Thread: Lasik Surgery
View Single Post
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 08-29-2007, 07:49 PM
skydivingchic skydivingchic is offline
$ Saving HS Freshman
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 116

Points: 670.00
Donate
Default

I can't answer the pregnancy/vision question, as I've never been pregnant nor will I ever be. I'd ask your eye doctor or potential Lasik surgeon about it. You do need a stable prescription before having Lasik, so if pregnancy has the potential to drastically affect your eye sight, its probably best to wait.

As for funding it, I used the flex spending account. The way the rules work, they have to make the full amount available to you as soon as deductions start. So if you say put $6000 into the account, the full $6000 is available on January 1 (or whenever the plan year starts). I had my surgery in mid-January, charged it to my CC, and had the reimbursement check in my hand by late January even though only a few $100 had been deducted from my paychecks. Yes, the deductions are divided evenly over the paychecks, so if you set aside $6000 and get paid twice montly, $250 (pre-tax) will be deducted from each check.

My biggest piece of advice - do your research. Both on the procedure and on the potential surgeon(s). You say that you have a severe astigmatism - Lasik can correct some astigmatism, but not a lot (at least not in comparison to the amount of nearsightedness or farsightedness it can correct). Most of the complications that occur with Lasik are in patients that are not good candidates to begin with, so it is extremely important to find a surgeon who will say "sorry, but you are just not a good candidate" if that is the case for you.

There are a ton of good websites including usaeyes.org which has a list of questions to ask your potential surgeon and answers you should expect to hear. One of the things that was most important to me was having a surgeon who was well-respected and whom receives the "problem" cases from other doctors. That speaks volumes to me about a surgeon's abilities.

I had my surgery done 4.5 years ago and it is one of the best things I've ever done for myself. The haloes I saw at night immediately after surgery were bigger than usual - not so bad that I couldn't drive, but noticable. They gradually shrunk back to normal over about 3 months. I drove myself to the follow up appointment the next day with my glasses and contacts on the seat beside me. I checked out a 20/15 and still am.
Reply With Quote