My Experience With PRK Eye Surgery

Update: I'm an idiot. In the first publishing of this post, my backwards brain mistakenly and erroneously referred to my eye procedure as RPK. Um...it's actually PRK. I've made the correction.

Second Update: April just read this post and was outraged I did not accurately reflect her savings. She saved $300 more than I quote in the story below. I hope she can forgive me....

I took this lovely photo the moment I got home from my PRK procedure - obviously I couldn't tell the photo sucked.

I couldn't see, not a damn thing. But I wasn't in any pain...not yet anyway.

I want to share my PRK experience (one I would do again in a heartbeat) because I poured over so many other personal accounts during my recovery to make sure what I was experiencing was normal. I bypassed all the articles written by industry folks and went straight to the accounts by people wearing  stupid looking goggles (see above) and juggling a million different eye drop bottles because I knew that's where the truth could be found.

I have to say, I'm glad I didn't start reading blogs about PRK until AFTER I'd had it done. I think I might have freaked out. That's not to say I hadn't done my homework on the doctor performing my surgery. My girlfriend, April, had the LASIK procedure done by the same doctor a year prior, so I knew his credentials were good. April doesn't buy toothpaste without deliberating for hours and consulting her Excel spreadsheet, so I trusted my eye balls were safe.

Prior to my initial meeting with the doc, I figured I'd have LASIK, the same procedure April did. They create (usually witha  laser) a half-moon shaped flap in the cornea. An ultraviolet light beam removes ("ablates") very tiny bits of tissue from the cornea to reshape it. When the cornea is reshaped in the right way, it works better to focus light into the eye and onto the retina, providing clearer vision. The flap is then laid back in place, covering the area where the corneal tissue was removed.

Voila. Takes about five minutes total (for both eyes) and there is little pain and you can pretty much see better right after it's over.

Sign me up. I wanted it.

My vision wasn't terrible. It was hovering around 20/60. I pretty much had to wear contacts or glasses all the time and it bugged. Ever try yoga wearing glasses? Don't. Takes an act of God to keep those damn things in place.

I made my appointment and as I waited for my consultation, April drilled me on negotiation tactics. That's right, this is an ELECTIVE procedure and you can negotiate.

Seriously.

I had my doubts too, but not only is April an avid researcher, she can negotiate with the best of 'em. Once, when an auto shop called to explain a fix would be more costly, she not only got them to stick to the original price quoted, but convinced them to throw in an oil change at no cost. It's why I keep her.

When she went in for her procedure, she came armed with the knowledge of how much a friend of hers had paid. The sales person told her it would be nearly $5k for both eyes. She explained a friend just had the procedure done for $1200.00, same procedure. Sales person hemmed and hawed and said her friend likely had a different procedure, but came off $1,000.00 immediately. April pushed for more and after the sales person stepped out of the office to "consult" with the doctor several times, April secured a "top secret" price of $1,500.00 for both eyes.

I told her she was nuts. I was certain they planned on bringing the janitor in to do the surgery.

I was wrong. The surgeon she met with did the LASIK surgery and I'd say within 24 hours, she had 20/20 vision. She had dry eyes for several months, to be expected, but no complications then and none since.

Sitting in the office, waiting for my consultation, she reminded me of all this. During the consultation (which thankfully did NOT include the scary machine that blows air through your eye and into your brain), I endured about an hour of different eye tests and a very quick visit with the doctor himself.

I was a candidate for a procedure, just not LASIK.

I had no idea there was any other procedure being done. Apparently, if you are lucky enough to have astigmatisms, PRK is more widely utilized.

As it was explained to me by the doctor, the shape of my eyeball (due to the astigmatism) doesn't easily allow for a half-moon shape flap to be made in my corneas. Instead, a laser would simply "reshape" my eye, which would be a "TAD" bit more uncomforatable during recovery, but safer than LASIK because there is no risk of infection because there is no flap that needs to heal.

I'm no idiot. When a doctor uses the words TAD BIT in relation to pain, you know you're gonna cry like a little girl. Assuming your eyes work enough to cry.

I hated the ordeal of contacts and I've already explained the zen-ruining power of glasses in yoga, so I agreed the PRK procedure would be best.

I got shuffled back to my sales person and after extolling the virtues of the surgery, I got my price point. Just under $5,000.00. I smiled and explained my partner, sitting just outside, had surgery a year ago for $1,500.00. He'd already told me there is no price difference between LASIK and PRK. After a blank look, I too received $1,000.00 off the price - immediately. After thanking him for the "great deal," I explained the surgery still wasn't what I had budgeted for, so would need to go home and think about it.

Here's the deal - after they've spent a few hours with you doing the consultation, they DO NOT WANT to let you leave without booking you. He appeared frustrated, but quickly covered it up and gave me another $1,500.00 discount and said what he was offering me was UNHEARD of. He went on to say advances in technology prohibit such steep discounts now and I should jump on the offer.

Another secret, if negotiating doesn't make you uncomfortable (like it does me), hang in there, even if you feel pressure. I would have caved there, at the newly discounted price of $2,500.00 if I wasn't worried April would kill me before we got to the parking lot.

I explained I really wasn't an impulse buyer and it was still more than I budgeted for as I'd expected to pay what April paid. I told him I'd go home, think about it and call him if I thought I could manage to pay $2,500.00. He was frustrated, but he took my phone number down and we left.

MAGICALLY, a few days later, I got a phone call from the sales guy and he said he had some last minute "cancellations" for the upcoming Saturday. He'd already had to buy the supplies and needed to fill the spots, so if I could come in, he could offer me another discount of $700.00.

That's right. I had both eyes done for a total of $1,798.00, down from the original price quoted of $5,000.00.

AND I felt confident the janitor wouldn't be doing the surgery.

Once I accepted his "UNBELIEVABLE" offer, I made my appointment for that Saturday and refused to think about the TAD BIT of pain coming my way.

Part 2 tomorrow.