I was a little nervous and got only a half-way decent nights sleep, but I awoke ready to go and not feeling tired. As the trip to the laser center, in Altamonte Springs, was about 85 miles away from my house, I reviewed the route with my wife. We agreed that we should stick to the interstates as much as possible to avoid the morning Orlando traffic. Fortunately, the laser center is located just 1 mile off of I-4. We loaded our two daughters into the van and dropped them off at school, then headed onward. Traffic was light until we got right into Orlando, but the trip went quickly enough and we arrived at about 10 AM.

The center is located right next to an Eyeglass World. I understand that the Laser Vision Institute is affiliated with Eyeglass World. As Nidek does not charge a royalty each time the laser is used (I understand that Visx charges a royalty of $300 per eye), and since Eyeglass World refers only through their own family of stores and in-house optometrists, it also saves on the referral fees, which allows them to offer a lower price without compromising quality. I do not know what the price will be once their special expires, however. Certainly, the center was clean and new with a full staff.

I walked inside, signed in, and was promptly met by a person who reviewed the consent form with me and had me initial each page and take a true-false test. This test made sure that I understand that Lasik was not FDA approved, that I needed to use the eye drops, that I might still need to wear glasses, etc. I passed with flying colors! I then paid my fee, which was $1,288 for each eye plus $250, for a total of $2,826. Not a bad price to have two eyes done! The lady asked me if I wanted a Valium tablet, which I declined. She gave me a name badge to wear that identified me and also indicated that I was having both eyes done.

A short time later I was called back to be seen by the OD, Dr, Grant. He ensured that the previous measurements were still valid. He had me seeing 20/15 in both eyes, and I told him I would come back and give them all hugs if my post-op vision was that good! I specifically mentioned my concerns about pupil size and he measured them both at 6.5 mm. Talk about getting close to my cutoff limit! I asked if he had heard complaints about night vision problems and said no, and mentioned that any complications they had seen had been correctable (i.e. wrinkled flaps, but no long-term vision problems). Dr. Grant was very nice and took his time with me.

Next, I was seen by a technician who measured by refraction on a machine; then she did my corneal topography, then finally she measured my corneal thickness. For that, she put some numbing drops in my eye, then touched a probe to several spots of each eye. The thickness of both was right around 540 micrometers, which is fairly normal. The probing was a tad bit uncomfortable – I don’t think the numbing drops had taken effect yet. After that, the technician sat me down in room outside of the laser room and went over with me what I was to expect. The surgeon, Dr. Nancy Tanchel, came by and looked at my pupils (since the OD had mentioned to her my concerns) and said I would have no problems. She also told me that I was going to soon be seeing a lot better and that I was going to love my new eyesight. Her enthusiasm and charm helped to comfort me. I asked her how she liked the Nidek laser, knowing that she had just recently moved from Tampa where she had used the Visx. She told me she really liked it, as it had a smooth ablation profile. I mentioned that there was some debate on the Internet about lasers, and she acknowledged that most US doctors like the Visx and she liked it to but, most doctors had never had the chance to use the Nidek and compare the two. She said that she sees very little regression with the Nidek, compared to the Visx, and felt that I would probably not be needing any enhancements. More drops were then instilled, including antibiotic drops and numbing drops. I was also given two Tylenol capsules to take. The doctor came back to get me and took me to another room to place alignment marks on my eye for the astigmatic correction. That was a little uncomfortable, too. It is weird to have sometime drawing lines on your eyes! After that, back to the room I had just been in, where they covered my shoes and hair with those surgical booties and caps, whatever they are called. The tech placed two adhesive "stars" on my forehead, the kind children would wear, one above each eye, signifying the eyes that were to be done. Finally, my eyelids were cleaned with betadine and I was told to keep them closed for a while. When the laser was ready, Dr. Tanchel came out, told me I could open my eyes, and led me in. My wife went to an observation room where she could see and hear everything that went on.

In the laser room, it was cool so I was glad I wore a long sleeved shirt, even though it was in the 80’s outside. The room was dim, with the gentle hum of fans and the Nidek EC-5000 laser. They had me lie down on the chair and got me positioned beneath the microscope/laser head. Very quickly, the got my right eye prepared. First, as I recall, they covered my left eye. They placed adhesive drapes on each eyelid, then installed the speculum to keep my lids open. I had previously thought that the speculum might be very uncomfortable, but it wasn’t, and not being able to blink was not too bad. They instilled some more drops, aligned the microscope, and it was time to cut a flap.

The flap cutting, to me, was the riskiest part of the whole thing. As an engineer, I have a trust of technology. Thus, the beaming a laser into my eyes did not bother me. But cutting a slice into my cornea with a mechanical device did. By being under the microscope, and by being quite myopic, I could see very little of what was going on, but I did see the suction ring device come over and felt some pressure as it was applied to my eye. I should add that Dr. Tanchel was keeping me informed of what was happening. She told me that I would be losing my sight as suction was applied and to not worry. I could hear the vacuum coming on and, like she said, my vision dimmed. I had a slight feeling of uneasiness come over me as I lost my vision, but I was prepared for this. Again, there was no pain of any kind. She told me they were about to cut the flap, and I heard the whir of the microkeratome’s motor or spring or whatever drives the thing. (Maybe this part of the procedure bothered me the most because it was the one aspect I did not really understand, i.e. how does that thing work!?) She immediately told me that we had a wonderful flap, which made most of my uneasiness disappear. At least for my right eye, the worst part was over, I thought. They removed the suction ring and my sight was restored. I could tell a difference, in that the red light above me was a little bit blurrier. Dr. Tanchel said that things were going great and that she was going to lift the flap back now. She did, and the red blur became a lot blurrier. It was a ghost of an image. She then told me that they were about to start the laser and for me to take a breath and keep real still and look at the light. I had a morbid thought at that point – am I following ‘the light’ to my doom?

She said, "OK, here we go" and the laser started zapping. It sounded like electrical discharges going off in a staccato of bursts. Within a few seconds I noted the smell of burning hair. They had prepared me for this, as did posts on the Internet, so it didn’t bother me. But I kept having to swallow! The more I tried not to, the worse the urge became and I couldn’t hold back. Of course, the more I tried to hold back, the greater the urge and the more I did it. Dr. Tanchel was encouraging me the whole time to look at the light and hold steady, but she once stopped the laser, due to my movements, I suppose. I don’t think I moved a whole lot, but with each of several swallows, I did move some. I have no idea how it may alter my outcome, though she did not seem too worried.

Soon enough, it was over. I wondered how long it had taken, but my swallowing frustrations caused me to lose track of time. I would guess I had 20 - 25 seconds or so of laser time. Anyway, she cleaned my eye and she told me she was going to place the flap back. Much of the blurriness went away and I tried to sneak a peek out the side to see if I could see anything, but I really couldn’t. They put some more drops in and waited two mintues (I am not sure why), then removed the speculum (Yea, I could blink again!) and the eyelid drapes. Then it was on to the left eye. They repeated the procedure, but this time I was determined to not swallow. I figured that if I counted the time, as well as concentrated on the red dot, that my feeble mind might run out of processing power to also think about swallowing. So, when she told me to take a breath to start, I started counting seconds and concentrated extra hard at starting at the light. It took 32 seconds, and it worked! I held perfectly still and didn’t even think about swallowing! She was very encouraging the whole time and I felt fine. I saw the doctor give a thumbs up sign to my wife.

After the two minute wait again, she did a final check of my eyes and moved the microscope away. I was asked how I felt, assisted to sit up and, of course, asked to look at the clock. It was 11:05! I had barely been there an hour. As they told me it would be, my vision was like looking through water, so nothing was clear. Everything, indeed, looked watery. I was led to another room and the doctor looked at my eyes with the slit lamp microscope and pronounced everything OK. I was given a sack of supplies that included the steroid eye drops (Pred Forte), a nifty set of wrap around sunglasses, some Refresh Plus eye drops and some eye shields to wear at night. They even included a roll of surgical tape to hold them in place. They also had a feedback questionnaire for me to fill out and return. A technician explained to me to regime to follow in using the drops and gave me my first treatment, then Dr. Grant gave me a quick examination and answered my final questions.

And that was it.

I was very pleased with how I was treated at the laser center. I wished I could have had more time with Dr. Tanchell to ask more questions, but I will admit that Dr. Grant is very competent and knowledgeable, and the staff was wonderful. My hat is off to all of them.

They told me to go home and rest and to avoid any reading or computer work, though a little bit of television would be ok. The OD told me that patients who rest do better than those who don’t. On the ride home, I wore the sun glasses and tried to keep my eyes closed, but I couldn’t nap in the car. I made some sneak peaks at things, being amazed that I could read signs and things, though everything was still quite watery. After a few miles, though, I noted this yucky taste in the back of my throat. Ugh, those steroid drops were draining out! I had to get a Coke to help wash the taste away, which only slightly helped. By the time we were home, things were a bit better. I had a slight headache, but no other pain. My eyes felt fine, though they sometimes felt a little strange, kind of like something was in there.

I ate lunch then headed for bed. I put on the eye shields, which made me look like a locust or fly or some other insect. Or an alien. I tried to sleep, but couldn’t. I may have dosed off a little, but mostly it was just resting and thinking about things. I heard my children come home from school, and soon enough the littlest, Melissa (age 7) sneaked in to see how I did. I thought I would try to scare her with my appearance, but she hardly paid attention. She told me that they had prayed for me at school (she goes to a private school where such things are not illegal) and that meant a lot to me. I told her I was fine, and I got up. I put in the antibiotic eye drops and the steroid drops. I noted that the steroid drops were very milkly and it made my vision turn whitish for a minute. I hadn’t noticed that earlier. And, yes, I got that yucky taste after a few minutes. Both girls noted some redness in my eye. In the upper left corner of each eye I had a rather sizeable reddish patch. Had I not read of other’s Lasik procedures, I might have freaked out, but I immediately knew it was due to the vacuum ring. I watched a little Sailor Moon and Author with the kids, but mostly relaxed with my eyes closed. I went back to bed for a while, got back up to watch The New Yankee Workshop and This Old House on HGTV, then rested some more, got up to eat dinner and help Amanda, my oldest, with her homework, then I settled in to bed again for good at about 9 PM. Of course, I put in the eye drops before nodding off.

Oh, yes. With my eyes dark-adapted, I looked out at some streetlights. No halos! I hope that is a good sign! I felt the folks at the Laser Vision Institute were wonderful. I never felt like I was one in a crowd, and that the people were all there to help me. They told me that most everyone who worked there who had glasses had either already had the surgery or were getting scheduled to do so – that said a lot! Also, I had seen Dr. Tanchel interact with another patient and she was wonderful with him. The OD there made a special effort to examine me after the surgery in case my local OD needed to call up the next day with a question. I can highly recommend this place.