contrast of the foreground.

Not to bad for a Windows 98 machine. One thing to note also. While it's totally reasonable to worry about this operation, and most folks are concerned that they might never seen well again, I thought it was a reasonable risk. It IS VERY possible to have side-effects that will result in a loss of best corrected vision. There's about a 0.04 percent chance using my doctor's stats. The problem with stats that compare success with failure is that someone has to fail. I feel really bad for folks that are in that 0.04 percent bucket - having surgery is inherently dangerous.

That said, I'm happy with the result - more every day - and I will enjoy the next 10 years of vision...before I have to get bi-focals!

Posted at 2004-03-07 11:01 PM by Scott
Comments [7]
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Monday, March 08, 2004 9:26:50 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

Hey, did not know you were on lasik.. I hope it went well.. so no more specky scott eh? But i think u look nicer with them..=)

Kajai Priya

Monday, March 08, 2004 9:26:58 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

Hey, did not know you were on lasik.. I hope it went well.. so no more specky scott eh? But i think u look nicer with them..=)

Pandora

Tuesday, March 09, 2004 4:59:50 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

I think I see your point Scott. Before the Lasik, that guy on the left was just a nice soft blob -- now he's a crisp, focused and hideously ugly monster!!

Can you get a refund?

(Just kiddin Scott... hey take it easy man, stop crying... boy some bloggers are sure sensitive!)

cheers
lb

secretGeek

Thursday, March 11, 2004 3:40:35 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

I'm at -9.00 diopters myself. I like your first picture. Although in my case, the blurring is much too smooth. But I definately know whereof you speak. A person with normal vision still doesn't get the full effect when they put on my glasses either. I know, I've put them on myself with my contacts. And then there's the times I've managed to put my left contact right on top of my right contact! Makes you think you are going blind...

Bryan Price

Saturday, March 13, 2004 9:23:26 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

Ah, but now try showing what you see DURING the operation ;-)

I was legally blind as well before my LASIK, and the change is fantastic. Totally worth the surgery, and I had mine done 5 years ago, which was the 'dark ages' compared to technology today.

It should be noted that the most common form of degeneration in people who have had laser surgery is with night vision, specifically 'halos' around lights. Difficult to explain, but a real pain in the arse when someone has their High Beams on at night...

Jeremy C. Wrigth

Monday, May 09, 2005 3:12:49 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

Your article is interesting and is also informative.

Congrats on your Lasik Surgery.

My name is Doctor Allan Robbins and I am a Rochester NY Lasik Surgeon. I was born and raised in Northern New Jersey and moved to the Rochester area over 20 yrs ago. I studied at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed my Ophthalmology residency at the New York Medical College. I was one of the first eye doctors in the United States to work with Lasik. In 1988 the FDA allowed me to own an experimental version of todays modern lasers.
The goal of this Web site is to provide information to the people in Rochester about LASIK surgery. LASIK is a surgical procedure intended to reduce a person's dependency on glasses or contact lenses.

http://www.lasik-rochester.net

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