Is not wanting to wear glasses or contact lenses a compelling reason to have eye surgery?
TV weather reporter Jessica Starr thought so; and now, unable to live with the complications following the surgery, she is dead: by suicide (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6492233/Fox-meteorologist-mother-two-35-kills-herself.html).
Lasik eye surgery is fairly safe, but not 100% safe. Statistically unlikely, but still possible, complications may ensue, ranging from blurred vision to constant pain.
So I think we have to ask–is wearing glasses so terrible? Is the 1% risk of personal catastrophe acceptable?
I mean, people get this surgery every day, lots of people get it, and almost everybody’s happy with the outcome. So maybe you’ll have dry eyes for a month or so, recovering from the surgery. No big deal.
But Jessica–only 35 years old, married, with two children–said her recovery was “brutal,” and it reached a point where she couldn’t take it anymore. The same thing has happened to other Lasik patients: not many of them, but the disastrous aftermath is not quite a zero probability. It can happen, and does.
How small a risk is too small to consider? I’ve worn glasses since I was a little kid. I don’t hate them enough to subject myself to surgery. It’s not like having cataracts, which, if left alone, will eventually leave you unable to see it all. That’s a lot worse than having to wear glasses. Which is why my wife, Patty, chose to have cataract surgery a few years ago and has not for one minute regretted it. Fifteen minutes in the doctor’s chair, and she could see again. Cool!
But just to get rid of your glasses–no, not worth it.