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"Are there any stories out there relating how bad it can be if it goes wrong?"

Visit their Image Center for simulations of what the world will look like if you're one of the unlucky ones...

I was very very close to having a LASIK op done, when I discovered surgicaleyes.com, and changed my mind rather quickly - NO WAY I was going to take such a risk!

As it happens, I posted there asking if there were any alternatives, and got pointed to Ortho-K.net. By chance, the optometrist who suggested it (Grant Mason) turned out to live and work in Melbourne/Australia, which is where I am.

Said and done, I scheduled an appointment, had the assessment, and got a "fully satisfied or money back" offer to try it out.

Now let me say this in caps: BEST DECISION EVER!
Not only is it cheaper than LASIK, it doesn't carry those huge risks, it's not permanent, so I'll be able to adjust it over the years as my eyes change shape, and it even has a good chance of slowing down the rate of change!

My advice: If your vision is within the range that Ortho-K can handle - try it! If you're not satisfied, you can still decide to get the LASIK done...

Not sure where you can get the side of the people who have been completely pleased with their surgery, but Clark Howard (who has a nationally syndicated consumer-affairs talk show) recommends you read about what to expect (and some of the possible complications) of laser eye surgery at SurgicalEyes.com.

See Surgical Eyes for some possible downsides. It is a site run by the small minority of people who do have complications from LASIK and other eye surgeries, so you have to take their viewpoint with a grain of salt - but nonetheless it's good to know what the worst-case scenario might be.

Whoops... sorry, first time poster errors... fixed URLS

Horror stories and info links:
http://surgicaleyes.com
http://www.martialtalk.com

I do not want discourage you but I would suggest that you excercise caution making the decision to undergo a surgery. This site is specifically devoted to the failures of LASIK. Also it has a collection of images of what a person can see if surgery fails one way or another. My own approach is that we are too dependent on our eyes for our everyday life to take such a risk.

While I haven't had LASIK, and I'm just a lowly member of the glasses/contacts-wearing population, I'm truly bothered by the advertising seen in most big cities regarding LASIK surgery. The ads seem typically only to consist of an attractive woman and an appealing price (usually around $1000) -- the exact same marketing that glasses/contact shops have used for years. The difference is, bad glasses or contacts are, except in rare, rare instances reversible, whereas LASIK is not. If LASIK goes wrong, you're stuck with it for life. It's not something where you just want to pop in over the weekend. IMHO, the risk is so great that the procedure should not be done at this time for purely cosmetic reasons.

A common issue with LASIK, and possibly the bionic eyes mentioned in the above article, seems to be the definition of 20/20. What most people don't know is that one's vision can be poor, even when tests show that it's 20/20. For most people with astigmatism, simply correcting vision to 20/20 will still yield a blurry, poorly defined image for that person -- astigmatism correction needs to be put into place as well. Someone can get LASIK, test out at 20/20, and have double-vision and lens flares. The fact that a bionic eye can simply enhance vision to 20/2.5 isn't impressive unless the image is a comfortable one -- sharp, clearly defined, one that doesn't cause headaches.

While perfect bionic vision may be available in the future, right now, there's no replacement for those OEM eyes. Be careful with them, and caveat emptor...

Eschatfische.