68 replies to this topic

[eleothegreat]

Here's a question: if you could have one operation/procedure done on yourself, for free, what would you have?

[lvdkeyes]

Laser surgery on my eyes to get rid of my glasses would be my choice.

[WannaGo]

lvdkeyes, on 14 October 2009 - 04:46 PM, said:

Laser surgery on my eyes to get rid of my glasses would be my choice.

Ditto...and then some. I hate my glasses with an absolute passion, and contacts are such a pain. The other day, I was leaning back in my office chair to rest my eyes a minute. I'd taken my glasses off and had them sitting on my stomach (the one bonus of being a fat-ass...a handy storage shelf). My cat jumped up on me and landed on my glasses...scratched the right lens with his claws. Fucker. Now I need new glasses.

[finebyme]

Plastic surgery in the Phils. are mostly availed of by showbiz personalities who then endorse the clinic that stitched them up. It's them and only a few of the non-celebrity class that can really afford get into the fad of taking up such physical enhancement procedures like boob enlargement. The rest? All they can do is stare.

[Wino]

lvdkeyes, on 14 October 2009 - 04:46 PM, said:

Laser surgery on my eyes to get rid of my glasses would be my choice.

Eye surgery is a popular choice but one that not all people with glasses may benefit. I have a friend that had the surgery and it cleared up his nearsightedness but he still needs glasses for reading. I would be terrified to have my eyeballs reshaped. One slip of the laser and you are in the dark.

[Beer Chang]

Nothing.

I am not a fan of unesscesary surgery.

If tooth whitening counts, I guess I'd go fro that.

[Wino]

I know anther person that had a face lift. She was very satisfied with the procedure and plans to do more nip and tucking. Her friends can't see much difference but she is thrilled. Whatever makes you happy?

[Wino]

Just came across this article about eye surgery. Some people experience blurry vision and other less desireable problems.

By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Business Writer Matthew Perrone, Ap Business Writer
WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration announced plans Thursday to study the scope of problems connected with laser eye-correcting surgery, which include blurred vision and dry eyes.

The FDA says it will work with the National Eye Institute and the Department of Defense to determine the percentage of patients who experience negative side effects following surgery.

The first phase of the project is already under way, with plans for an online questionnaire to help patients gauge their quality of life following surgery, according to an FDA statement.

The project will also include a clinical trial tracking patients who undergo the procedure, which is expected to conclude by 2012.

"This study will enhance our understanding of the risks of Lasik and could lead to a reduction in patients who experience adverse effects," said Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, the acting head of FDA's medical device division.

An estimated 6 million Americans have undergone Lasik surgery, which permanently reshapes the cornea, a clear layer covering the eye. There are no guarantees of 20/20 vision and the long-term safety of the procedure is still unknown.

Ophthalmology societies report that about 95 percent of patients are satisfied with their new vision.

But a small number of patients have reported permanent damage to their eyes following the surgery, including double vision, dry eye and halos around objects at night.

The FDA agreed to look into the problems in 2008 after years of complaints. The agency said last summer it received 140 reports of Lasik-related problems between 1998 and 2006.

Lasik procedures have fallen off in the past year as consumers cut back on the pricey surgeries, which can cost between $1,500 and $5,000

Makers of Lasik lasers include Advanced Medical Optics Inc., Alcon Inc., and Bausch and Lomb.

Also on Thursday, the FDA announced warning letters sent to 17 Lasik surgery centers for inadequate adverse event reporting procedures. Regulators periodically send letters to facilities that don't follow federal guidelines for reporting patient complaints.

"The inspections did not identify problems with the use of the Lasik devices at these facilities," the FDA stated.

More inspections of Lasik centers are planned in coming months, according to the FDA release.

http://news.yahoo.co...ik_problems_fda

[lvdkeyes]

I can't, for the life of me, think of the name of the eye doctor at Bangkok/Pattaya Hospital, but he reputed to be one of the best in the world.

[eleothegreat]

finebyme, on 16 October 2009 - 08:52 AM, said:

Plastic surgery in the Phils. are mostly availed of by showbiz personalities who then endorse the clinic that stitched them up. It's them and only a few of the non-celebrity class that can really afford get into the fad of taking up such physical enhancement procedures like boob enlargement. The rest? All they can do is stare.

That includes me.

[eleothegreat]

Wino, on 16 October 2009 - 11:34 AM, said:

Eye surgery is a popular choice but one that not all people with glasses may benefit. I have a friend that had the surgery and it cleared up his nearsightedness but he still needs glasses for reading. I would be terrified to have my eyeballs reshaped. One slip of the laser and you are in the dark.

I remember my friend talking about his surgery. He lives in the USA but had the lasik procedure done here in the Philippines because he said it was cheaper. One second he was staring up at the doctor, the next second he wasn't able to see anything at all. And he smelled something burning - it was his eyeball! The surgery went well, by the way. But I think I'd be too chicken to try it.

[Wino]

eleothegreat, on 16 October 2009 - 06:16 PM, said:

The surgery went well, by the way. But I think I'd be too chicken to try it.

My friend was very happy with the outcome of his lasik surgery. His nearsightedness made him blind as a bat without his glasses. Now no glasses except for reading. The doctor told him that the shape of his eyeball may change with age thereby again, changing his vision. It has been five years now and no problems. He did do a lot of research before deciding to do the surgery. The age of the laser equipment and the number of procedures the doctor has completed are important factors to consider.

[Beer Chang]

eleothegreat, on 09 October 2009 - 02:20 PM, said:

Kim Kardashian

She was on Celebrity Apprentice

[Wino]

Here is a sad story about a beauty queen that died as a result of cosmetic surgery. I don't have all the details of what went wrong, but it is a tragedy to pass away during elective surgery.

Buenos Aires, Argentina (Dec. 1) -- A former Miss Argentina died Sunday after complications arising from plastic surgery, the official Telam news agency said.

Solange Magnano, 37, died in a hospital after being transferred from a clinic where she underwent an elective surgery on her buttocks on Wednesday, the agency reported ZUMA Press

Magnano ran her own modeling agency in Argentina, and had been a model and Miss Argentina in 1994. She also was the mother of 7-year-old twins.

The cause of her death was under investigation, authorities said.

News of her death shocked her fans. By Monday, a tribute page on the social networking site Facebook had more than 830 members.

"This is a horrible day. We will miss you, Sol," one Facebook poster wrote.

"You couldn't be any more beautiful than you already were," another person added. "You had to pay with your life."

Magnano's most recent project was a runway show to be held in December in her hometown of San Francisco, Argentina, according to Telam.

In recent years, Argentina has become an international destination for plastic surgery. The costs of such procedures there are much lower than in other countries.

Estimates say that 1 in 30 Argentines has gone under the knife, making surgeons here some of the most experienced on the globe.

Medical tourism has seen a huge jump over the past decade, and is projected to be a $100 billion global industry by 2010, according to the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions

http://news.aol.com/...rgentina/792317

[Bob]

lvdkeyes, on 14 October 2009 - 04:46 PM, said:

Laser surgery on my eyes to get rid of my glasses would be my choice.

Carefully consider it before you take that option. I was about 20/400 (pretty damn near-sighted), had fairly thick glasses, and opted to have that done about 12 years ago. For about 2 months, I had trouble focusing in on something close (like the speedometer on my car) but my long-distance vision was fantastic, especially at night. After 5-6 months, I slowly stopped driving at night because I frankly couldn't see well enough. Eventually, I got some glasses (albiet, a very light prescription - and a hell of a lot more pleasant to wear than the old ones!) which I would wear when driving and then, after another few months, I began wearing them all the time (which I continue to do to this day).

Some things were nice. I went water skiing and tubing, something I hadn't done since I was in my 20's (I didn't do it cause, frankly, I couldn't see shit without my glasses, not even somebody giving hand signals from the boat). But the biggest hardship was that I effectively lost all my short vision (within 20 inches or so). I used to do a lot of woodworking and, if I got a sliver in my hand or a finger, previously it was easy to focus in even within 3 or 4 inches of my eyes, find the sliver, and extract it). Now, however, if that happens, I have to put on a powerful set of reading glasses and, combined with a lighted magnifier, I have about a 75% chance of even seeing the damn sliver. And you'd laugh your ass off if you saw me trying to thread fishing line through the eye of a hook!

So, there are tradeoffs. I can see almost 20/20 without the glasses and can, for example, go to the bathroom at night without putting on my glasses (something I couldn't do before as I'd walk into a wall). But, it's very frustrating doing close work even with the good glasses (bifocals, of course) that I have. And, while I enjoyed the few times I went water skiing and tubing, I guess I kinda forgot that 90% of my life was within 3 feet of my face.

So, for me, it's a very mixed blessing.

[lvdkeyes]

I have cataracts, but not bad enough yet to need surgery. When I need to have the cataract surgery I will decide what to do. The eye surgery has come a long way since 12 years ago.

[Wino]

These cataract surgeries have come a long way in recent years. I would not put the surgery in the elective cosmetic category, but really a necessary operation. A pilot I know put off cataract surgery for years. When he landed his plane on a taxiway instead of the runway, he decided it was time for the operation. He now looks back on it and doesn't know why he waited so long.

[lvdkeyes]

I remember long ago when people having cataract surgery had to lie flat with sand bags on either sides of their head for 24 hours post op.

[Wino]

They have come along way. I would think they would use a laser and home the same day.

[Bob]

The lasik procedure is pretty easy and I think they did both of my eyes in about 10 minutes or less. There are some alternative ways to do it now but this is how mine went. You're lying on your back in something that resembles a dentist's chair with your head somewhat restrained. First, they give you some eye drops that take a minute or two to anaesthesize your eyeballs. Then they use some clamp to keep your upper and lower eyelid open (yea, I'm sure it looks like one of those torture devices that you've seen in a horror movie on tv). Then, they lower some round metal object and it kinda sucks onto your eyeball (this device contains the blade that slices the cornea).

You don't feel the slicing going on but what bugged me later is they don't tell you that everything goes totally black for a couple of seconds (it's when the blade passes right in front of your pupil - and, for a second or two, I thought everything had gone wrong and I was totally friggin' blind!). After that, the doc uses a pair of tweezers to lift up the flap that the blade just sliced. Then, a laser machine from above starts zapping (surfacing) your eyeball. After 20 seconds or so of that, the doc flips the flap back on to your eyeball, pats it down a bit until he's happy it's back where it should be, and then tapes a plastic disk over your eye socket (the disc is there so you don't poke your eye while the cornea is healing for a day or so). Then they move on to the other eye.

After 15 minutes or so, they let me go home - of course, I had these damn plastic discs taped on both eyes. The discs have little tiny airholes in them and you can partially see a little by tilting your head so you can somewhat see through one of those airholes (the rest of the plastic, although somewhat clear, is very difficult to see through). The nurses there panicked a bit when they realized I was going to try to drive myself home (I only lived 10 blocks away and didn't want to bother with having a friend take me). What was a bit funny was they were all in a tizzy and I simply walked out the door; however, once I walked out the door, I couldn't remember which way you got off the office porch there so I walked left right into some bushes...hehe. I quickly turned around and walked the other way (hearing a few "oh my gods!" as I passed the office door again...haha), got in the car, and drove off. It wasn't easy to drive looking through one of those damn airholes....but I got home without killing anybody (at least as far as I could see!).

You're supposed to keep the plastic discs on your eyes for 24 hours. They bugged me so I took them off within a few hours.

Oh...what was neat....as soon as the doc put the flap back on my eyeball (after the slicing, dicing, and lasering), I could read the clock on the wall in that office...something I couldn't do without glasses just a minute or two before. Rather cool.