Just out of curiosity, has anyone on the board used and had good results?
I'm not an Optometrist on the board but I play one in real life and I still wear my glasses and contacts.
That said, I did send my brother to a surgeon I really like and he couldn't be happier with the outcome.
The vast majority of LASIK recipients end up quite happy with the results. Of those that are unhappy, most of the complaints are fairly minor (dryness, light sensitivity, halos and glare while driving at night). So there's that.
For me, if your eyes meet the structural requirements to proceed, the most important things are:
1. Your age (I'm much more hesitant when people reach their late 30's and beyond as the procedure can push many people in to reading glasses sooner. And spending thousands of dollars so you don't have to wear glasses, only to need glasses soon after can be a bad use of money. The alternative is something called monovision, which would allow distance and near vision without correction, but can wreck depth perception)
2. Your occupation (guys who need really fine detail are often less happy with results)
3. Your current prescription (if you're aware)
4. Your hobbies
Is there a chance you might develop cataracts in the near future? When I was having cataract surgery last year I was told that it was more difficult to get an accurate measurement for a new synthetic lens on patients with previous laser correction.
The real reason that would be an issue for
Unicorn would be because when we implant that artificial lens we can do so with prescription built in to it, so if he was planning on cataract surgery in the near future there's really no reason to perform an additional surgery. Any additional complications are really a minor issue.
I think we can assume that's not the case, as I have a hard time believing his doctor would have recommended LASIK in advance of an upcoming cataract surgery.
Does anyone know sort of ballpark figures for such surgeries?
Normally you're looking in the $2,000-$5,000 range. I caution you to look at the quality of your surgeon and not just on who is the cheapest.
The other thing to be aware of is that there's often quite a bit of follow-up involved in the process and some plans will have those visits included in the initial fee. It's worth knowing what your program will cover, as some that look cheaper might end up costing more in the long run.
Perhaps you could help with something else I'm curious about as well, although it's something I've tended to experience rarely. I haven't really mentioned it for that reason when I've gotten eye exams, and when I last had an ophthalmological exam they said my retinas were fine. But under certain circumstances, sometimes I experience an oddness when my eyes track motion. I'd describe it as watching something and imagining it as individual frames of film, and every so often the frames don't run together in a smooth animation. They look blockier, like when you see an infomercial that's been badly edited and has a shaky camera. But it's pretty rare, I'm just not sure what causes it. I've noticed mainly if I'm watching TV and there's a broad horizontal pan, and it doesn't always happen.
). It's pretty minor when I do notice it, and sometimes it's hard to tell whether it's an actual error or not. Our eyes are impressive at processing so much data, it's amazing to think of how much they take in. 
