- published in 2017 from my previous blog -
If you're considering LASIK I say DO IT!!! My fiance & I both think it's so worth it! See our excitement on the day of our surgeries!
Kevin day of surgery - November 2017
Me day of surgery - February 2018
Before I go into the entire experience I want to give you a quick high level of what LASIK correction surgery is.
LASIK Correction
When you visit a LASIK correction office they will do more than test your vision. They actual take scans to see what the topography of your eyes look like - basically they scan to see how bumpy vs. smooth your cornea is. The cornea of someone with good vision will be smooth allowing light to enter freely into the retina. The cornea of someone with less than perfect vision will have hills, valleys & other imperfections which block & redirect light into the retina.
Photo credit: Life Without Glasses
Pre-Op
Prior to surgery you have a consultation exam to see if you're a candidate for the surgery in general. If yes they'll also see if you qualify for the newest Contoura technology. Only 25% of LASIK patients qualify - thankfully I did!
You'll also discuss the financials at this time. They weren't able to confirm my candidacy for Contoura at the consultation since I wasn't out of my contacts for 7 days, but they priced it as such just in case - $3,200. I highly recommend using an HSA if your employer offers it as a financially responsible way to pay for your LASIK correction surgery because it is an elective procedure.
As I said, when you're preparing for surgery they want you out of your contacts 7 days prior in order for the shape of your eye to be as natural as possible. Apparently wearing contacts alters the shape - who knew!?
Working out in glasses was the worst but worth it in the long run for sure!
Surgery
The actual surgery is so quick. Seriously, the amount of time your eye is actually lasered is a fraction of the time you're in the 'operating room'. They had to tape my top eye lid & secure my eyeball with some type of device, then I was told to stare into a little green light. After that I heard them say to one another "13 seconds" so I'm 99.9% sure the laser only touched my eye for 13 seconds. Pretty cool, right?!
I did however make the mistake of watching a surgery on YouTube when Kevin got his done in November so I knew when they were cutting into my cornea (sorry if that's TMI).
The entire surgery from start to finish was about 10(ish) minutes & directly after my vision was tested and LET ME TELL YA! I could see better immediately!
Post-op
The beginning of post-op it felt like I had glass lenses in my eyes - really weird. It was about 20 minutes into our drive home that I started to feel some irritation & burning. I was told to go home & sleep for 3-5 hours which sounds great except...well, my eyes were irritated, burning & watering like crazy.
I took a Tylenol PM, put on my sleep mask & tried to get some rest. I woke up periodically being incredibly uncomfortable, & honestly I didn't want to talk for fear of moving my face would irritate my eyes. Kevin woke me up for dinner & since he'd been through LASIK back in November told me it might be a good idea to open my eyes & 'blink out' the tears. (I should also note that they put eye plugs into your tear ducts so all of the eye drops you're prescribed stay in as well) Dinner was kind of a blur (pun intended) & I tried to go back to bed right after.
Kevin with our dog, Max, getting his post-op sleep
The next time I woke up was around midnight & HOLY SMOKES. I could see, the irritation & burning had subsided, but it was midnight so back to bed I went.
Waking up this morning I felt like a million bucks. Although my vision was still slightly blurry, I had broken blood vessels & I had a light sensitivity I was seeing very well.
As I headed back to LASIK Vision Institute for my next day post-op visit I didn't really know what to expect. To my surprise my eyes were already 20/20, & I was told my vision would get even more crisp & clear as time went on!
One day post-op and feeling AMAZING!!!!!
I seriously feel like anyone & everyone who feels limited by wearing contacts or glasses should try to get LASIK. The amount of discomfort I felt the evening after surgery is well worth the vision I now have and I was told it will continue to get better within the next 3-6 months.
If you're looking to get LASIK I would highly recommend one of the LASIK Vision Institute locations. We absolutely loved the staff & could feel their genuine excitement for us having this life-changing experience. Do me a favor and say that Kevin Duresky referred you! They have a referral program and we'd like to take full advantage of it! :)
