29 Yr Old Female That Has Been Wearing Contacts Since I Was 13 Years Old - Emory Eye Center/Emory Vision Atlanta GA

It’s been 5 years, vision has held up.
I do have eye dryness, which may be hereditary

I no longer have some of the side effects I previously mentioned. No more eye strain and night halos. My eyes were feeling tired or strained because I initially had my left eye as the weak eye before surgery (-6 range) and it was corrected to better than 20/20, at 20/15. So now my right eye which was intitally the "strong eye" (-4) has become the weaker eye (at 20/25). I have mild dryness in the morning but nothing too crazy. Also, I wake up dehydrated which is why the effects are intensified I believe. Still 100% WORTH IT!

Initially I went to the The LASIK Vision Institute (3200 Cobb Galleria Parkway Suite 105 Atlanta, Georgia 30339) because there was a corporate discount of 25%. I scheduled an apt for Sat, waited nearly 1 hour before being seen. Then my eyes were evaluated and I was high pressure sales cornered into scheduling the surgery ASAP. Also, the prices were different for each person (sketchy) and I was told that everyone automatically was given tear duct plugs (bad and not necessary- cause more harm than good sometimes). Also, it was more $$$ for a lifetime guarantee and if I wanted the Custom Vue Lasik (you should definitely get). Needless to say, I didn't feel comfortable going there so I did some research and found that Emory performed Lasik and that they had a 10% off coupon reducing the price from $3,900 to $3,500. I had a consultation and they were much more thorough and sterile. Their equipment was state of the art and all the staff were very knowledgeable. They also did a ultrasound to measure the thickness of my cornea and performed a Schirmer's test which determines whether the eye produces enough tears to keep it moist. Neither of these tests were done at the other place. I was told I had mild dry eye which I knew but it was never such a problem that I had to take artificial tears.
So fast forward to surgery day. I was able to dress comfortably in my pjs. I read the consent form and paid for the procedure. They re-checked my eye prescription and gave me a Valium which helped me relax. Unfortunately, I freaked out when I saw the machine and started panicking when they asked me to lay down under the laser. The staff was kind and talked me through everything. My right eye went quickly and it wasn't so bad. My left eye was a bit dry so they had to irrigate it well so I could open it and they could instill the clamps. For some reason the cutting on this one felt like an eternity. The cut was made with a laser but because of this, pressure was felt for about 20 seconds. Dr. Randleman counted down 20...10...5 more youre done. The left eye had a higher Rx that needed to be corrected so the laser was over my eye longer. Its strange, you can smell the laser burning off your eye. Yuck. Ok I was done! I stood up and could see! It was like looking through glasses underwater. I waited 10 min or so for the numbing drops to wear off and Dr. Randleman took a look, said I was good to go and sent me home with a pouch containing sunglasses, goggles for nighttime and tape. about 10 min later when the anesthetic wore off I experienced, tearing burning itching angry eyes that were very sensitive to light. I didnt think I was going to be able to sleep but I did sleep for about 2+ hours and when I woke up I didnt feel those awful symptoms anymore. I put Refresh Plus drops in my eyes about every 10 min and my vision was clear! I did notice some sensitivity to light and some halos around car headlights and streetlights at night but I swear my vision was better than with glasses or contacts! I had my post op on Sat at 8:30am (surgery was Fri at 4pm) and everything looked good. I rested and took naps on Sat. Sunday I went to the gym and ran errands and watched a movie. Monday (today - 3/9/15) I went back to work. I drove myself with no problems. I have a desk job and look at a computer screen and notice that I am getting some eye strain, it feels like my eyes are crossing. I am still adjusting to the vision changes because is been a little over 48 hours and I will keep everyone posted. My side effects as of now are waking up with very dry eyes and the eye strain and night halos.