Lasik at 22 Years of Age. The Good and the Bad - Buffalo, NY

My vision was never in the negatives, I did not have any astigmatism or eye diseases. It was a little worse than 20/40, but wearing glasses and contacts was the most annoying thing ever to me . Primarily wearing contacts for about nine years, I always had to deal with keeping them clean, changing them when they got dry or damaged, taking them in and out everyday, and not to mention the ridiculous cost... There was no way I felt content with the idea of wearing them for the rest of my life. So I had my evaluation for lasik, and scheduled it one week later. It was 4600, but they gave me a 25% discount because of my insurance. One of the eye drops for afterwards had to be picked up from the pharmacy for $130, leaving me a grand total of $3430. The day of, I took an extra Valium to relax because I was SO nervous. The procedure itself took about ten minutes. All I felt was pressure and I could see the doctor moving the flap back onto my eye. The rest of it was just staring at a green light. When the laser was correcting, my vision was totally black (which was a little freaky) but I got through it. I was sent home with sunglasses on and was told to sleep with them on. My vision was very hazy, foggy, and smokey but could already tell things were sharper looking. Unfortunately I only slept for about 30 minutes because i had a cold and was too congested to sleep. Therefore I had to experience the pain. Not going to lie, it sucked. Could barely open my eyes, they wouldn't stop watering. It felt like all the moisture was sucked out of my eyes and then all my eyelashes fell into my eyes. Stabbing pains. When I woke up the next morning, the pain was gone and I could see crystal clear!!!! So amazing. Still dryness though and had to be super careful not to rub my eyes. No makeup for a week! I was on 5 different eye drops for 7 days: antibiotic 4 times a day, steroid twice a day, pain reliever once a day, regular lubricant about every half hour, and a super thick lubricant used before bed. I had to make a chart haha. But it's worth all that because after one week it's over and you can go back to normal , makeup and soft rubbing included. The only thing I'm still on are the lubricant drops as needed. I have only one complaint... Since 3 days after the surgery my right eye has been fuzzy. My left eye is crystal clear. It's not that I can't see out of the right eye - I have 20/15 vision in both eyes..the right eye is just a fuzzy 20/15. I can see, and I'll take this vision over wearing contacts, but I cannot see little details out of my right eye the way I can out of my left. When I went for my 1 week follow up they said everything is healing fine and they expect the right eye to get sharper as i continue to heal. I'm right eye dominant so it drives me nuts at points, but I have to just keep telling myself that it will get better. Why it's in one eye and not the other? I don't know. But my doctor didn't seem concerned. My one month follow up is may 10. If it's still blurry at that time, I will have to see what they say. My advice to all: get it done. It IS worth it. Follow your doctors instructions. Make sure you get it done at a time where you'll be able to sleep afterwards. And when those extra think lubricant drops you use before bed cause you to wake up with your eyes glued shut... Use a hot rag on your eyes.. DO NOT pry them open with just your fingers. I did that and ripped the skin all around my eyes. Burned and stung so bad all day every day for a week!!!