My Journey With LASIK

I have been wearing glasses since I was in the 4th grade and was happy with my glasses. I never really considered LASIK because I felt my glasses were part of who I am but over the last few months, I’ve realized how bad my eye sight really is and decided to look into LASIK.

I wanted to make sure that I chose the best of the best because I only have one set of eyes. I watched Shay Mitchell’s video on her getting LASIK and saw she got hers done at the Caster Eye Center. I looked it up thinking it would be in Canada (since that’s where she’s from) but to my surprise, it was located in Beverly Hills! I decided that I would go there for my consult. I didn’t end up calling to make the consult appointment until early February but once I did, it was scheduled for February 2!

I went in for my consult and they did extensive tests to check my eyes and also had me watch a video on LASIK. The doctor ended up letting me know that I am a good candidate for LASIK, however, I may need to have 2 procedures done because my eye sight is pretty bad. I decided to go forward with it and scheduled my surgery for February 16.

The day finally arrived for my LASIK and I was super nervous the day of. However, the days leading up to it I was more excited than anything. I was excited to be able to wake up and see without having to put on my glasses, excited to put face masks without having to be 3 inches from the mirror, excited to go swimming without needing prescription goggles, just things that most people who don’t wear glasses don’t think about. I also never wore contacts because my eyes are super sensitive.

So the day of surgery, Kathleen and I dropped off Annie at family’s house, grabbed lunch, and were on the way to Beverly Hills to get my LASIK done. On the way there, I started getting really nervous. Once we were there, they had us watch a video on LASIK (another one), sign my life away, and then get some measurements taken. Once all that was done they gave me some medicine to help calm me down and put a bunch of drops in my eyes (antibiotics, steroids, numbing drops, etc). They ended up having to give me another dose of the anxiety medicine. A little before 3PM, I was taken into the room and had the procedure done. I was done at 3:10PM. The whole thing only took a little over 10 minutes.

I didn’t really have any complications besides getting a little cut on my lower right eyelid. They did warn me about the blade that cuts the flap and that I shouldn’t try and fight it, but having your eye open and then all of a sudden not being able to see anything freaked me out so I started trying to close my eye and that’s why I got the cut. For my left eye, I was a little more aware and didn’t fight it and had no cut on that eye. They told me that I may feel grittiness or the feeling of having an eyelash in my eye and I haven’t experienced that.

However, sitting up after the procedure and being able to see was amazing. It was seriously life changing. I remember laying there before sitting up and seeing the vent on the ceiling and being able to see every detail of that down to the screws. Driving home, I was reading all the signs to Kathleen and she was amazed. We got to the hotel, and I slept for about three and a half hours. We decided to grab dinner and then come back and just relax at the hotel.

The next day was my follow up and I was seeing better than 20/20. My vision is still blurry but definitely a lot better than before! The doctor said it will take around 3 months for my vision to fully get to where it’s going to be. Then at that time, we will see if I need to have a second procedure done.

The question I get asked the most is “did it hurt or did I have any pain?” and the answer to that question is no. I honestly had no pain at all during the procedure. The only thing that was weird was when you can’t see for a few seconds like I mentioned above but they give you numbing drops so you don’t feel any pain. If you are thinking about doing it, definitely look into it because it was one of the best decisions I’ve made.

Check out my YouTube video documenting my journey below! If you are sensitive to medical procedures, you will want to stop watching about half way through.