Lasik Eye Surgery & Diabetes!

My biggest fear before going to the free eye screening for Lasik surgery was definitely my diabetes. Some people aren’t candidates for Lasik because their corneas aren’t thick enough to reshape or because their vision is out of the acceptable range for correction, but I was worried that diabetics in general weren’t candidates. We don’t have a reputation for healing well (due to lack of poor blood sugar control) and we are at higher risk for glaucoma, cataracts and retinopathy (also results from poor blood sugar control).

When I reported that my latest A1C was 7.4% I seemed to be given the first green light. Second, my corneas are “thick enough.” And thirdly, I don’t have any visible damage on my retinas or signs of glaucoma because of my diabetes.

FEWF.

Those complications, glaucoma and retina damage, are the kinds of things I secretly worry about because how would I ever know if they were slowly developing except for that yearly check-up? You would have no idea for the first several years if your eyes were deteriorating because of your diabetes and blood sugars out of whack. I was relieved to hear that an A1C in the 7% range for the past few years has kept me healthy overall.

Vermont Eye Laser said they have performed the surgery on other diabetics before as long as their A1C percentages are under 8%. Your ability to heal properly for the weeks after the surgery could be seriously, seriously impaired by high blood sugars, which impairs your body’s ability to circulate blood and take care of already existing cells and tissue.

After a total of 3 visits, I was good to go for surgery. Lasik eye surgery doesn’t guarantee perfect vision. It’s explained to you in depth that you will probably still need reading glasses when you’re older, and that your repaired vision can still degenerate over time, so you may need glasses again.

I wanted the surgery, aiming for 20/20, to lighten the load on my medical care. As simple as putting in contacts may be, I just wanted to simplify anywhere I could. Teaching yoga and powerlifting would be simplier without worrying about my contacts feeling draft half-way through anything…the list goes on. I just wanted to simplify and see.

So I saved my pennies J until I had about $4,000, (generally, it’s $2,000 per eye – and is not covered by health insurance) and on August 15^th I was given a small dose of valium (to relax your anxious nerves) and 15 minutes later I was finished with the surgery.

The surgery itself was freaky…in a cool way. If you get nervous easily, I would recommend more valium than they gave me! Your head is held down to prevent any nervous squirming and for the most part, your eyelids are held open with a small device, and you’re asked to stare at a red dot in the equipment that controls the laser held over your eyes. At certain points there is a lot of pressure felt on your eye ball, but of course you never feel any actual laser or cutting.