Laser Eye Surgery

[mellow_pilot]

The Canadian Forces now allow pilots to have certain types of laser-eye surgery, as long as the correction brings them up to an acceptable standard. The CF will not cover the cost (yet) but there is no restriction on types flown (ie, you can still fly fighters with zapped eyes) which would lead me to believe that the 'turbulence argument' really isn't a reason not to do it. That said, I know jack-all about laser-eye stuff, civi regs concerning it, or foreign airline attitudes.

(info only, not opinion)

[bbb]

For all you folks looking for the TC requirements:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/Cam/eyesurgery.htm

As an aside, the date of update for the page on their time to regain medical qualifications is May 1999.

I had LASIK in Dec of 1999.

Call your RAMO at your local TC office before you do it to advise them and get the "latest" for your area. The restrictions they placed on me were (bearing in mind what you see listed on the webpage) 30 days no flying. Then assuming your post-surgery reports go well (you'll do an extra exam or 2 to meet the TC requirements vs what the eye doctors want - get the forms faxed to you from the RAMO BEFORE you do the surgery, as you need them over the next 2 weeks, and the 30 day mark) and you get them in promptly, you can fly with another qualified pilot in 30 days - ie 2 crew operation, and no, you're not restricted to first officer only. (If your job is single pilot, you're out of luck for a total of 3 months.) After another 60 days goes by, and you submit the forms saying all is well, you are cleared of any restrictions (total of 3 months from date of surgery).
In my case, 1 of the aircraft I flew was going to be down for major work for 2 months, so it seemed a good time to do it. Unfortunately, I didn't get the improvement in one eye that we were aiming for, so I had a second surgery on that eye, making it about 60 days no flying, then a further 2 months as captain with a qualified first officer or 2nd captain, with no flying the single-pilot airplanes.
Interestingly, the eye that got done 2x, the second time they didn't have to re-cut the flap because it hadn't totally healed yet (this was normal). The eye surgeon said it took about 6-10 months to heal to the point they'd have to re-cut to do any laser work.
I was nervous about such a major undertaking, and put it off for several years being worried about damaging my eyes and losing my medical permanently. Plus there was a 6 month no-flying rule, and hard to feed yourself when you can't work. I researched the surgeons. I picked the School of Optometry in Waterloo, as they had the most advanced equipment at the time, plus the 2 head guys taught the other eye guys how to do it. (no, the "students" didn't do my surgery, the heads of the department did).
Anyway, no after-effects, and just now 9 yrs later noticing vision changes due to age. I will consult with them again to see if this is something that can be corrected, or if I have to resort to glasses.
Definitely a personal decision, and you need to be informed and comfortable with your choice. And remember to talk with Transport so you get back to flying promptly.

[Invertago]

Had it done 5 years ago, no regreats, only side effect was having dry eyes waking up in the morning some days. I had a no-touch lasik procedure, they never touched or cut the eye in any way. Cost a bit extra but worth it for my eyes. Wasn't flying at the time so didn't have to worry about any 'grounded' time. would do it again in a heart beat. Oh and the $ is a tax write off

[Jumpus Pilotus]

I had it done in 2003 at Lazik MD, Montreal.

I took the lazik zioptics method (not sure about the spelling). A little more expensive than the average treatment, but one step safer.

Probably the best 2500$ investment I did in my life.

My sight was perfect within a few hours after the surgery and my eyes felt a little uncomfortable for about a day. I had hallos arounds lights at night for about 2 months. Nothing nerv-breaking, just slight discomfort.

The requirement at TC at that time was that if your sight was -10 or better, you had to wait 3 months before flying. Weaker than -10, the wait was six months. Since I was only a seasonal low-timer at that time, I took the surgery early fall so my sight would have time to come back to normal before the beggining of the next season.

After my medical renewal, my new licence came in by mail without the usual "must wear glasses" restriction and that was it. No questions from TC, no further examinations, nothing.

I never regreted anything about the procedure.