Having perfect vision is a dream come true! I've been wearing glasses/contacts as a child, and I…read moreguess the past few years has been my nudge to just get through my bucket list. Correcting my vision was one of them.
I knew I wanted/needed LASIK but wasn't serious until this year. I shopped around a bit and scheduled several consultations. What stood out about Travers LASIK is that Dr. Lori Travers performs all of her surgeries herself and has completed over 60,000 surgeries. Impressive. I've learned that when it comes to health you should always choose a doctor who is an EXPERT at their field, and hyper focused on one thing, not dipping their hand at the pot with 5 different things. Her credentials along with her extremely well run office was the reason I chose Travers LASIK over the other options in the Triangle. To note however; Travers is a smidge more costly than the others but you are paying for precision and you're paying for her 20+ years of experience, which is well worth its weight in gold imo.
After the surgery, I came out with 20/15 vision, which is better than 20/20 vision. Here was my experience and here are the things I learned.
Yes, you do spend a lot of time at the free LASIK consultations and the surgery day itself, as they need to perform tests and take pictures of your eyes with many different devices and expect to see A LOT of people at every appointment. Yes, it does feel like an assembly line / factory but honestly, I was okay with that. I wasn't there to socialize nor did I feel the need to chit chat beyond what I was there for. Everyone was professional, kind and very knowledgeable.
I barely spoke to Dr. Travers, the majority of the time I spent talking with her team from one test to another. I only met Dr. Travers in the surgery room and she asked if I had any questions and explained mono vision to me (although I ended up going with distance vision) and I was in and out of the surgery room within less than 10 minutes, as advertised.
The actual procedure: If you can't sit still and focus, LASIK might not be for you. (I learned that people with diabetes and/or hormonal changes, pregnant, etc.. shouldn't also have LASIK either)
Recovery: from all the reading and research and asking people about LASIK, no one really talks about the recovery. People usually rave about the results which while are impressive, it's important to know what to expect also. After the surgery, you are sent away with plastic shields taped to your face to protect your eyes (and prevent you from touching them) and are directed to sleep when you get home. I couldn't sleep for 6 hours as they suggest, and probably slept for about 3. Your eyes feel very tired and your eyelids feel glued due to the stickiness and crust forming in your eyes. It's annoying to not be able to clean your eyes due to the shields that can't be taken off until the very next morning. You just have to deal with it.
The next morning, you take off the shields and your new life begins, you should be able to see very clearly, it's remarkable! One thing to note also is that after age 40, they made it very clear that you might have to use readers (reading glasses) as LASIK is unable to correct near vision, which is natural -- and inevitable with age.
I am now 1 week post surgery and am doing excellent. I can see far away and feel like a new person just about. I do still wear (blue light) glasses to reduces eye strain while on the computer which is fine by me, I just love having vision for distance that isn't dependent on glasses. I use eyedrops on my eyes extremely often however, because I want the healing of my cornea's to go as smooth as possible. I expect to taper off in about 3 or 6 months, as needed.
Two week update: while I can generally see well, sometimes things far away that I'd expect to be able to read, are blurry. I've read this is normal until the eye completely heals. Also, nighttime driving isn't superb, and things are not as crisp either. I am hoping over the next month that will sort itself out also and that I can see more clearly also.
If you're considering or on the fence, go for a free consultation.. you'll learn a lot about your eyes! And hopefully you're a candidate, and hopefully you'll take the leap of faith!
Disclaimer: as with any surgery, there are always risks and sometimes short term, and occasional long term side effects. Dry eyes, halos, starbursts, non-crisp night vision, etc. I personally understood all the risks and went with it. But be sure to talk it all through thoroughly with your doctor so you know what you're signing up for. Good luck!
