I am exactly 1 full month after I got my Lasik surgery as I hit publish on this post.  I started to write it at 1 week post-op so I wouldn’t forget anything, and I’m truly excited to share it now a month later because I’ve got a pretty full story now.

At this point, I feel 99% fully back to “normal” from pre-Lasik…except I can see perfectly all the time, and don’t need any contacts or glasses to do it!  My day and night vision is exactly what I had hoped (and has been for about 3 weeks now), and my eyes feel very comfortable.  I am still using drops 4-5 times a day and will for a while and do feel a little extra dryness occasionally throughout the day, but otherwise, it is as if it never happened.  Saying all of that though makes it feel like the surgery or post-op was a big deal…and that truly was NOT my experience.  Honestly, every single part of it was SO so much easier than I ever pictured!  And I chose to share this all because for most of my adult life I really knew nothing about Lasik surgery.  I didn’t even realize it was a regularly chosen or viable option for me.  Knowing what I know now, I 100% wish I would have done it years ago– so I wanted to share in case anyone reading it has ever considered, and been unsure.

For me, as a regular contact wearer, choosing to get Lasik done is an amazing, habit-changing convenience like no other for someone who is used to contacts.  It is amazing late at night and first thing in the AM, and is going to be great in pool season and on beach trips in the future.  But if I had been a regularly glasses wearer? I can 100% say without hesitation that this would be a life changing choice.

The surgery itself SO SO much easier than I ever pictured.  I would be happy to share an in depth of surgery day if that would help anyone (let me know), and of the pre-op and post-op details, but a lot of it does vary doctor to doctor. I got my surgery done at Lasik Plus in St Louis because that is who my very trusted eye doc recommended, and I was very pleased with the overall experience.

What made me consider it?  A few different things!  My only real knowledge about it before a year or so ago was that I saw 1 friend do it in college and it looked difficult.  Fast forward a lot of years, and a current very close friend did it a long time ago, and told me best choice she ever made- but had it done in another country and I just wasn’t sure if maybe her experience was just different than mine would be. But I TRUSTED her opinion, and it was the first thing that made me even consider it, but still really not for me.  Then in the past year,  2 other friends mentioned interest and it shocked me…I didn’t realize it was something people actually considered!  Then I posted on FB about it just out of curiosity…and was SHOCKED by how many people I knew had done it, and by how much they raved.  That pushed me forward to talk to my doc about it.

He was surprised to hear this, because he had told me a couple of years ago that I would make a great candidate for Lasik, and I told him unless they could knock me out for it, it wasn’t going to happen!  I wish I knew then what I know now.  So– here are some important key facts!

• Lasik is expensive. Most eye insurance covers SOME, but not much of it.  Depending on your location and the exact type of surgery, you can expect to pay $3500-$4500.  If you get it done earlier in life– you will save more on lifetime of eye insurance and contacts or glasses!  It was 100% worth it to me though.  I do believe you can find places that will do it for less…but I would never barter with eye safety.  So we just went with who was recommended by the doctor I trusted, and my surgeon has done tens of thousands of Lasik procedures…so that put me at ease too.
• I had absolutely NO pain during the surgery, or even during recovery honestly.  The most I would describe is minor discomfort.
• I think a part of that was because I was highly prepared for it all and had done a lot of research, and the other part were 2 very wise choices:  I took Tylenol PM about 30 minutes before surgery (so it was working well by the time the numbing drops wore off) and I booked an afternoon appointment so that bedtime (and lots of hours of closed eye time) was close. I would 100% suggest getting the latest appointment you can, because afterwards you will want to rest your eyes. I kept my eyes closed on the drive home and slept a little, took a 2 hour rest at home, and went to bed 1 hour after that…and by morning, had really no discomfort at all!
• There was one part of the actual surgery that had a little discomfort (but again, no pain).  The FULL surgery took about 10 minutes.  And then you just walk out to your car with sunglasses on!  That’s it!
• I highly suggest bringing the following things with you, especially if you have a drive like we did: Sunglasses you like, a hat, maybe a blanket for comfort in the car, a snack, water, kleenex (some people’s eyes water a LOT afterwards– I did not experience this at all), tylenol PM.
• Each surgery place has HUGELY different rules/requirements for the after care.  For me, it involved lots of eye drops, no makeup day of or for a week, and wearing plastic sleep goggles for a a few nights. I couldn’t go in a pool or get water in eyes for a week. And you aren’t supposed to rub your eyes for a long time. That’s about it!
• The hardest part for me was wearing glasses for 2 weeks before my first eval, but then I could go back to contacts until surgery.
• You must have relatively stable vision for 2 years before getting Lasik so keep that in mind!
• Everyone has to go through pre-lim appointment to make sure you are a good candidate (for me, I was only going to do if doc said I was a perfect candidate- why risk otherwise? If I was a lifetime glasses wearer…knowing what I know how of experiencing it, it would have been worth the risk even if I wasn’t a perfect candidate but as a contact wearer there didn’t seem to be a point to me if I wasn’t a perfect candidate, which I ended up being).
• Pick a timeline where your eyes can be red for a few weeks after (I had a couple of red spots that lasted for about 2 weeks) and where you can do a lot of drops for a while.  I wouldn’t do it within a month of a my wedding/a major vacation/life event/etc just for ease.

So, is it worth it for you?  I could NEVER say what would be worth it for you without knowing your situation… but it sure was for me.  I had a REALLY good, very easy experience with minimal and only minor discomfort. But I know that isn’t everyone’s story!

Let me know in the comments if you want more in depth descriptions of the procedure or anything else. I also really stressed about starting to wear makeup again (which I really enjoy) while trying to keep my eyes safe, so I would be happy to share about my experiences with that all as well if it would help anyone!