contact lenses and pathology

[vinnyboy]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I am starting path residency this july. I have worn contacts for a few years now. My contact lenses are finally starting to bother me. Chemicals vapors from ethanol, formaldehyde, cleaning agents etc (in the research lab I work in) sometimes get absorbed into them and cause irritation. Will I be dealing with a lot of chemical vapors/fumes during grossing, autopsy etc. Should I consider lasik before I start my residency?

 

[yaah]

I think Lasik is a personal decision. I would personally never do it just because it isn't worth it to me, I don't mind wearing glasses at all. Even if there is only a 1:1000 chance of complications (I don't know the numbers) it isn't worth it to me.

There won't be tons of fumes during autopsies. Grossing varies, but there are ways to diminish it. Washing specimens in water before handling them removes a lot of the formalin. I have contacts but I rarely wear them, when I do it hasn't bothered me at all.

 

[SLUsagar]

I am starting path residency this july. I have worn contacts for a few years now. My contact lenses are finally starting to bother me. Chemicals vapors from ethanol, formaldehyde, cleaning agents etc (in the research lab I work in) sometimes get absorbed into them and cause irritation. Will I be dealing with a lot of chemical vapors/fumes during grossing, autopsy etc. Should I consider lasik before I start my residency?

like you, i wear contact often and hate wearing glasses, and STRONGLY considered getting my eyes zapped either before or during residency. yeah we all have heard about horror stories, but when you see/meet someone in person whose gone through hell and back, particularly a pathologist, you think about it twice. we've got a current attending that used to be a big time private practice pathologist at a phenomenononal group, making bank, and decided after many years of practice to get zapped. as you can guess, things went wrong, and he had probs so much so that he couldn't use a scope anymore (hella probs focusing; was told it'd be like looking through a glass bottle and making a Dx). well, needing to make a living and hard to do much else besides path, he ended up going back and doing a transfusion fellowship of all insane things and is now an attending here in blood bank. talk to to dude and you could hear the pain in his voice of not being able to sign out surgicals. he comes to many am surgpath lectures still, and it's god-awful to see the sad (and blurry) look in his eyes for the longing he must feel for his beloved, previous profession as a surgical pathologist.

i was already leaning towards NOT getting zapped, but boy oh boy, why risk it? i mean our eyes are our everything to us. i could lose a hand or a few fingers and still make it. and, as you likely already know, isn't it odd how so many optho's you find still wear glasses???

 

[Aubrey]

Should I consider lasik before I start my residency?

Try this instead:

http://www.zennioptical.com/cart/home.php

These guys rock.

 

[HbyHA]

i got Lasik in May 2005, in my third year of medical school. I had been waiting to get it done for YEARS... i had been becoming less able to tolerate my contacts for a while, ever since the end of college (i had been wearing contacts since the age of 12). i had very few problems afterwards, though i was told that i had a high chance of having issue with night vision due to the size of my pupils and my perscription. i definately do have a bit of haziness around nights, but nothing that is unmanageble. i had dry eyes for a few months afterwards, but nothing that carrying saline drops with me couldn't help (probably from being in the hospital so much).

every pathologist i tell that i've had Lasik pretty much has the same reaction, "Oh not the eyes! They're our money-makers!"

Bottom-line: one of the best decisions i've ever made.

 

[Sean2tall]

Try this instead:

http://www.zennioptical.com/cart/home.php

These guys rock.

Oh my gosh, have you dealt with them? Their prices seem too good to be true.

 

[Isa2010]

I used to wear contacts, but not anymore, because I hate being blinking all the time, - -formol, xilol, alcohol you know!- The nice aspect and also found it useful, you are protected agains splashes, blood, fluids...etc etc

 

[gungho]

i'm sure you will get (and have gotten) all kinds of testimonials about the virtues of LASIK (I had it and love it), but bottom line is the certain percentage risk of problems NO MATTER the skill of the surgeon, etc. and you just have to decide your risk tolerance. after that, it's simple😱

 

[Aubrey]

Oh my gosh, have you dealt with them? Their prices seem too good to be true.

I've bought 5 or 6 pairs of glasses from them.. better than any local optician I've ever patronized. The turnaround time isn't quick, usually 2-2.5 weeks, but as you mentioned, it's incredible value for $. Anyway, I recommend them.

 

[djmd]

i got Lasik in May 2005, in my third year of medical school. I had been waiting to get it done for YEARS... i had been becoming less able to tolerate my contacts for a while, ever since the end of college (i had been wearing contacts since the age of 12). i had very few problems afterwards, though i was told that i had a high chance of having issue with night vision due to the size of my pupils and my perscription. i definately do have a bit of haziness around nights, but nothing that is unmanageble. i had dry eyes for a few months afterwards, but nothing that carrying saline drops with me couldn't help (probably from being in the hospital so much).

every pathologist i tell that i've had Lasik pretty much has the same reaction, "Oh not the eyes! They're our money-makers!"

Bottom-line: one of the best decisions i've ever made.

I know pathologists who have gotten lasik and are happy they did it.

On the other hand, I know of a pathologist who got lasik can now can't stand to look in a microscope, and is retraining himself to do blood banking.

So I am going to stay with the "money-maker" concept...
As nice as it would be to not have to rely on glasses, to me it isn't worth the risk.

 

[VickyPath]

What about doing one eye at a time?, I am also dying to have Lasik done, but I am scared at the same time......, but I guess that if I do one eye at a time, at least if something happens I still have the other eye 😱....
Still thinking about it anyway....

 

[Sean2tall]

I've bought 5 or 6 pairs of glasses from them.. better than any local optician I've ever patronized. The turnaround time isn't quick, usually 2-2.5 weeks, but as you mentioned, it's incredible value for $. Anyway, I recommend them.

Thanks for the info. I went ahead and ordered some stuff from them. It sounds from online reviews that the only major complaint is variably long turnaround. But for that price, how much can you possibly ask for?

 

[HbyHA]

I know pathologists who have gotten lasik and are happy they did it.

On the other hand, I know of a pathologist who got lasik can now can't stand to look in a microscope, and is retraining himself to do blood banking.

So I am going to stay with the "money-maker" concept...
As nice as it would be to not have to rely on glasses, to me it isn't worth the risk.

it's totally a personal choice and depends on the amount of risk you're willing to take. though a small one, there is still a risk. i felt that i take more of a risk every time i get behind the wheel of my car and drive myself to work. nuff said.

 

[SLUsagar]

it's totally a personal choice and depends on the amount of risk you're willing to take. though a small one, there is still a risk. i felt that i take more of a risk every time i get behind the wheel of my car and drive myself to work. nuff said.

agreed, but for many folks, they'd rather die than live a life not being able to practice their profession to the utmost of their ability.

(cue the "be, ALL you can be...in the army, reserve" song) 😉

 

[vinnyboy]

Oh my gosh, have you dealt with them? Their prices seem too good to be true.

Thanks for all your responses. I have decided not to get a lasik at this time. Also, I just ordered some glasses from that website.

 

[Autopsy Sweet]

I would wait until you're out of residency and have really good disability insurance (covering your post-residency salary). That way, if something does go wrong, you'll at least have a good salary guaranteed (of course, you should get insurance that doesn't require you to be retrained in a different specialty within a few years).

My concerns are not only for the immediate/post-procedure complications but also for the long term results. My parents both had it 15 years ago (one was 50 and the other was 37 at the time), and both are now failing their eye exams.....lasik has come a long way, but 15 years probably won't last your entire career. There just isn't enough research yet to say how long lasik will last, so I'll stick to my glasses.