POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Pre-HAART Long-Term Survivors => Topic started by: aztecan on August 07, 2007, 08:22:00 pm
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I had my annual check up with the opthamologist today. While there, I asked about lasik surgery to correct my vision.
I used to wear contact lenses, but my astigmatism is so bad now that is not really an option. This doctor also stopped prescribing contacts because his surgery schedule takes up most of his time.
The doc told me that, although I am a good candidate for lasik, he doesn't do it on people who are HIV positive. The doc said he had checked on it with the manufacturer of the laser machine to find out what type of testing had been done involving HIV positive people and lasik. He said they advised him against performing the surgery on someone who is positive.
Has anyone else run into this?
It isn't as though this would be on a short list of things I need to have done. I also don't have the $3,000 handy to pay for it.
But, I have worn either contact lenses or glasses for 44 years now and I would just like to be able to see with my own eyes for a while.
The good news is my eyes are relatively healthy. No sign of macular degeneration, a possibility because I am very myopic. I have a few floaters, but they are just the usual found in people my age, so the doc says. (Why is it that everyone has been using that phrase for the past year or so?)
My eye pressure is just perfect, with one eye at 12 and the other at 15. Normal is between 10 and 20.
The doc did see some spots on the lenses though. They are in both eyes. Seems I have the beginnings of cataracts. But nothing to worry about for the time being.
On the bright side, I will probably need cataract surgery, which will mean new lenses in my eyes and good vision, at least it worked that way for my mother.
Now, explain to me again why I quit smoking?
HUGS,
Mark
(Who apologizes for typos, etc., but whose eyes are still dialated and he is having trouble seeing the screen.)
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Did they give a reason why poz bodz aren't allowed to have Lasik surgery? I'm sure I remember other members here having their peepers blasted with death rays.
MtD
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No, he didn't, but I got the distinct impression it was he who didn't want to do it.
I seem to remember he was really gung ho for me to have the surgery a number of years ago, but when he found out I was positive, that attitude changed.
HUGS
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Sounds like a snow-job to me, Mark.
Here are some threads for your perusal:
http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=10645.0
http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=8357.0
http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=11541.0
Ann
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If your a good canidate for lasik surgery... even with you being hiv+ your still a good canidate for the surgery... that doctor just does not want to perform the surgery on someone hiv+..I opted not to have it because, I did not want to have to wear reading glasses... I'd rather see close up without specs... than to have to wear opticals to read...
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WOW! I got mine a back in 2000. Luckly I got it done befire this whole mess happened.
Look into another doctor.
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Ann's right Mark...
my friend in Atlanta who has been poz almost as long as me had it done last year, so yes, they do the procedure on poz people.
I have a cataract also, but it is in the "wait and see" stage right now. Driving at night is just about out of the question for me these days, esp. if it is raining.
If the doctor will remove your cataract, and implant a new lens.....then why won't he do the lasik surgery? That doesn't make any sense does it?
hugs,
Alan
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Thanks all,
I think Ann is right - I am getting a snow job here. There is another doctor here in town who does lasik and I am going to investigate it. I heard through the grapevine that he is even less expensive - which would be a plus.
I figure, what the heck. I want to enjoy seeing once again - not to mention reading. That is getting more difficult all the time thanks to these bifocals.
Alan, I hear ya when it comes to night driving. I find it difficult at time, and, yes, especially when its raining. Hmmm, gives me a good excuse for finding a local motel and being a tramp, or as much as a tramp as I can be at this point.
HUGS,
Mark
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I've been poz since 1986 and my opthamologist (Chelsea, New York City) had been encouraging me to have lasik since 1992. I finally had it in 1999 and am glad I did. I was far sighted and he corrected it via monovision (one eye slightly different from the other) so I was "programmed" to see perfectly from 0 - 500 feet. I have not used glasses for reading ever since, and lately got a pair of glasses for distance (driving) which I only occasionally use. Bottom line: It was a huge success. I don't need glasses for reading or for most distance vision. I highly recommend the proceedure and I spent about $2,700 for the operation. (Hint - they are constantly looking to make use of the expensive machinery used in lasik, so be sure to negotiate a lower price than originally quoted.)
Tom
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Hi Mark I just had lasik on my right eye done last Friday and I'm scheduled for my left eye on the 21st. The procedure was totally painless and now I only wish I did it sooner. Initially I scheduled 2 appointments with different doctors to shop around. The first doctor had no concerns about my HIV or PML status. He wasn't familiar with PML but said he had other HIV patients. The second doctor claimed I was not a good candidate because of the size of my pupil. He never said so but I have a feeling it was my HIV status he wasn't comfortable with. My ID doctor was also aware that I was having lasik and she had no issues with it. I'd say get some referrals and shop around.
Jeff
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If you doctor wont do the operation due to you being hiv..then you are getting
a snow job..
There are special doctors in NYC, who would of loved to do my eyes, but I didn't
have the money at the time..
Now i live in NJ and needed an operation, which Medicaid payed for..
I was hit my a car years ago and when my head hit the concrete, in time, my eye
muscles weakend. So i looked like a crossed eyed person, and when i went to
the eye doctors, they all said ..why didn't u corrent this when you were young.
I said I didn't have it when i was young..
Later on, I moved to NJ and saw an eye specialist and happened to be wearing a
pair of shorts..
Anyway, the doctor asked me, Did you ever experience trauma......I said , why
do u ask..He replied...Because that could effect your eyesight and muscles.
I told him i was hit by a car crossing a street some year back....
So that was it..that was the reason why i was having eye problems.
But i didn't connect the two..
The eye specialist did, and thank god..I finally knew why this was happening to
me..
There are special eye doctors who will take HIV patients..
Go online and look around..Iam sure you ll find one in your state.
Now i just found out with a recent eye exam, that i have cateracts behind my eyeballs..UMMMMMMMMMMMMM....
But i dint have the money to fix them..and Medicaid says i have to wait till my
numbers drop down..(almost being legally blind) then Medicaid will do the
operations...............
Anyway...Just on online and check out eye specialists, then Iam sure you will find
a few that take hiv patients.............Hope i helped a bit.. :-\