To have elective surgery DH disagrees with?

Other benefits:
The peripheral vision! OMG! It feels like a superpower.
No more glasses catching your hair in the hinges and breaking it into stupid tufts like one of those little owls.
The glasses bumping around on your face when you run.

I am so happy I had the surgery.

Also, @Annamarie91 has thia right:

Does your husband wear glasses? I think it's hard to understand the benefits if you don't wear glasses yourself.

He Knows Nothing

It is absolutely not "vanity" surgery. It is 100% "functional"!

I had SMILE surgery 1 year ago. It was dear but totally worth it. Just add up the cost of glasses for the rest of your life, including £300 varifocals from age... 50? ... and you'll see it's worth it on a cost basis alone. That doesn't include all the ways it will make you happy every day to be glasses-free.

The more I think about this the more angry it makes me. You're very clear about why and how much you want this surgery. It's as though he's saying he doesn't trust your judgement or respect your opinions as much as he does his own. For your particular circumstances, you think the benefits of the surgery outweigh any risks, but given risks do (always) exist, I think your (anyone's) life partner should accept that any problems you end up having are in effect an unfortunate accident of circumstances, and support you just as if you had any other accident. Or would he give you a hard time about that too? Crossing busy roads carries risk. If you were in a road accident would he spend the rest of your life telling you it was your own silly fault for not being as sensible crossing roads as him? Perhaps he would.

I wore glasses for 40 years, prescription around 6 dioptres. I never wanted to have laser surgery - too chicken basically - scared of everything and also I had heard stories about possible complications and that scared me even more so the operation was out of the question for me. I didn't fixate on the positive stories because the root of the problem was that I was too scared and fixating on the negative would give me a reason not to have the procedure done. And anyway, glasses were not that annoying. Or so I thought....

I had to have cataracts removed last year and wow, hell, once you live without glasses you realize what a pain in the arse glasses are. The clouded lenses were replaced with fresh ones. This meant I got presbyopia straight away - ie. unclear near vision because the lens can no longer adjust, BUT wow, being able to see when you wake up in the morning and open your eyes, or being able to shower and actually see what you are doing or as someone else mentioned, being able to go for a swim and see the clock on the wall.
It's wonderful. It really is.
Driving at night can be difficult in the rain because I see haloes around lights due to the shape of the edges of the implanted lenses.

If you have the surgery and it is successful it will be life-changing for you and you might not even realize how life-changing it is going to be until you have it, even though you might be able to imagine a bit what it is like.
There is the risk of complications but if you feel you are fully informed and aware of what could happen and accept those risks and have chosen a good surgeon then you should go ahead with it. DH does not get to decide. He doesn't get to call it vanity surgery. It's not vanity surgery - it's removing some of the impracticalities of wearing glasses and contact lenses.
You will save a fortune in glasses and contact lenses and prescription sunglasses.

Make your own informed decision and ignore DH.
A point of interest, and actually it ended up being a bit annoying, I got so much more attention from men as soon as I wasn't wearing glasses anymore. Got right on my nerves that did....especially people I had known for years suddenly fancying me and wanting a shag.

OP I had major elective surgery which took about 8 weeks to recover from, which cost us about 6k, and my husband never uttered a negative word, because it's my body, my choice, and he's a brilliant partner in life.

If you want to do it, just get it booked; he'll have to support you for, what, a few days? That's marriage for you.

I had LASEK and would 100% recommend. Yes, recovery was painful but quick. Within 3 days pain was gone and vision near perfect.

I would go through it all again in a heartbeat.

Does your husband wear glasses? I think it's hard to understand the benefits if you don't wear glasses yourself.

It used to make it more difficult, but not any more, it's literally a case of pressing a different button.

OP - what prescription are you, how old are you and do you have particularly big pupils?

Fuck him OP.

it’s your body, not his.

I had Lasek because of the shape of my corneas weren't suitable for anything else. I had it done 18 years ago. I took a weeks leave. I couldn't read properly for a few days and had to watch tv with sunglasses on for a few days as it was a bit too bright. Within a week one eye was 20:20. The other eye wasn't quite as good, so they redid that eye at no extra cost 6 months later. For the first few days I listened to some audio books.
My grandson was 6 months old when I had it done and he was a bit freaked out by this stranger as he used to stare and grab at my glasses 😀. I never regretted having it done for a moment.

I'm hopefully getting LASEK surgery this week!
The idea of being able to just wake up and see, not having glasses sweating off my face or fogging up when travelling, and not getting my hair caught in the hinges is bliss. I wore contacts for a long time but they have their own risks and can be a pain if you want to go swimming etc.

Everyone I know who's had it done only regrets not having it sooner, doesn't mean that I won't be the one it all goes wrong for but after researching I'm willing to take the chance.

As a lifelong contact lens wearer with a very high prescription I thought about laser surgery for years. However, my lenses were pretty trouble free so I decided against it. Now I’m older I’ve had bilateral lens replacement surgery for cataracts and it is absolutely the best thing ever. It’s amazing to be able to see on opening my eyes every morning. It’s a pity your ophthalmic surgeon had advised against this as it’s the best permanent option there is.

My partner was kind of the opposite - he knows I’m a total scaredy cat but he really encouraged me to go for it, as I was always complaining about glasses or dry eyes from contact lenses! * He was totally right to be honest - 9 years since I had LASIK now, and all great.

• I’m wary this is MN, so just want to emphasise that he didn’t pressure me in any way!

It's so not for vanity to want to be able to see when you open your eyes 🙄 the benefits are incredible, swimming for one and that's just the icing on the cake of actually being able to SEE when you open your eyes

At baseline it depends on your attitude to risk.

The risks may be rare, but for the individual person it's binary - it either occurs or it doesn't.

When I looked into it, I decided I didn't like the risks so didn't proceed. Others decide differently. Many have had good outcomes, as described above, but for me, I was uncomfortable putting myself at risk of serious complications which would never happen with my glasses.

For me, the savings on contacts have been offset by having to buy a lot of specific eye drops due to dry eyes, so there isn't that much saving.

A friend of mine had it done a few years ago - she was probably about 60 at the time, and had had a really high prescription since childhood.
She doesn't wear glasses for distance at all now, prefers not to drive at night, but I'm not sure if that's related to the procedure, she avoided it before.
She has reading glasses, but a light prescription.

Honestly, you're going to get responses from 'best thing I ever did' to 'I know someone who went blind!!' so where does that leave you? If you've done your research, weighed up the odds and feel confident in your surgeon then go ahead. It's nothing to do with your DH - your eyes, your life, your money.

I had my eyes lasered quite a few years ago and wish I'd done it earlier. I was told my eyes may still decline in terms of needing glasses for reading and I'm fine with that. If I drive at night I wear very very low prescription glasses with a coating on them to reduce glare but it's not a big issue. I wore contacts for years and it was such a relief to end that faff and the joy of waking up in the morning and being able to see is great.

I know three people that have had laser eye surgery, two very successful, the third one has a lot of light sensitivity and has to wear sunglasses even on not overly bright days as it hurts her eyes too much.

i wouldn’t say it is a vanity surgery, it’s to improve your eyesight (does your dh have poor eyesight? Sometimes people don’t get it or the appeal of not walking around half blind each morning before you put glasses on in or contacts or even how much it affects other things like sport or swimming!) and if it is going to make you happier, it’s your choice - you know the risks.

I had lens replacement and it has transformed my life. I had it done at an eye hospital, privately. I have gone from my eye sight being so poor I had to sleep with my glasses under my pillow because I couldn't find them in the morning on the bedside drawers, to not needing glasses at all. I have forgotten I ever wore them unless someone reminds me.
20 minutes per eye to do, instant results, no issues. No more red marks on my nose, smeary glasses, feeling frumpy. I love it.

Someone in a vague circle of mine had a complication where their vision fluctuated throughout the day.

Glasses are sometimes moderately annoying, but significant side effects would be life-changing and nothing would be worth the risk for me.

My vision is entirely corrected by my glasses though, if it wasn't I can see I would be tempted.

For swimming, I just have prescription goggles and a sacrificial old pair for if I want to mess round in the pool with my head out the water. I got the goggles for about £20 off Ali Express a few years back and they're fantastic.

Oh and I have had no complications, perfect vision and went to Vision Express as its what I could afford.
Now I'm older I do have age related long sightedness, which I know was to be expected, corrected by simple reading glasses from poundland.
I was scared of complications, and I am so grateful I had none, but given the same choice again, I'd 100% do it.

Of course go ahead with it if you’re comfortable with the risks etc. but if you haven’t tried contact lenses for a while they have improved a lot. I have a complex prescription and am allergic to standard contact lens solution but can still get contact lenses which are comfortable 14 hours per day. Still a faff and expensive though.

I had LASIK done 20 years ago and I went into the surgery with great apprehension and fear of complications or side effects.

Best thing I did.

I had 15 wonderful years without glasses and then my vision started deteriorating again and now I wear varifocals.

I am still really glad I did it.

I had Lasek in 2006 and still have perfect vision. My eyes were light sensitive for a few years and never knew night driving could be an issue - I am fine.
my DH had LASIK in 2004 and still has perfect vision. Best thing we have ever done.