For those of you who have eye vision issues, you know how frustrating it is to misplace your…read moreglasses or tear a contact and need to see. If you're like me, you're severely myopic (-9) with a slight astigmatism, which means you're legally blind without any corrective lenses. If you're old enough to know who Mr. Magoo is, that's a pretty accurate depiction of me. Nothing like assuming your sweater is your cat...I've always joked that if I was in a plane crash and survived, I'd need to have my glasses on because otherwise, unlike Tom Hanks in Castaway, I'd starve to death not knowing how to find food-that's how blind we're talking about. I've had glasses since I was 7 years old; it made playing sports before my parents agreed to let me get contacts. The difference of course, was a game changer, but the cost of annual contacts, sometimes getting dry eyes after wearing them too long, spending $$$$ on glasses with the thinnest lenses, antiglare, plus RX sunglasses-we are talking thousands over the course of 30+ years. I've wanted LASIK for years, but as glaucoma runs deep in my family, I was deeply discouraged from y childhood eye doctor and my dad from looking into it. As I also didn't want to put my hands into some factory-farm type surgeon revolving door inexpensive LASIK clinic where my eyes, the most precious thing I own, would be at the mercy of the doctor, who may or may not truly care about my situation. So I kept putting it off, envious of everyone who wakes up able to see without searching for their glasses. My local eye doctor and I discussed that maybe I am eligible after all, so he suggested I look into a consult. I contacted both local medical offices that do LASIK and based on my interactions and the reviews online, I went with Dr. Juli Larson, who has done over 15,000 surgeries and several of my local friends had theirs done through her. I would have to wear my glasses for at least 14 days prior to consult (which to me, is a fate worse than death), but I did it diligently. I arrived on Thursday for my consult and tests, knowing that if I was a candidate, I could have surgery the next morning. I was a little nervous and hoping I would not be told I was not a candidate, but knew she only turns away candidates that truly cannot get it, so I felt I was In good hands. Two hours of extensive testing on my vision, optic nerve analysis, glaucoma check, I finally met with Dr. Larson. I found her to be very kind and warm, taking a lot of time to answer my questions and concerns. She admitted I was at the border of eligibility, but she felt she could help me, with the latest technology, the Bladeless iDesign Wavefront Guided LASIK. This technology does a fingerprint type calculation of your eye to do the most personally tailored custom LASIK. She made sure I understood all the potential complications, too. I said that I understood and I wanted to move forward. Dr Larsen knew I'd had an SLT (to reduce eye pressures) five years before, so with my permission, she reached out to that surgeon to make sure she had that information as well and would call me once she had read through the scans, his notes, and those of my current ophthalmologist. I met with the young woman who would explain pre-op procedures and 0%, 24-month financing options through one of two lenders, in the event I needed that. I went home feeling excited. Dr Larson called me later that afternoon to let me know everything looked good and I had no changes since the SLT. She made sure that up until the morning of the surgery, I could change my mind and opt out. I found this very reassuring and added a layer of trust to my interactions with her and her expertise. The next morning, I arrived a little anxious but mostly excited. I met with her again and she explained the procedure. I don't recall why we ended up discussing PRK with iDesign as an alternative option, but she made sure I had all the information on both, plus all the time I needed to decide if either surgery was still right for me or did I want to leave and go home. I ended up opting for the iDesign LASIK still. Within minutes, I was in the OR and she was so helpful and encouraging the entire time. 10 minutes later, I could already see better than I'd had in over 30 years. I went home and rested as required, plus did the drops as required. By mid-evening I could pretty much see everything, was texting and watching tv. It does feel while healing like you have a little speck of sand in your eye, but the drops help. This morning, she checked my corneal flap, which is healing nicely and also my vision-it's 20/20. There's a to-be-expected slight haze that will in time go away, but I was able to drive myself to the appointment and although my right eye itches a little bit, I feel great and worth every penny. I highly recommend her and am so grateful to her expertise. She also does cataract surgeries, SLTs-she is my go to eye surgeon for my potential future needs.

Concern for the professional throughout the process. I was explained what would take place and the…read morefollow-up following the surgery.