I had completely shit vision. I couldn't swim safely for long distances because of how bad it was. Got Lasik in Lithuania (same complication rate; 1/6th the price of Toronto) and it was completely, totally worth it.
That beings said, my eyes are itchy sometimes. Just because there is a complication doesn't mean that the tradeoff wasn't worth it. I was under no illusions that I wasn't risking permanent damage, but the way I looked at it was that I was also risking permanent damage by relying on always having access to my glasses.
Wow, looks like I could fly to Lithuania and have Lasik done, while spending less money than getting Lasik done at home. How does that work with follow up appointments? Did you just stick around for a few weeks?
I did my LASIK in Poland. You can do a 3 week vacation with the surgery and three doctor followups for the price of just the surgery in the US. This is on state-of-the-art equipment in a top-rated clinic in Warsaw, not a budget option at a second-grade clinic.
If you want to contact me privately by email I'll send you detailed instructions, including who I hired to communicate / bring me back to the Airbnb. Because I work remotely I just rented a beautiful place in Vilnius for a month and worked from there.
That beings said, my eyes are itchy sometimes. Just because there is a complication doesn't mean that the tradeoff wasn't worth it. I was under no illusions that I wasn't risking permanent damage, but the way I looked at it was that I was also risking permanent damage by relying on always having access to my glasses.