See at least one other optician beside the one who recommended it. Tell this person that he or she is solely a second opinion and doesn't stand to make any money off you; that being said, would he or she still recommend you for the surgery?
The problem with LASIK is that it takes too little time -- let me explain. You most likely will not work with a surgeon who performs the surgery; what you want to do is go to a surgeon who *only* does lasik... find one with at least 2000 surgeries. The procedure itself lasts maybe 20 minutes. Your optician will screen you for the surgery, answer your questions, and do all the followup care. For this, he or she will make a percentage of the $2-4k you spend on this -- typically $400-$800. So there is a huge incentive to rush as many people as possible through this procedure. I'm not saying that optometrists are being bribed; just that, for some, that is a little too much money for them to really give an unbiased opinion. Now, if you read around there are lots of horror stories;
www.surgicaleyes.com especially. Read these sites, but if you read between the lines what you will glean from them is simple: in 95%+ of these horror stories, the people later found out that *they were never a good candidate for the surgery and they were just rushed through to make a quick buck!* That part is the most important: the better a candidate you are, the better your results will be and the less risk of side effects you will bear.
Essentially, if you don't need much correction, there is a high probability you will come out 20/20 and w/o side effects. If you have poor vision, it might not be fully corrected and you bear more risk of complications. Now, maybe that is worth it to you: I know a woman who had terrible glasses; she couldn't see her fingers at arm length. My optometrist informed her that she most likely wouldn't come out with perfect vision and that she had a high risk of problems; it was worth it to her anyway. She went from trifocals that were your stereotypical 5 or 6 mm thick to the same slim glasses I used to wear. Her vision isn't perfect and she does have dry eyes and mild starbursting, but it is worlds better than she had. If it worth it if your vision is similar is a personal question only you can answer. What I will say is that when Lasik works well, the results are bloody amazing. As someone who wore glasses from the age of 9, people who have good vision just don't understand how much it all sucks -- and how expensive a pair of glasses and contacts every year gets.
Thoughts: Note that there are also two or three approved laser units for this surgery. One is magnitudes more expensive than the other, but gives better results. Find out which the surgeon uses. Also make sure you read the contract over... my optometrist charges $2k/ eye. This sounds expensive, but the thing about Lasik is, it is safer if you do less correction at once. So if you need a large amount of correction, the surgeon might just get you in the ballpark of good vision in round one and give you a new set of glasses for the time being; six months later, he or she will do a minor correction to attempt to get you as close to 20/20 as possible. The fees I paid included as many surgeries as necessary and all the prescription lenses between surgeries. At least give this some thought.
Best of luck.
-earl-
