I had Lasik done myself about 4 years ago. I'm 20-13 in one eye and
20-15 in the other. Before the surgery I was 20/400. Basically blind
as a bat without contacts or glasses, and was getting to the point
where my dr advised me that I would not be able to wear contacts for
many more years. Beacuse of the corrected area (just over 5mm) and
my age at the time ~30) I did loose a little off my naked eye limiting
magnitude. However - my views through the scope are completely
unaffected. And as I grow older, I'm loosing a bit anyway.

I should state that I am an avid amateur astronomer. In the past 6
days, I've been out 5 times. Basically I'm out every clear night. Not
having to fuss with glasses or contacts is a wonder beyond belief.

There is a lot of misinformation floating around about Lasik, and yes
it can be a bit of a gamble (there are lots of things that can go
wrong) but in retrospect it was one of the best things I ever did for
myself.

However, it is a rather drastic solution to a problem that in most
cases has a very simple solution. The sucecss rate is very high, but
that's little consolation if you are in the 2% with complications. Be
sure to check with a qualified health care professional or two and see
what they say.

Tom T.