Diopters, Spheres, and Cylinders, oh my!

[pltReed]

Hey guys! This is my first time posting to this board. I’ve been a lurker here for a while. J
I’ve got a question on the pre-operative surgical requirements. I printed out the NAMI medical document (http://www.nomi.med.navy.mil/Nami/WaiverGuideTopics/ophthalmology.htm#lasik ) and showed it to my doc.

Under “Aeromedical Concerns” it says, “The appropriate preoperative refractive error range is –8.00 to +6.00 total diopters sphere with no more than 3.00 diopters of cylinder.” I fit into that, EXCEPT for my right eye. I have 3.25 diopters cylinder in my right eye.

My doc is extremely confidant in his prospects for the surgery. He is shooting for 20/15, and fully expects to hit 20/20. Of course, he’s paid to say that, however, he’s been my doc for a while, and he’s really a great surgeon, great track record, real quality.

How sticky are these Pre-Operative reqs? I looked up the attached docs (PRK AMS template, SF 507/SF-93 Continuation) and found no mention of Cylinders (whatever those are). If I go ahead with the surgery, and end up with 20/20 vision, what then? I really want this to work out, but not if it is going to ruin everything. Does anyone have any advice, or experiences?

Thanks guys!

 

[aviat24]

aviat24

Well it's 5 days after PRK and things are not to bad(the contacts came out today). I was surprised how little pain there was, I only took advil on day 2 but obviously people also have different pain thresholds so who knows?
Things are still not sharp or super clear, I think I probably see about 20/80. My vision has fluctuated and each individual eye can be better or worse than the other on any given day. It's like someone has a dimmer switch attached to your eyes and it can go back and forth. My doc says a week before things are "acceptable", two weeks before they are "good", and a month before they are very good or great. This is obviuosly a very general rule of thumb and I think it's best to keep a positive but realistic attitude. It may be 2 months or 6 months before your eyes really see well. It's not easy having a goal predicated on how your eyes react after being barbequed but hell if I can fly I will look back on this decision as the best I ever made. Even if I don't hit 20/20 and I don't get a waiver at least hoepfully I will not be dependant on contacts and glasses any more.