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4 min read

The LASIK Eye Surgery procedure: What's it like?

The LASIK Eye Surgery procedure: What's it like?

Christina: I had my eye surgery last night. As of this morning I’m 20/20 in both eyes, so quickly, like magic.

Dr. Lindahl: So, you're going to come in and get a full workup to make sure you're a good candidate. Most people are, but not a hundred percent. We'll make sure that we have all the data we need to treat your eyes, uniquely to every person.

Kim Fullone, RN: Welcome to Rochester Eye and Laser Center. Thank you for coming in today and thank you Christina.

Christina: I mean I’ve just been wearing glasses and contacts for about 20 years now and I am tired of it. It's a hassle.

Dr. Lindahl: Typically, of course the patient is going to come upstairs to our LASIK suite, but we thought this would be better just to go ahead and prep Cristina down here, so you see that it's simple.

Kim Fullone, RN: You can take your glasses off, hopefully for the last time ever. I’m going to give you this beautiful hat. Then, I'm about to give you two different eye drops. One of them is a numbing drop and it does sting for about 10 seconds. Please lift your chin up as high as it will go. Next, I’m going to spray you and it’s going to feel like hair spray coming at you, but it’s an eyelid cleanser, so you can close your eyes. Now you want to just let that dry and not touch around your eyes. That's the prep.

Dr. Lindahl: It's a painless procedure, just a little pressure for about 30 seconds. We use two lasers so it's an all-laser procedure. One laser creates the flap, one treats your surface. You won't need any pain medicine afterward, except for perhaps a couple of Advil.The actual procedure is going to be about 20 minutes, for both eyes.

Kim Fullone, RN: Now we can start walking up.  

Kristen Abate, RN:  Kristin's going to stay down here to narrate through the process, just to let you know what's going on, if you guys have any questions we'll come back down after.  Good luck Christina!

Christina:  I had my surgery last night, and like I said I was a little bit nervous and I didn't know exactly what to expect. Everybody made me feel very comfortable.

Kristen Abate, RN: They're bringing Christina in right now. She's just laying down. We put a pillow under her knees.

Christina: They took me in the room, and they gave me a little squishy ball that I loved holding on to. That really helped me.

Kristen Abate, RN:  She's giving numbing drops right now and she's going to feel a little bit of pressure during the flap part. There's a little pressure but it only lasts like 30 seconds. Dr. Lindahl always does a timeout now.

She's under the laser that creates the flap. That's the first part, he's telling her what to expect. Dr. Lindahl is good about being very calm, using a calm voice to talk you through it. This laser is so precise it's the newest technology, the most recent technology.  

The laser is creating the flap right now. You can see how quick that was, it was seconds. So now he's moving over the to the left eye. When the suction goes on, he does warn them that it is going to go dark, but that's just for 13 - 15 seconds.

She needs to look at that ring of light. She can see that ring of light and you look at the ring of lights when you come in, just to keep focus.

Christina:  I really appreciated how the staff walked me through everything that they were doing. There was always somebody right there in my ear. The doctor would tell me okay only thirteen seconds more of this, only eight more seconds of this. That really helped me too.

Kristen Abate, RN: The flap part is the toughest part. That second part is a breeze.

Christina: It was a painless procedure. There were some uncomfortable parts of it.

Kristen Abate, RN:  He's lifting the flap that he created to do the ablation.

Christina:  It wasn't painful. You're not really used to somebody doing something like that with your eye and there was a lot of pressure, but other than that it was quick.

Kristen Abate, RN:  During this part she just needs to focus on the green light the whole time. It lasts only seconds. She's all done!

She cannot drive home today, but she can drive to her appointment tomorrow. She has a driver. That's why she had brought a friend.

Dr. Lindahl:  We advise they take a two-hour nap after this, and it's because the flaps that we create have a little gap. I tell them you may experience intense tearing and burning. No pain, but you can't keep your eyes open because you're tearing so much and that's for about two hours. So, you take your nap, and once you get up and start using your drops, that lifts over a few hours and you're good.

Dr. Lindahl:  What was it like?

Christina:  It was strange. It wasn't painful. I think it was more that I was anxious. I had a stress ball in my hand that really helped me and just breathing, taking deep breaths really helped me. Also, listening to everyone in the room counting down how many more seconds of each thing, really helped me. Like “okay, 13 seconds, I can deal with that, I’m good.”

When I woke up this morning, I think the first thought was “what happened last night? What did I do?”

Dr. Lindahl:  The visual recovery will be just one day so you'll see well by the next day usually 20/20 to 20/25 by the next day. You'll be able to drive yourself here.

Christina:  But then I quickly got myself ready to come here and I realized I'm driving here and I'm seeing that the stop signs and the street posts and everything, and I don't have glasses on or contacts in. That was kind of crazy. You have that realization. Then to come here and have my eyes checked and be 20/20 was amazing.

Dr. Lindahl:  It’s a life-changing procedure. I loved it, my staff has had it, and it's a great procedure.

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