Eye Can’t Win – I have had trouble with my vision for practically my whole life. My vision is worse than most older people’s so, at 24, to imagine it is only going to get worse with time is petrifying. Fortunately for me, I just returned back from an eye specialist who told me there is no doubt that I am a candidate for Visian ICL.

There are essentially 3 options for surgical vision correction:

1. LASIK
2. Lens replacement
3. ICL

I’ve been told by my optometrist for years that I am not a candidate for LASIK because my corneas are too thin. There is a threshold that I have crossed with the high prescription that I have and the effects of LASIK could impact me negatively.

My mom just developed cataracts so she was eligible for the lens replacement surgery. She is overjoyed with the results so after mentioning me to her surgeon he suggested that I go for a consultation.

When I went for my consultation for this particular procedure, the assistant informed me that while my prescription is so bad that the lens replacement surgery would greatly help with my quality of life, I would have to adjust to the type of vision it would result in. She recommended that I go for an ICL evaluation instead. Her reasoning was that, even though my prescription is really high, my eye is actually really healthy. She explained that people going for the lens replacement are usually older. Why older people have to get bifocals is because over time the muscles in their eyes stop working, which causes focusing issues. She further explained that if I opted for the lens replacement surgery, that the procedure would include cutting these muscles, which for me are fully functioning. Since I have no problem with focusing from near to far, it would be something I would have to get used to if I opted for that kind of surgery.

Today, I finally I had my ICL evaluation. At the first office, they were worried that my eyes were too bad for LASIK (max. -7 prescription), but not bad enough for ICLs (min. -12 prescription). I have never wished my eyes were so bad before! Sure enough I am definitely, 100%, a candidate for ICLs! They are more or less a contact that gets implanted in your eye. There is a pre-op procedure where they drill tiny holes in your eye in order to relieve the excess pressure caused by the implant. They told me any additional vision correction from then on, including some astigmatism, can be done through complimentary LASIK since the amount would be so minimal. Another positive aspect about the ICLs is that they are removable if need be, whereas the lens replacement isn’t. I am overjoyed!! This surgery is going to change my life! I just wish it could be done already!

I need to schedule a retina consultation next, get a physical from my doctor, then go for the pressure-relieving procedure, then the ICLs. The surgeon that I will be going to is more comfortable doing surgery one eye at a time so I will have to go a few weeks with one lens popped out of my glasses after the first surgery – that will be attractive…

As I just started grad school, trying to fit this in my schedule is going to be kind of crazy, especially because I need to keep my GPA above a 3.0. Right now I think I am going to opt to do it in the summertime, maybe May, but I need to have both eyes done before I go to Europe in June! I am so excited!

The cost of the surgery is pretty expensive, but not compared to years of money spent on contacts and glasses since my prescription is so high. In the long run I will save a lot of money and will have a much better quality of life.

When I asked if I needed to be concerned about the pressure effects of scuba diving with the ICLs, the only thing he said was that I will be able to see like I’ve never seen before! That is going to be such a thrill, not to mention safer diving.

So to those of you with 20/2000+ vision like me, there’s hope for you yet!!! I will definitely be reporting back on the step-by-step process and results, but not soon enough!!