My LASIK Journey

4 min readNov 20, 2021

No more squinting betch!

I know a lot of people wanted to read about my journey with LASIK, so here we go!

I decided to get the LASIK procedure done on 08/12/21, here we are on 11/20/21 and I am fully healed currently, but it was a bit of a bumpy road, let me tell you a bit about it!

I decided to get my procedure at The LASIK Vision Institute in Garden City. The team was amazing and the surgeon is a specialist in this field! They made sure I had the right eyesight for this procedure (it is different per person)! Now, you have two choices for the surgery, either the regular LASIK or for an extra $600 you can get the customized surgery, which is different per person since its tailored to your specific eyesight and eye shape! They pointed out that it’s like an HD TV vs Plasma screen. Obvi, I chose the Plasma because these are my eyes, so I need to make sure I receive the best of the best! So, they had an opening 3 days after my screening and I decided to do it!

The day of the surgery, they went over treatment after and what to expect. They gave me numbing eye drops so I don’t feel all the laser tingz! The procedure was honestly so fast, it approximately took about 6–8 minutes. They first created gas bubbles on my eyes, it was such a weird moment because I couldn't feel anything but I could hear the bubbles popping lol. Then one eye at a time, my vision went dark (it was a little weird) and I just saw a green and red light which I believe were the lasers, it was super quick & then bam, I was done. Thankfully I had my mom with me, I couldn't open my eyes all day after the procedure. It is recommended to sleep the rest of the day, rest will heal all! The first few hours you wont feel burning because of the numbing drops but when those wear off, let me tell you, it felt like fire in my eyes for a few hours. I went to sleep and my mom cooked for me and helped put in my eye drops every 4 hours. Every time I opened my eyes though, there were waterfalls of tears just pouring out. It was scary, the unknown, because for the first day you cant really use your eyes. The next day I woke up and bam, I had vision hunni! haha.

Treatment for the next few weeks: For a week they prescribed me 2 antibiotic steroid eye drops that I had to put in my eyes a few times a day, then artificial tears ( use the preservative free ones!) every hour since my eyes felt like sandpaper for about 3–4 weeks. I had to wear goggles for 2 weeks when I showered so water didn’t go into my eyes. I also had to wear eyes shields when sleeping for the first week to avoid any accident rubbing of my eyes, etc. NO RUBBING THE EYES OR USING MAKEUP! I recommend at least the first month! Also avoid the sun and lights if you can, the first 2 weeks. So after the first 2 weeks of all this care, I thought I would be good to go, but here is the thing, every body is different. My eyes did not adjust to the light or trauma from the surgery, I had to get on a 5 week program of extra steroid eye drops, because my inflammation was still so bad! I am telling you, I couldn’t even watch TV at times or have lights on in my apartment. Now, I did some research and some LASIK places will recommend 2 weeks of antibiotics post surgery and some recommend 1 week. For me, I should've done the 2 weeks because my body is sensitive, but for some people, 1 week is fine, so really it is based on the individual.

I am here, writing now to say, I completed the extra 5 weeks of my antibiotic eye drop program and my eyes can finally fully open in sunlight and light! Also I only had dry eyes for about 4 weeks and then, that side effect went away, so that is amazing haha. I do still see halos over lights at night, but that side effect can last up to 6 months, so we are almost their fam!

I do not regret this decision at all! Honestly, sleeping out and not having to worry about my contacts, glasses or solution is game changing. Being able to wake up from sleep and go grab a coffee and not worry about blurry vision is amazing! So is not having to wear glasses and a face mask! Of course, the 5 week hiccup was annoying, but we made it through and my body is more sensitive than others. But we are here, I can finally see life clearly!

Love, Antonio

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My LASIK Journey

Written by Antonio Liranzo