I started wearing glasses in second grade. My left eye was 20/700 (legally blind, it was explained to me, was 20/800) and 20/400 in my right eye. Both eyes had pretty major astigmatism.
I had lasik done at the eye surgery center in Bloomington, Ind. when I was 38. They will 'map' your eyes - looks a lot like a topo map of your eye surface. Mine looked like the Rockies in my left eye and the Adirondacks in my right eye. They told me it would take about 5 minutes to set up for each eye and about a minute to do my left eye and maybe 35-45 seconds to do my right eye.
It took a total of maybe 10 minutes from the time I walked into the room until I walked out. They gave me a pair of the heavy-duty wrap-around sunglasses like you see Old men wearing to get home. You will need someone to drive you home as everything will be somewhat cloudy.
For the first time in my life I could read not only the license plates but the name and city of the car dealer on the back's of cars.
My eyes would dry out pretty quickly every day (it was explained that the deadening chemical they put in your eye inhibits tear production for a year or so and eye drops are advised).
My eyesight after lasik was, and still is, 20/15 in my right eye and 20/25 in my left eye. Having been very near-sighted before, I need 'cheaters' to read, but I've been using 1's ever since with no change in that end of it. And after 20 years, my eyes are still sharp as they were immediately after the surgery settled.
My advice if you're planning on or thinking of having lasik done:
1. Find a good eye center that specializes in eye surgeries to have it done. If anything goes wrong, they already have experience with fixing eyes.
2. Don't worry so much about the cost. You're paying for something that will literally, open your eyes to things you've never really paid attention to and for the rest of your life.
3. Be prepared to see things you've never seen before, or for a long time. I had never watched someone cut my hair. It was always a blur in the mirror.
