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? 

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(  ) 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?