I recently underwent laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and it was money well spent. I thought that perhaps I would share my experience here today and I will go into some detail. If you are squeamish or considering the surgery yourself, I would suggest that you do not keep reading, the process is very intimidating.
It starts with several tests to determine if I am a candidate for LASIK. They have to measure the shape of my eyes, the condition of my cornea, and how dry my eyes are. There are actually two options for laser refraction surgery. LASIK is the most well known, and PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy). The biggest difference between the two kinds of surgery is the recovery time. LASIK is nearly 24 hours, PRK can take up to a week and the reason for the difference in recovery times is with LASIK they cut a flap into your cornea before they use the laser, whereas with PRK they skip that part.
I chose LASIK because I didn’t have the time available to devote to more then 3 days recovery.
Here is where things get more detailed. I am going to talk about the surgery. This will be your final caveat. If you are squeamish or are considering the procedure yourself, I would stop reading.
The big thing to note is that you are awake during the procedure, which only takes about 20-25 minutes. They do give you some Valium, so you should be feeling pretty good by the time you lay down. I don’t know if there is a medical reason for choosing which eye they do first, but they did my left eye first and covered my right eye with a patch. They will tape your eyelids open, so don’t even bother trying to blink. Your eye is numb so you won’t feel the stinging sensation from having not blinked in a while.
Now its time to cut a flap into your cornea. They attach a ring to your eyeball, which is a very weird sensation. This corneal suction ring keeps your eye in place, and apparently flattens your eye a bit. This next part is probably the most intimidating part of the entire experience. They put you under the machine that will cut the flap into your cornea. This thing feels like its crushing your face, and you lay there for about 30 seconds while this thing makes its incision. You cannot move, you cannot smile, you cannot talk. Any facial movement has the potential of moving your eye, and if something is trying to make an incision to your cornea, even the slightest twitch could be dangerous. It is also, during these 25-30 seconds where you are completely blind.
After they have cheese-sliced your cornea, things start to look a little weird. The doctor is constantly adding drops to your eyes, using instruments to move things around and open the flap, then you swing over to the other side, under another machine and now you see a orange circle with an orange beam of light in the center. This is the laser. The orange beam you see, that is what the computer uses to “target” the area on your retina the laser will correct. It is important to stare at that orange beam until the computer finishes its search and the laser completes its work. It takes about 15 seconds for the laser to correct your vision.
The process is repeated for the other eye and then its over. The room will appear as if its filled with smoke. They will give you sunglasses and your eyes must remain closed until you get home where its best to take a nap for about 4-5 hours. I slept for about 4 hours. You will have to administer a variety of eye drops for up to a week after the surgery to help your eyes heal from the flap incision, but by the next day I was able to see better then when I had glasses.
So, even after all of that, if I had to choose to do it again (if cost wasn’t a barrier), I would … but I think the second time around I would ask for more Valium.