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Know what makes you a poor candidate
( ) Career impact - does your job prohibit refractive
surgery?
( ) Cost - can you really afford this procedure?
( ) Medical conditions - e.g., do you have an autoimmune disease
or other major illness? Do you have a chronic illness that might slow or alter
healing?
( ) Eye conditions - do you have or have you ever had any
problems with your eyes other than needing glasses or contacts?
( ) Medications - do you take steroids or other drugs that might
prevent healing?
( ) Stable refraction - has your prescription changed in
the last year?
( ) High or Low refractive error - do you use glasses/contacts
only some of the time? Do you need an unusually strong prescription?
( ) Pupil size - are your pupils extra large in dim
conditions?
( ) Corneal thickness - do you have thin corneas? Tear
production - do you have dry eyes?
Know all the risks and procedure limitations
( ) Overtreatment or undertreatment - are you willing and able
to have more than one surgery to get the desired result?
( ) May still need reading glasses - do you have presbyopia?
Results may not be lasting - do you think this is the last correction you will
ever need? Do you realize that long-term results are not known?
( ) May permanently lose vision - do you know some patients may
lose some vision or experience blindness?
( ) Dry eyes – do you know that if you have dry eyes they
could become worse, or if you don’t have dry eyes before you could develop
chronic dry eyes as a result of surgery?
( ) Development of visual symptoms - do you know about glare,
halos, starbursts, etc. and that night driving might be difficult?
( ) Contrast sensitivity - do you know your vision could be
significantly reduced in dim light conditions?
( ) Bilateral treatment - do you know the additional risks of
having both eyes treated at the same time?
( ) Patient information - have you read the patient information
booklet about the laser being used for your procedure?
Know how to find the right doctor
( ) Experienced - how many eyes has your doctor performed LASIK
surgery on with the same laser?
( ) Equipment - does your doctor use an FDA-approved laser for
the procedure you need?
( ) Informative - is your doctor willing to spend the time to
answer all your questions?
( ) Long-term Care - does your doctor encourage follow-up and
management of you as a patient? Your preop and postop care may be provided by a
doctor other than the surgeon.
( ) Be Comfortable - do you feel you know your doctor and are
comfortable with an equal exchange of information?
Know preoperative, operative, and postoperative expectations
( ) No contact lenses prior to evaluation and surgery - can you
go for an extended period of time without wearing contact lenses?
( ) Have a thorough exam - have you arranged not to drive or
work after the exam?
( ) Read and understand the informed consent - has your doctor
given you an informed consent form to take home and answered all your
questions?
( ) No makeup before surgery - can you go 24-36 hours without
makeup prior to surgery?
( ) Arrange for transportation - can someone drive you home
after surgery?
( ) Plan to take a few days to recover - can you take time off
to take it easy for a couple of days if necessary?
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