There it was, an ad in the paper for Lasik surgery only $299 per eye. I had wanted to give my wife the surgery as a present since I first heard about it and now with the lower price, I was going to do it. We set up an appointment and found out she was a candidate for the surgery.
Unfortunately, my wife had a severe astigmatism which increased the cost of the surgery from $299 per eye to $799 per eye. Business was good, and I was committed, so we made the decision to go ahead. The doctor would be using the Visix laser due to the astigmatism. The visix laser was more accurate and therefore more expensive.
Even though it was more expensive than we had planned we decided to go ahead with the procedure. The surgery would be performed in about 2 weeks.
Before I knew it, the day came for the surgery. We were both nervous and became more nervous as the nurse had us sign all the disclosure papers that tell everything bad that could happen.
We were jittery, but as the doctor explained the procedure and told us that he had performed more than 35,000 procedures without any problem, our fears were gone. The doctor told us that the computer would make a topographical picture of each eye and then calculate the exact shape of the lens that would give her a perfect vision.
After the computer was done making the 3D map of her eyes, the surgeon would cut a small flap in the cornea of her eye and lay the flap back. Then the laser would do its thing. The laser portion of the surgery took less than 2 minutes. The whole surgery including recovery took about 45 minutes. The flap was laid back in place and the surgery would be complete.
The doctor came out and told me that everything was great and within a few minutes she could already see better. But she had to keep her eyes closed for 3-4 hours so the flap could start to heal. An appointment was scheduled the next day to check how everything was healing and to test her vision.
During the follow-up visit, the doctor found that her eyes were healing as expected and that she was seeing 20-20. It was a miracle. My wife had been wearing glasses since she was in elementary school and now she was free!
The only tricky and inconvenient part of the whole process was that my wife could not rub her eyes for 3-4 weeks or the little flap could become torn and cause complications.
Even though she could not rub her eyes when they were itching, my wife said it was worth it. After more than 12 months, she is still seeing 20-20 with no complications at all.
If you decide to do the surgery, spend the extra money to get a 1-year guarantee if you need to get a touch up to make your sight the best it can be. If you don’t get the insurance, you will have to pay the entire amount again.
My wife says that Lasik is great. She has really enjoyed not having to wear glasses or contact lenses.
