My first iteration of this post was 3,000+ words long, and I managed to cut out a lot of unnecessary details so now it’s around 2,200 words. I had a lot to say about my LASIK experience, apparently! I wanted to be as detailed as possible, both for people who may be considering laser eye surgery and for myself so I remember what this was like for me.
There were a few reasons I decided to move forward with LASIK:
- I was a candidate for the traditional procedure and have very thick corneas so the procedure would be a pretty easy one for me.
- My eye center was offering a 20% discount on LASIK through the end of the year. LASIK is a very expensive procedure ($2,500 per eye) so this discount was very enticing to me.
- My eyesight is terrible. Before I had LASIK, I could not even read the big “E” on an eye chart; it just looked like a blob on the wall. I’ve been wearing glasses since I was in fourth grade and while my vision has stabilized in my thirties, I’m still essentially blind without corrective lenses.
- I have strong astigmatism, making it impossible to wear contact lenses (even toric contact lenses). They take forever to settle into my eyes (giving me blurry vision until they settle into the right position) and my eyes dry out easily when I’m wearing contact lenses. So I only wear glasses these days.
- A few friends had recently gotten LASIK and their positive experiences influenced me to go ahead with the procedure.
I took my time deciding on the procedure. I had a consultation in July and didn’t make a decision until late September. I spent a lot of time discussing it with my mom and with friends, and it just felt like the right decision for me. Full disclosure: I financed the majority of the surgery. I want to be super clear about that because I’m always curious how people afford very expensive (elective!) procedures or vacations or purchases. I used Care Credit and will spend the next two years paying it off.
My procedure was scheduled for Friday, October 20th at 1:00 pm. How did it go? I’m here to give you all of the nitty-gritty details. (Fair warning: I’m going to be as detailed as possible about the surgery so if eye stuff makes you squeamish, maybe skip anything related to the actual surgery.)
My mom and I arrived about 20 minutes early to my appointment and I was almost immediately taken back to meet with the surgical coordinator. We went through the consent form and she gave me my payment confirmations. And then we set up my follow-up appointment in three weeks. I was sent back to the waiting room until the nurse was ready for me.
Meeting with the ophthalmologist
A nurse took me back to a typical eye exam room and explained what I could expect over the next few hours. He also wanted to know how I was feeling on a scale of 1-5. I told him I was at a 3. I was mostly feeling nerv-cited: part nervous, part excited. After meeting with the nurse and then the ophthalmologist, the nerves started dissipating quickly. Everyone was so warm and accommodating, and I felt very secure in their expertise. For them, this was a normal Friday. I was one person in a long line of people getting an extremely routine procedure.
I met with the ophthalmologist who was kind and friendly. He even made a “I like thick corneas and I cannot lie” joke that immediately put me at ease. He did a quick eye exam with me and said everything looked great. I was cleared to get this procedure started.
Sweet, sweet Valium
After I spoke with the ophthalmologist, a new nurse came to get me to take me back to a waiting area. First, I was given a gown to wear as well as booties for my feet and a hair net. Then, she brought me the good drugs – 10mg of Valium and half a milligram of Ativan. I was also given prednisone and naproxen to help with inflammation. They want you to feel really relaxed for the procedure, so they allow at least an hour for the meds to work. (I was a dummy who didn’t bring anything back with me so I had an hour+ to just sit with my thoughts. Thankfully, I wasn’t feeling nervous by this time, so I mainly listened to what was happening around me, thought about blog topics I could write for NaBloPoMo, and started forming this blog post in my head. It helps to have an active mind!)
One of the patients who went in for surgery before me ended up having a panic attack during the procedure. They had to bring the patient back to the waiting room to give them more meds and try to bring their blood pressure back to a normal range. That must have been so scary! However, not to make this all about me, but the Valium had done its job as this patient’s panic attack didn’t cause my nerves to ratchet up. I was just ready to go!
The procedure
I was finally called back for surgery. I removed my glasses for the final time (!!!) and a nurse guided me to the room where the procedure was held. Another nurse guided me onto a table that had a headrest and was able to swivel from side to side. I was given a nice sturdy pillow under my knees and I felt very comfortable. The nurse then began the process of numbing my eyes using drops and placed a bandage over one of my eyes. (This bandage would move from eye to eye, depending on which eye was being worked on.)
The first thing that happened was that the opthalmologist used some sort of suction device on each eye. I honestly don’t know what the purpose of that was, but I do know that I somehow moved the first time they tried to suction my eye and they had to repeat the process. Thankfully, the second time it went fine. Whew. After that, I was terrified to move at all!
Once the suction was complete, it was time to get these eyeballs lasered! First, my eyelashes were held back by tape (or something of that sort) and then the ophthalmologist placed a device in the eye that would keep it from blinking. I felt a lot of pressure on the eyeball when he placed the device in my eye, but nothing too painful. I had to look at a blinking orange light and just keep my eye trained on it the whole time. I believe this is when he made the corneal incision and opened the flap because I could feel him doing something to my eyeball (it didn’t hurt, as my eyeball was fully numbed, but I could feel some pressure) and then suddenly, the laser was right there! One of his nurses gave me a countdown of how much longer I needed to hold still while the laser was doing its job, which was super helpful. Once the laser was finished, the ophthalmologist added a bunch of drops to my eye and I had to continue staring at the blinking orange dot for a few more minutes. And then I was all done! He covered up the eye that had just been lasered and got to work on the second eye. I knew exactly what to expect the second time around and everything went perfectly.
Brand-new eyes
Once I was done, a nurse helped me sit up and then placed two clear eye shields on my eyes. Even with the eye shields on, I felt like I could immediately notice a difference in my sight. When I was in the eye exam room before the procedure, I made a point to take my glasses off and notice all the things I couldn’t see. For example, there was this blue-and-white sign on one of the cabinets and I could see the colors but all of the words on the sign were a jumble of white blobs.
After my procedure, I was taken back to an eye exam room where there was that same blue-and-white sign on a cabinet. This time, I could read the words on the sign! They weren’t fully crisp just yet, but they were WORDS. I was amazed that I was already noticing the change in my vision.
One of the optometrists came in to check out my eyes and said they looked really good. I was given instructions for the rest of the day. The eye shields needed to remain in place for 6 hours and then I could remove them for a set of goggles they gave me. I would also then begin an hourly regimen of anti-inflammatory steroid drops. And I would use the eye shields again at night. However, the most important thing to do was sleep. They sent me home with a sleeping pill and it was after 3:30 pm at that point, so my plan was to have an early dinner and then sleep until the morning.
And that’s what I did! My mom picked up Chick-fil-A for me so I ate that, took my sleeping pill, and then snuggled up in the guest room to sleep. It was around 5 pm at this point and while I wouldn’t say I slept super deeply (I was having some eye pain and my eyes were watering like crazy), I was able to sleep for the most part. Around 8:30 pm, I woke up and went out to the living room. I was amazed at how crystal clear my vision was! It was really cool. I didn’t stay up for too long and went back to bed until the morning.
Post-op follow-up
I had a 7:30 am appointment at the eye center, so my mom and I were up early on Saturday morning. It was hard to tell how much my vision had improved due to the eye shields. They were clear but had little holes that were a little hard to see through. I could see things far away very clearly, but it was difficult to read anything on my phone. It was also really hard to keep my eyes open in the car because all of the lights had halos, which is a very common side effect of LASIK.
My appointment was quick and easy. Thankfully, we arrived right before a huge influx of patients (all of us looking very stylish in our eye shields!) came in, so I didn’t have to wait long to see the optometrist. She checked my eyes and thankfully, everything was healing perfectly! And I could even read the lowest line of letters on the eye chart, which was astonishing to me. I was given the all-clear to drive and lots of important post-op instructions. One of the nurses gave me a run-down on what I should expect over the next few days and how to properly use all of my post-op eye drops/lubricants. The best thing they did was give me a worksheet that listed what eye drops I needed to use and when with little boxes to check off my progress. This was insanely helpful!
The next few days
One of the things I was told by friends who have had LASIK is to be obsessive about the eye drops. Obviously, I was going to follow the eye drop schedule the eye center had given me, but I was also prepared to douse my eyes in artificial tears whenever I needed to.
Saturday was my busiest day for eye drops, as I was on an hourly schedule for one of the eye drops (the anti-inflammatory steroid drops). I also had to do an antibiotic eye drop and artificial tears four times on Saturday. And at night, I had to apply a nighttime eye lubricant that made my vision blurry for a bit of time. As the days progress, I will lessen my eye drops schedule (I dropped down from 15 anti-inflammatory eye drops on Saturday to 8 on Sunday and 4 the remainder of the week). I will do artificial tears and the eye lubricant for the next two weeks. And last night was the last time I had to wear my eye shields while sleeping. Yay!
It’s been five days since my procedure and everything has gone perfectly. My eyesight is startlingly clear and I haven’t had any troublesome side effects, like super dry or super watery eyes. I’ve been using my eye drops as directed. Every time my eyes feel just the tiniest bit itchy or irritated, I give them a few drops of artificial tears, which helps. But that hasn’t happened very often!
One of the biggest changes I’ve had to make is not sleeping with a ceiling fan. I love my ceiling fan and even asked the optometrist at my follow-up appointment how long I need to be ceiling fan-less (some docs say 3 months, others say 6 months, and some even say you should never sleep with a ceiling fan after LASIK). My eye doc is less stringent about these numbers, as they allow patients to use a ceiling fan if they wear a tight sleep mask, so that’s an option! She said we could discuss it at my follow-up in mid-November.
I am really glad I had the procedure done and it’s been amazing having a glasses-free life! I took a shower and was able to SEE. I don’t have to switch from my prescription sunglasses to my prescription eyeglasses every time I’m driving. I can wake up and immediately see everything around me. And this is only the beginning.
Have any questions about LASIK? I’ll answer any of your questions!
I’m so glad your procedure went so well. Enjoy life with no glasses!!!!!
I was actually just talking to my kids yesterday morning about my eyes and saying: I’m not sure I’d go through with PRK if I had it to do over again…but I really wish I could have just had LASIK! I still have to wear sunglasses every time I go out and my vision is NOT crystal clear + I still have regular discomfort. It’s better and it is amazing to be able to see without glasses, but it has not been a smooth experience for me. I do think LASIK (my cornea’s were too thin for that procedure) is a MUCH easier recovery.
Honestly, I don’t blame you. If I wasn’t a candidate for traditional LASIK, I don’t think I would have done the procedure. Your recovery was a LOT! I’m glad things are finally starting to get better for you. <3
I’m so glad your procedure went well. I had LASIK over a decade ago (like you, big E, big mystery). I was glasses free until I hit my 50s then the dreaded cheaters entered the picture. Here’s to many years of seeing at the beach and upon waking up! No more dinosaur easy prey
I’m not too bothered about the fact that I may need to wear readers at some point. I know that may be coming for me! It’s much better than having to wear glasses all the time to see ANYTHING. Life is going to be so much easier!
I am extremely squeamish about eye stuff (I skipped the surgical portions and my hands are still shaky typing this!), but I am SO EXCITED for you!!! How amazing! I have pretty poor eyesight — the big E on the eye chart is a blob for me too — and the idea of waking up and just being able to SEE sounds so miraculous! Sometimes I think about what would happen in an apocalyptic situation, and once my contacts ran out and if my glasses got damaged, I would be toast. I don’t know if I am a candidate for LASIK — I have never asked. Is that something an eye doctor would voluntarily recommend, if they think you are a good candidate? I think I am probably too anxious to ever go through with it, though, so I am living vicariously through you. Congratulations!
Your eye doctor could probably let you know if you’re a candidate. I don’t know if they would voluntarily recommend it if you didn’t ask about it, though. I just went to a laser eye center for a consultation (it was free) to find out if I was a candidate. It’s a very involved process but was worth it to find out I was a candidate!
Ok, now that you’ve had the surgery I can tell you my full story. I had the surgery in the mid 90’s when it was very new. They gave me a valium but there was a delay in getting into surgery so it wore off and I was VERY aware of what was happening – the pain stuff was working but the happy meds had worn off. That’s why I make the joke that it was the scariest 10 minutes of my life. When they were ready to start the second eye, they put the clamp in to keep me from blinking and I reflexively took it out. They asked if I wanted to wait and do the second eye another day and I said no because I knew that I would never be able to get myself to come back.
With that said – thank goodness I had LASIK! When I woke up the next day and could read my alarm clock from across the room it was the best thing ever. I did have complications with the drops and dry eye syndrome which was not fun but it was still worth it to be able to see. I had 20/20 vision and no dry eye for ten years, and then something changed and I’ve gotten to 20/40 and dry eye came back. Whenever I’ve tried to get treatment the doctors are always like “well you’re female and you had LASIK so of course you have dry eye” so I’ve given up on asking. Over time I’ve figured out how to manage the dryness so that it’s not too much of a problem, honestly I think it’s an allergy that’s totally unrelated to the surgery.
I’ve never heard of the ceiling fan thing so I wonder what that’s about. Anyways, YAY YOU for getting the surgery now so that you can enjoy the rest of your life with great vision! And yesssssss act like you get paid everytime that you put eyedrops in.
Ha – thank you for waiting until after my procedure to tell that story! Ack!
So the ceiling fan thing: Apparently, our eyes don’t close fully when we sleep and ceiling fans can dry out your eyes. So they recommend waiting at least 3 months to let your eyes fully heal before introducing ceiling fans back to your life. And some doctors think you should NEVER sleep with a ceiling fan after LASIK. If I do want to sleep with a ceiling fan, you should wear a sleeping mask to help alleviate any dry eye issues. I have noticed that my eyes feel VERY dry when I wake up (a dose of artificial tears definitely takes that away!), so I guess I can see their point.
This is so exciting! Yay forever for your thick corneas and I hope you brag about it in all your dating profiles. LOL. I’m glad the procedure went well and it seems like recovery has been smooth! I will admit I was *shocked* when you commented on my blog because I thought for sure you’d be at home in a dark room for days and days. Good to know that it wasn’t like that at all!
I was so surprised that I felt pretty normal by the next day! I’m really glad I had such an easy recovery. Gotta praise those thick, thick corneas of mine! Haha.
Yay! I am so glad it went so well AND YOU CAN SEE NOW and the drugs helped you be calm and ready for the appointment- and that you didn’t get worked up when that other person had a panic attack. Did you notice a burning smell during the laser part? Why no ceiling fan – so something doesn’t blow in to your eye?
Yes – I noticed the burning smell! They made sure to cover that in my paperwork so I wasn’t surprised. So odd, though!
The way it was described to me, doctors advise against using ceiling fans after LASIK because we don’t close our eyes all the way when we sleep and ceiling fans can dry out our eyes. If I use a sleep mask, I could probably get away with using a ceiling fan since it will protect my eyes.
YAY! Thank you for blocking this out for us, so those of us who are squeamish could skip the gross parts.
I have thoughts.
1. I considered LASIK, but decided against it because for me, the eye doctor said that with my particular eyesight, I would then need reading glasses to see my computer. What’s the point of surgery if I then have to wear reading glasses? Of course now that I’m older, I have to wear reading glasses with my contacts, so maybe now is the time.
2. Another reason I have not done it is that I live in California and I am CONVINCED that we would have an earthquake right when the laser is on my eye. Unlikely, right? Still.
3. My father in law was an ophthalmologist, and back when he was doing the procedure (1970s, early 80s I think) it was very different. The recovery time was something like a week or two when you had to keep your eyes closed and covered tightly, sleep with weights on your eyelids, something like that. Not at all the casual thing it is now, it was probably only used to save someone’s vision.
4. I’m thankful for CareCredit! It really helped us with Mulder’s chemo. My cousin’s wife used it once and didn’t pay it off completely by the end of the promotional period, and ended up having to pay interest on the entire balance, not just the part that was left to pay. I’m sure they explained that to you, but wanted to give anyone else a heads up who might use it. 🙂
I figure I will need readers too at some point, but the way I see it, I’d much rather only need to wear glasses every now and then rather than having to use them at all times if I want to see anything. My vision is terrible and I cannot see a single thing without my glasses. (Or rather, I did!)
The recovery time in the 70s/80s sounds crazy! I would not have done that. I only did it now because I knew the recovery time was so easy. Laser eye surgery has come a really long way since then!
The earthquake worry is an interesting one – I don’t think I’ve heard that before! I would assume nothing bad would happen if an earthquake were to happen during the surgery. People probably move all the time during the laser part of the surgery and they have to repeat stuff, which would be the same if an earthquake happened. Now I want to talk to my ophthalmologist about that, haha!
OMG OMG OMG. You are such an inspiration. I have a “THING” where I am afraid of anything, anything going into my eye ball. I know I’m being unreasonable but still. I watch wayy too many horror movies lol Maybe you already addressed this but: did it hurt? Did it feel weird? Did you have visions or ghosts saying hello? Ok calm down Daria lol
Really, congratulations!!!
It did not hurt at all! They do a great job of numbing your eyes completely before anything happens. Also, the Valium is KEY, haha. It made me feel so relaxed! It felt a little weird, but not too much. No visions or ghosts visiting me. That would have been a WILD story, though! Hahaha.
If you ever want to chat about the procedure, let me know!
Hooray! I’m so glad you did this and glad it went so well! And thanks for the detailed description. I want to get LAISK but haven’t done anything about it, other than ask my regular eye doctor if I’m too old (he said no.) So… maybe your experience will spur me on. So would you say I would have to block a week off from work? I’m just thinking through all the logistics. Of course I don’t know if I’m even a candidate yet. Anyway- yay for being able to see! That must feel amazing.
I could have honestly gone back to work the next day! I think it’s a good idea to give yourself a few days so you can rest your eyes when you need to, but if you got the procedure done on a Friday, you could definitely be back at work on Monday.
Hooray! I am so glad the procedure is behind you and that you had such a positive experience. And well, I can imagine how good it must feel to wake up and instantly see things around you.
I guess I never really thought about how it would be if you couldn’t (I don’t have glasses – yet, haha) and apparently have taken this for granted all my life. I hope the recovery continues to go smoothly!
I’m still trying to get used to this post-glasses life I’m in! I still expect to wake up and the world to be blurry and it’s not! It’s so wild!
What does the ceiling fan have to do with your eyes at night?!
And so glad you were able to handle it, the idea of being conscious and seeing/feeling it happen FA-REAKS me out. I can’t even do the glaucoma test with the light, I make them do the old fashioned puff of air. And I always swear at the machine after each puff.
Now you can wear cool sunglasses, lucky!
So, the ceiling fan thing: The way it was described to me, doctors advise against using ceiling fans after LASIK because we don’t close our eyes all the way when we sleep and ceiling fans can dry out our eyes. If I use a sleep mask, I could probably get away with using a ceiling fan since it will protect my eyes.
Believe me, that Valium does its job when it comes to relaxing you. And they are just fine giving you more mgs if you need ’em!
I am so happy for you, Stephany! I remember that feeling of being able to see in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, like reading my clock. It was just so amazing to see numbers, and not a blur. My son has also had a great experience with it and he is so happy to not have glasses anymore. My younger son is now intrigued, so we will see if he decides to do it as well. He wears contacts and would be happy not to.
I am so happy it worked so well!
Yes – being able to see IMMEDIATELY when I wake up is amazing. I really love being able to see everything while I’m doing my skincare routine, too. It’s so great!
I am so glad this went so smoothly!! It must feel amazing to be able to see! I am fairly certain I wouldn’t be eligible for lasik. I had an assessment over 10 years ago and they said I had thin corneas. At that time they had a different name for the other procedure but now it’s PRK. After Elisabeth’s experience I am confident it’s not for me… I couldnt handle the long transition/discomfort/etc. But I can wear contacts with no issue so it’s not so bad overall!
Ugh, I wish I could give you some of my corneas, haha. (What a weird thing to say.) I am really glad I was a candidate for traditional LASIK. I would not have done PRK, after Elisabeth’s experience. NOPE.
I am so happy for you that the surgery was such a success and that you enjoy your new clear sight. What a wonderful gift.
Luckily I can not relate to having vision problems. Unless. until now.
However the husband has lost his eyesight in his use and the entire eye about a decade ago. I had two do crazy things for him post-op and eye drops were the smallest tasks.
I wish you a speedy recovery and lots of fun with your new eyes. I wonder though, how strange is it to look in the mirror and not having glasses? It feels strange already seeing your photo but how must it be for you?
Getting used to my non-glasses face feels very strange! I stopped wearing contacts at least 5 or so years ago when they got too difficult to wear, so I’m still trying to get used to this post-glasses world!
Interesting. I know only a few people in real life who’ve had the surgery. Thanks for the details. I’m not a candidate for it, but I like learning how things work. Very well in your case.
It was such a great experience for me; I will forever be grateful for my thick corneas, haha.
I am so glad that your surgery went well and I bet you are just over the moon about being able to see…for real…now! I never thought about showering but I do wonder how people with really bad vision put on makeup! I am nearsighted but only like -1.25 and -2.00 so my doctor said Lasik would not really be worth it for me, and also I am old enough that I will probably have to start wearing readers soon enough! Oh well!
LOL – my eyesight is in the -8s! Almost legally blind? IDK but it was a massive difference for me because it was so bad (+ I have astigmatism, which makes things even worse). I have a full-length mirror hanging on my bathroom door and I would use that when putting on makeup. I had to get SUPER close to it, lol.