Mountainsair, you raise some legitimate concerns, but I'm not sure your use of the term "many" is entirely fair. There are a lot of stats out there produced by the people doing/selling the treatment, but with a bit of googling you can find independent research.
You wear contacts. Tell me about the "many" people who suffer permanent eye damage through eye infection, abrasion etc from contact lense wear. There are certainly risks to these procedures as with any procedure (and indeed almost anything in ilfe), but if we were that risk averse we wouldnt be in motorsport would we?
In terms of vision change after the procedure - it doesnt stop your eyesight changing - it just aims to reset your vision to 2020 - if your eyesight is degenerating (long or short) it will continue to do so. I've been fortunate that my eyesight has been stable (it was -6 before surgery) though I will go long sited like most when I get a bit older. It's also worth noting that my vision is better than I ever had with glasses or lenses as these can only approximate the errors in the eye. My lasik preparation included a contour map of the eye that allowed the correction to adjust the precise error in my individual eyes.
As for night vision, I found it almost unbearable driving in glasses at night sometimes - the slightest smudge causes the halos etc that are stated as a risk of surgery.
Again, I'm fortunate that I dont have any of the possible side effects/negative outcomes of the surgery, but when I did my research before surgery I made the decision that the benefits outweighed the risks. I realise I have become something of an evangelist for the surgery, but I do recognise and point out the risks to anyone I speak to about it.
As for bilberry jam... I can only hope it tastes better than carrots.
G