I went to Dr Craig Bindi from a Referal. Procedure was so quick and painless. Really very easy. They numb your eyes and walk you into the room. It's dark and they clamp your eyes open, but you don't even feel anything cause you're numb. 10 minutes of lights and you're done! And my mom was able to watch from the glass room. Nice touch. I personally had a tough time with heeling that night and needed numbing drops... But it still wouldn't deter me again. Totally worth it. Nice staff.
No pain. No medical complications. No dry eye, halos or starbursts. No light sensitivity. Excellent (if not truly exceptional) surgeon. I just can't see anything clearly within 40 inches of my face. I think it is all about expectation. I was expecting to not need glasses. I went from needing a single pair of glasses for my best vision - I now have four different sets of readers at different strengths for different kinds of close vision. When told I'd need readers, I was convinced it would be for READING... NOT ALL CLOSE AND MID-RANGE VISION. Fluctuations in my acuity are dramatic. At this point I can hear all the service providers saying "it takes six months for your vision to stabilise"... but with no perceptible improvement after five week, I have little to no hope of further improvement. Bottom line... when I walk my step-daughter down the aisle... lift her veil to kiss her goodbye before giving her away... I will not be able to see her face clearly. No doctor, no matter how proficient, no matter how much mastery he has or how many positive references they have will ever be able to correct you to your best corrected vision with glasses. For those of you that are near-sighted or have astigmatism you will NOT like being far-sighted. I had perfectly crystalline vision with progressive lenses. My vision (despite the numerous sets of readers I must now have handy) will never be clear again. I realize I am in the minority of people who have had this procedure... 96% success rate for the most popular elective surgery of all time (above and beyond breast augmentation). How I find myself in the 4% unhappy with the outcome... geeze... THIS lottery I win! A 96% chance of success and I get a fail? Bottom line... although the chances may seem in our favor... landing in the 4% where your vision is permanently affected to the negative without a chance of reversing the damage... your only set of eyes... don't do it. Please listen to that little voice of doubt in your mind and do NOT do this procedure.
I had worn glasses/contacts for over 30 years, and I had the same prescription for over 15 years. I was near sighted with astigmatism. My prescription was -7.5, -2, Axis 005 (L) -7.5, -2.00, Axis 169 (R). I met Dr. Bindi in Silicon Valley in for a consultation and confirmed that I was a candidate for Wavefront Lasik. 3 weeks later, I had the procedure done. I am in my third day post op and everything is amazing. For the first time in years I can see as soon as I wake up! It is such a life changing procedure for me and I can't believe I didn't do it sooner!
My procedure was more expensive because of severe astigmatism. The tests before the procedure were simple, not much more invasive than a typical eye test. The procedure itself was totally painless and took less than 15 minutes total. I had my eye-flap incision done by laser as well, apparently you have a choice of having it done by laser or by hand. The laser costs more but is more exact. They gave me some eyedrops and a valium while I was waiting in sort of a prep room. Then about half and hour later I went into the first laser room for the flap incision, probably less than 3 minutes later I was off to the next laser room for the actual procedure. My husband drove me home where I slept for several hours. I woke up with blurry but improved vision. The next morning my vision was less blurry and more improved. I was able to go to work. Within less than a week I was at 20/40 whereas before I was 20/400. Five years later I'm at 20/70. I use glasses to drive and at movie theatres. My glasses are much less expensive than before because I barely have any astigmatism now. I highly recommend the procedure.
ICL is another option for those who do not qualify for LASIK and is FDA approved for ages 21-45. You can find more information at staar as well as find a surgeon that performs the procedure in your area.