My One Year LASIK Anniversary

**Note: I’m not a medical doctor and this is not medical advice. This is only my opinion of my experience with LASIK surgery.**

Last year I had LASIK eye surgery and it was one of the best things I have ever decided to do.  It is ironic, though, as my optometrist had even marked in his chart not to ask me about it again. Why? The previous year I told him to just not ask me again because I would never do it so I asked him to quit asking. NEVER say never.

I had thought I would never get it done because for me working on my eyes was potentially very scary. I didn’t want to be able to see them working on my during the procedure and felt I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I have a high tolerance for pain but working on my eyes felt like whole new territory. Plus, I had never had any type of surgery. I have a family that depends on my so to choose to take a risk, even if very small, was something I was afraid to do.

Let me tell it, it was a risk well worth taking. It really has changed my life. Why did I change my mind? Something very sad happened a few months before my surgery. I decided life was short and some risks were worth taking.

Before, I had LASIK, as soon I got up in the morning, I had to find my glasses or I couldn’t see anything. If my eyes were too red or finicky, I couldn’t wear my contacts so I had to wear my glasses. Wearing my glasses made me feel like I was still in my pajamas because I usually only wore glasses at bedtime.

My contacts got dry all the time. They were constantly irritating me and my eyes. I had trouble driving at night because my contacts would get too blurry. Even with glasses, I felt my night driving wasn’t quite right.

If I went swimming or showered, I had to be careful about getting water in my eyes. I didn’t want to upset my fickle contacts.  Forget about the beach. Beach + Sand  + Sun = Angry Contacts

If I cried to much, oh, you can’t wear contacts. Don’t wipe away the tears because you might just wipe your contact out of your eye. Red Puffy Eyes = Angry Contacts.

I had a wreck once because of irritated contacts. Yeah, I do blame it on the contacts. In high school, I was at my job and my contact was bothering me. So I took it out and threw it in the trash. Thinking, I had still had one good eye and could make it home okay, I pulled out of the parking lot. Oops, didn’t see that black pole that blended right in when the black night. Crash. After that, I tried to keep a spare pair of glasses in my car at all times as you never know when your contact is going to get irritated.

Some of you may be asking yourself, why I didn’t just keep the irritated contact in? If you have never worn contacts, you would probably ask yourself that. If you have worn contacts, you know the horrible scratching feeling of a irritated contact. For me, my limited vision with a irritated contact was just as bad as going with no contact at all.

Yes, that was pretty stupid but I blame the contact. By the way, if you ever notice the bright orange pole in the Jim Dandy parking lot, you can thank me.

Then there is the matter of remembering to pack all the gear that goes along with contacts and glasses when you travel. Sleeping on the plane and waking up to a contact glued onto your eye is not fun.

Grimy fingerprints on glasses.

The time it takes to put contacts in, take contacts out, find glasses, clean glasses.

Not to mention the expense of contacts, glasses, and contact solutions.

Time Sucker + Money Sucker.

These are reason, I decided to take just a minimal risk to get LASIK surgery.

I decided to use the surgery center my optometrist recommended. They were out of Fort Wayne, which is a little farther than Indianapolis. Since they sent people there often, I felt confident this is who I should use. I made sure to talk to several people I personally knew who had the procedure done to get their experience and see if they would do it over again. All of them said YES with the capital letters! :)

After calling my insurance company, I found out that my center was going to be removed from my health network just 5 days before my scheduled surgery. I could save $900 by starting over with a new center. This wasn’t the most frugal move but I decided to stick with the center my optometrist recommended and thought I would probably wuss out if I didn’t stick with my original appointment. Because at this point, I was googling all the horrible things that could go wrong and was afraid I would back out.

As with all surgery, there is a risk. However, these aren’t that common. The most common ones were issues I was already having like dry eyes and reduced night vision. The ones I was worried about the most was losing both eyes and never being able to see again in some type of horrible surgery gone wrong. I felt confident with the center I was recommended after doing my research.

The surgery was a quick and easy experience. I won’t lie, I was nervous about it. At the center I used, Indiana Lasik Centers, you have several opportunities to back out of the surgery even that day. I was there, I was going through with it. They do some final testing to make sure you are still a good candidate. Then they give you a couple pills to help you relax. You get a nice relaxing back massage.

Then they take you to the surgery room. The worst part was when they put those little eye holders in your eyes. It felt uncomfortable but not painful. It was a little freaky when your vision goes completely dark for a few seconds after they start doing their thing. Then it’s back. It was over so quick, you think wow, that’s it?

You go home stylin’ in some mega sized glasses with your eyes all taped up. I went home and slept for hours from the medication, which is what they want you to do. I wasn’t even able to get on the computer for about 24 hours because they don’t want you to really use your eyes. As a blogger that was a little difficult! It was a Friday, though, and I had plenty of time to schedule posts ahead of time! :)

My vision wasn’t perfect right away. It actually took quite a few weeks for it to come back to me, which I was told was unusual. My vision was actually blurry for a little bit longer than it was suppose to be. It’s been a year but I think I had to take some extra eye drops to see if they would help reduce swelling. I now have more of a astigmatism than I had previously. However, my vision was still better than 20/20 when I had my last eye exam.

Was it worth it? 

Yes, it was worth ever single penny. I love being able to wake up in the morning and seeing those cute little faces looking at me without having to find my glasses first. I love that when I wake up in the middle of the night, I don’t have to fumble for my glasses. I love that I can swim, bike, exercise, swim in the ocean, travel without worry about my glasses or contacts. I can SEE now.

If it is something you are considering, consult with your optometrist and talk to friends to find a good center. Make sure to do all your research and make a decision that works for you!

Have you had LASIK? What was your experience?