Laser Eye Surgery Review

After years of being a chicken, I finally decided to fix my eyes permanently.  This morning, I got my eyes corrected using LASIK surgery.  Here's are the details for those you who are interested.

The day started around 9:30 at Millenium Eye Center.  I had to arrive early to get my eyes retested after my last visit 17 days ago.  They do this because after prolonged contact lens use, your eyes change shape.  If you have tork lenses for astigmatism, the problem is even worse.  They recommend you wear glasses for two weeks so that your eyes have time to adjust.

I've mentioned before how professional Millenium Eye is.  Today was no exception.  They took good care of me and explained the procedures every step of the way.  After my three eye tests were completed, I asked to try out the monovision glasses again.  This is where they undercorrect one eye so you can read close up during your senior years.  I was concerned that having two different strength eyes would be disconcerting for me.  So today I tried the special glasses and settled on a -.5 adjustment to my right eye rather than a -.75 or -1.00.

From there, I joined 3 other patients waiting for their surgeries.  We all sat in a row of 8 chairs with our designated drivers.  A nurse came by and gave us all hair nets and then washed and sterilized our eyelids with iodine.  They then called us in to another examination room where Dr. Cory Lessner took a good look at our eyes using a microscope and went over any final questions we may have before the surgery.  He then left the room and went to the operating room.  A few moments later, the first patient went in for part 1 of the surgery.  When she came out, another went in, and then it was my turn.

I entered the operating room and sat down on a reclining chair which is nearly identical to any reclining chair you might find at the dentist's office.  They taped up my left eye and positioned the laser over my right eye.  The nurse applied a few drops of numbing drops into my eye.

Within moments, the eye was completely numb.  They inserted a specula over my eye to keep my eyelids open.  Then they asked me to stare at the center of the light above me while they applied a suction ring to my eye.  Doctor Lessner told me that everyting would black out when he applied pressure.  Oddly enough, it took a long time for it to get dark and, frankly, I never blacked out completely.  I always saw a little light coming through the suction ring.

Next, he counted down while they turned on the intralase laser and cut a flap in my eye.  This took only 20 seconds per eye.  Afterwards, I could still see as I did before, only a little foggier.  The nurse helped me back to my chair with the other patients.

Next came phase 2 of the surgery.  I walked into the second operating room where they again positioned me under another laser.  Dr. Lessner first asked me what kind of music I wanted to hear and I chose opera.  To be fair, he didn't have Cake, "Go the Distance" on his player so I settled for Josh Grodan, or something like that.  The other patients who heard my selection, thought it was funny.

Anyway, they taped my eyelids open and applied some more numbing drops to the eye.  It's important to note at this point that the numbing drops are extremely effective.  You don't feel any pain whatsoever once they apply these drops.  After taping my eyelids and applying the drops, the doctor marked my cornea with a marker (presumably, a special medical pen rather than your typical magic marker).  This was done so that he could precisely reposition it after the surgury.

Next, he pulled back the flap that was created during phase one.  I'm sure you are thinking that that is an increadibly gross thing to do, however, I can assure you that it wasn't bad at all.  Remember how I told you that the numbing drops are very effective.  Well, there really is no difference between the doctor doing something 2 inches in front of your eye and him touching your eye.  You simply can't tell the difference.  Honestly, it was like watching the procedure on television.  It just doesn't feel as if the doctor is touching your eye at all.

Once the flap was pulled back, he positioned the laser and began the countdown as the laser went to work.  I could smell the tissue burning, but it wasn't unpleasant at all.  It was similar to a woman blow drying her hair.  Once the laser completed, Dr. Lessner repositioned the flap and went on to the second eye.

After he finished the second eye, I was done.  Although my eyes were a bit foggy, it was clear to me that the surgery was effective.  I saw the clock on the wall and could recognize much more than when I walked in.  Next, I took a picture with Dr. Lessner and waited outside for the examination.

A few minutes after the surgery they tested my vision and it came in at 20/50+.  The nurse assured me that this was a great result.  Then the doctor came in and examined the eyes again under a microscope.  He used a small brush to smooth out the flap and make sure it was perfectly positioned before releasing me.

He declared everything fine and sent me off to the receptionist to get my drops.  That was it.  No more glasses or contacts for me.  Now it's time for post op care.